Friday, February 25, 2011

The Hermitage

(part of our November trip to Nashville, Tennessee)

The last place we visited in Nashville before catching our flight was The Hermitage, President Andrew Jackson’s home. Had we been allowed to photograph inside the home I would have shared multiple pictures of the fabulous wallpaper in the main hallway, it was gorgeous. As I remember (this is 3 months ago with no photos to aid my memory) the pattern included drawings of lush palms and bananas and the colors were remarkable. I thought a simple online search would turn up at least one image but I found nothing. So…on that unfortunate note we head outside to the garden! This washtub off the back of the main house would make a wonderful pond planter don’t you think? The garden entrance… Frost damaged Tuberose… The garden, note the large Cardoon in the center. Beautiful Crape myrtle… Coral Honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens. This little fellow was enjoying the sun on a Cardoon leaf. These large brown leaves caught my eye; there was something very familiar about them. I realized they were similar to the leaves from our Magnolia macrophylla. This is what they were from. The family cemetery next to the garden. I have mixed emotions about what it would be like to have this feature as a part of your garden. It certainly would make moving more difficult, but I really like the conection it would allow. I felt the closest to my grandfather after he died when I had the opportunity to garden in the soil he had worked for years.

Expired flowers and seeds. This one is a mystery to me, one I would love to solve. The “flowers” (?) look like giant Euphoria bracts. Does anyone know what it is? This atractive grass was growing in the parking lot… And that’s it...we jumped in the car and took off for the airport, the end of our Nashville adventure!

10 comments:

  1. Reads as if your really enjoyed your visit though...I'm not so sure I'd want a family cemetary as part of my gardens...working the soil the loved ones have worked and having some pass along plants from them is good enough for me.

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  2. How very cool...wish I could see that wallpaper...love the Muhly Grass...a fave of mine. I could be (and probably am) wrong, but I think that mystery bract is a Honeysuckle (Lonicera).

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  3. the saucer shaped leaves... a lonicera?

    do all cardoons get that big? I bought a little guy at garden fever, getting that kind of growth would be great, but not what I was expecting@

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  4. my brother lives in nashville, and now i have a nifty list of amazing places to see on our next visit! thanks!!

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  5. We have a client at work who bought a historic house that included the previous family's cemetery smack dab in the backyard. Impossible to ignore with its obelisk and tombstones, the landscape designer chose to celebrate it and planted it with hierloom roses, spireas, althea, azaleas and other old favorites. So now it is a feature, and I am sure the ghosts of garden's past appreciate the familiar plants.

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  6. Nice - I like the fall look of the place. I wonder how those crepe myrtles will stand up to this winter out there! The grass - Gulf Muhley, AKA Regal MIst Grass / Muhlenbergia capillaris...nice!

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  7. Darla, I did enjoy my visit, to the Hermitage and the whole Nashville experience.

    scott, you and Ryan think alike! Which has me thinking you guys might be on to something...more research is needed on my end.

    Ryan, perhaps (see my response to scott). In my experience...yes! (the Cardoons) Not personal growing experience but observing in others gardens experience. I bought a couple at Garden Fever too, to put in the front garden. Could be interesting if they take over the neighborhood!

    Laguna, yay! Glad I could help with a future itinerary.

    Les, wow that sounds really fabulous! Makes me want to research such a thing.

    DD, good question! I'll have to ask my in-laws, they had a nice pair in their drive-way...a touch more protected than these but still could be interesting.

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  8. I agree about the big empty tub! I visited a nursery that had taken over an old dairy site, and they'd converted all the watering troughs to planters for more riparian plants. It looked great!

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  9. I absolutely love your hd pics of the crape myrtle bark. how did you get suck great detail? What Camera did you use?

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  10. I have an ID for the vine with the circular leaves it's called Kintzley's Ghost Honeysuckle we sell it my Nursery in Nebraska it's a very drought hardy plant.

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