SUSANNE HUDSON'S FRONT PORCH

Framed by 2 magnolias, Susanne Hudson's front porch is a masters class of design. Susanne created the Penny McHenry Hydrangea Festival honoring 2 loves, a plant & a friend.

In her town, Douglasville, GA, Susanne is proof, Build it & they will come.

Susanne asked me to speak to her garden club last year. That venue was her wildly successful wedding & events business, Le Jardin Blanc.

This year I spoke at the Penny McHenry Hydrangea Festival. It was last Saturday.

Trams shuttled visitors to speaking venues, tented vendors & open gardens.

After speaking it became pure garden fantasy. Seeing Susanne's garden.

Her front porch took 1/2 hour.

Her home is on the historic register.

Green, brown & white are Susanne's favorite colors to use in the garden.

Oh my, the timelessness of Susanne's design.

She creates realms of calm repose. Simply.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

A CHALLENGING LANDSCAPE JOB COMPLETED

I was implored, Keep us dry! My clients carriage house is several yards from their home. Arriving home in the rain meant getting wet. Now, they're dry and have a garden room.

I copied colors, dimensions, shingles, faux stone & light fixtures of their home creating a summer house & breezeway. As if it had always been there.

My clients asked for, perhaps, a canvas breezeway thru the middle of the garden space. Oh gosh, that had me stuck during the design phase.

A canvas covering over black aluminum rails to match their fence. Ouch. It wasn't working. And why solve a problem with an ugly solution? Ugly costs money too. More ouch.

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Then I asked myself, because the house is English, How would this be designed in England?

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Voila! The garden would definitely be preserved as the focal point, they would stay dry and there would be a place to sit and enjoy the garden. Yes, the English do know how to put a garden, with challenges, together.


Only a few days old in the pic, below, viewed from the upper porch.

The sunny day flagstone path thru the turf is barely visible from the summerhouse. Their beloved long-haired Jack Russell Terrier has a nice green canvas to begin his yellow splotches.

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I'll keep you posted on this project as the furnishings and garden progress.

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Can't wait to show you the faux balcony soon to arrive on the carriage house.

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FYI: I knew these people were wonderful the first time I knocked on their door. From their formal dining room window I saw kittens playing on a tall carpet covered jungle-gym. They had recently lost a much loved cat. He was replaced with 2 kittens. Every visit with this couple has us laughing at the antics of their kittens & Jack Russell. The 3 in love with each other and slip-sliding on the wood floors, behaving like cartoon characters.

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MONEY TALK: Yes, my solution cost more than the canvas & metal but not by much. However, my solution increased the value of the home immediately. They spent money to make money. How many investments can you USE while they make you money?

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

HYDRANGEAS AT MY TOES

At the end of the day Tuesday, quilt & pillow were placed on wicker swing, the arbor ceiling fan turned on and I reclined with magazines. I felt the freedom of floating in water. With beauty at my toes. Hydrangea 'Penny Mac' from Penny herself. These were Penny's Presbyterian hydrangeas. Given when she downsized her garden. Wickedly, she embarrassed my friend, BIG BILL, who helped dig/transplant that winter day. Penny, aged 76, leaned into BIG BILL's arm and said, I bet you've got lots of women. Quickly redder than a radish, BIG BILL, a wise man, kept digging. But with a smile.

I'm a woman with a gorgeous dirty cloche, I like that literally & metaphorically. Gray Gardens is quite appealing. The monkeys are dressed for Penny's blossoms. I dallied on the swing twice last year, once the year before. Ridiculous. Will try to do it once a week.

The Lutyen's bench here too. Needing stain, to match the other teak. Can't simply bask must eyeball something to do.

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And the magazines? What a bore compared to what was at my toes.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

GROW A ROOM

Why build an arbor room in the garden when all it takes is 8 trees? I would choose more comfortable furniture.
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Easy to do this with 6' trees. Perhaps fruit trees, or redbuds, from Wal-Mart when they go on sale? Sooooooo much cheaper than building a wooden structure, which will never bloom. Flagstone terrace, comfy furniture and DONE.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Another pic I took last January while lecturing in England.

WHY IS THIS PATIO SENSUOUS?

Oh, the sensuousity of each element. Why didn't I think to measure the table? Get its specs. This tiny spot accomplishes, even in a winter pic, what most large patios do not. An invitation to repose, take time, read, have lunch, dinner, a glass of wine or simply enjoy as a still life. Have you already heard the gravel crunching underfoot as you approach? Marvel at the wisdom of keeping the moss? Can you smell the gravel & moss; the morning dew on the tabletop? Can you hear the metal chair upon the gravel as you sit down? Have your fingertips felt the bricks, lichens & moss on top of the table? Did you peak under the tabletop to discover how it was made?
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I took this pic last January, while lecturing in England, at Wisley the Royal Horticultural Society headquarters outside of London.
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As perfect as it is I must Tara'ize it somewhat by adding arms to those chairs. Done.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

TEA PARTY IN THE LANDSCAPE

Mr. Rabbit came from Tuesday Morning about a decade ago and has been in my landscape ever since. Who wants to maintain potted flowers or replenish them twice/year? A couple of days ago Mr. Rabbit invited me to a tea party. Thru the years his arms have held fresh flowers cut from the garden or a dried hydrangea.

Not many men carry a tail as well as Mr. Rabbit. I adore subtle details.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

DESIGNING A SMALL PATIO: SHOPPING

SAY SAB likes pink and everything traditional. Her tiny walled patio is hot, humid, buggy and viewed often thru the windows of her office and kitchen. Two years with nothing I forced her, last week while in TEXAS, to start the patio. Should I tell you SAY SAB is my big sister?
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Time wasn't on our side to shop & she didn't want to spend much money on a patio to be viewed more than used.
Art, above, for the brick wall from TJMaxx $30.

Large urn, a composite, above, Target $70. Only 1, I wanted her to get a pair. Oleander will be planted.

White marble table, $60 TJMaxx, looks old adding instant character.

A pair, $12 ea. TJMaxx, medallions to go on the brick wall above a pair of windows.

At the door, Target $30. From their Smith & Hawkin line.

Metal art, from Ross $20, to go over a yet to be bought table.

Pair of cast aluminum chairs, Lowe's $98 each, with good curves, traditional style, and most importantly, comfortable.

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Look at the concrete. Ugh. We will stain it a gray field stone color.

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This is the pace of REALITY SMALL PATIO DESIGN. Magazines & TV create illusions of great speed. Ha. I'll keep you posted on this project. I doubt it will see much change unless I'm in TEXAS with SAY SAB.

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In a perfect world we would shop consignment, thrift and garage/estate sales too. And wait for sales. Instead, SAY SAB already waited 2 years and I was only with her 2 days. A determined 2 days.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara