ABBONDONZA OF ANNUALS: A PEEK AT A FAVORITE GARDEN

God bless the cloud. When my phone took one bounce of the deck of the boat last week before plunging into the depths of Lake Michigan I had no idea what had all backed up to the cloud before it offed itself. Thankfully, upon returning home I found all of the photos I had taken on Mackinac Island safely delivered to my computer, so although I'll be having serious communication issues for a bit, at least my photos are safe.

I write about the gardens on Mackinac Island pretty much every year and although I didn't get to many of them, I did spent a fair amount of time wandering around one of my favorites at the Hotel Iroquois.

The entrance garden, looking toward the street.

The garden is designed and maintained by Jack Barnwell Landscaping, which is located on the island and responsible for pretty much all of the flowers downtown as well as at many of the lavishly landscaped private gardens on the island.

The bulk of the garden is made of annuals, which comes as no surprise as its a Proven Winners Signature garden. There are some perennials that help create a framework of the garden.

Boxwood are accented with begonias in every bright color imaginable.

This shady corner by the entrance is one of my favorite spots in the garden. Ferns, lamium, hostas and a birch mingle nicely together. I'm quite taken with the lamium as a groundcover.

This is a bright garden. I'm not sure if such a colorful palette would work everywhere but it certainly works on Mackinac Island and definitely on this particular property. The natural palette here is the light blue of the Michigan sky, a darker blue of Lake Michigan, green grass and the white building, so the color is dynamic in this setting. The gardens flank the entrance to the Carriage House restaurant and wrap around the back where (at least when I go there), tables are set up on the grass for al fresco dining.

This garden is on the dining room side. There were tons of 'Meteor' verbena bonariensis in the beds, a new plant that I'm also trialing in my window box this year. So far it's my favorite new plant of the year and I absolutely love the look of it in these beds. 

The most beautiful outdoor dining chairs ever. I looked them up when I got home. For a cool $1,000 or so per chair, they too can be yours.

I've been talking a lot about Tiny Tuff Stuff hydrangea and there were several planted in the garden. Although they were in need of a little bit of deadheading, I wasn't as taken with them as I anticipated I would be.

Long planter boxes flank the edge of the water next to the ferry dock.

This container planting was a dark but cheery at the same time. 

Only on Mackinac Island are the gardens so magical that a cedar tree can literally grow out of a rock.

On the back side of the property, weigela is a beautiful backdrop for purple and red flowers.

The front of the hotel was mostly planted with dahlias.

Farther down the street, another restaurant had interesting window boxes (that I'm 99% sure were planted by Jack's crew). The were mostly intriguing to me because of the surprising addition of 'Summer Shandy' hops on the ends. I think it's a great idea for a different plant to bring a lime color to a box.

That's it for my annual review of some of the plantings on Mackinac Island. Here are some of my posts about the gardens on the island from past year (and most feature the Hotel Iroquois gardens so you can see how they change from year to year).

• 2014
• Q&A with garden designer Jack Barnwell
• 2011 (window boxes)
• 2012
• A hanging basket from 2010
• Iroquois gardens from 2010

The Iroquois Hotel garden is always a stop on the Grand Garden Show on Mackinac Island every year. Jack Barnwell also takes attendees on tours of some of his most impressive private gardens as well. I've not attended but one of these years I absolutely must.

And I leave you with the very last picture ever taken on my phone, snapped just minutes before it took the big plunge, looking back after passing under the Mackinac Bridge.

BACK TO MACKINAC

Hi all! I'm just back from my annual journey (via sailboat) to Mackinac Island and while I get my life back in order and get some proper posts (most of which I had dreams of finishing and publishing while I was gone) ready for you, I'll give you my annual review of a garden I visit every year on Mackinac Island.

The gardens at the Iroquois Hotel are lovely and I particularly enjoy seeing how they change over the years. Designed and maintained by Jack Barnwell, they have a perennial and shrub backbone but are really all about the annuals, providing the kind of color and summer-long interest that is needed in a tourist location.

Here is the front walk leading up to the entrance to the restaurant.

I love how every single crevice is filled with a plant. Here a trailing coleus fills the gaps.

Jack used Proven Winners Surefire begonias liberally this year throughout the garden and the effect is stunning. 

This was a tiny little triangle formed where the path met the small retaining wall and this little corkscrew grass fills the hole so nicely.

As you make your way around the back, more gardens—this one with several perennials and shrubs including hydrangeas and black sambucus (elderberry)—lead the way to the stunning view of the Straits of Mackinac.

'Fine Line' buckthorn punctuates the edge of the path.

Rectangular containers are filled with a variety of annuals. In the second picture you can see how the corkscrew grass is tucked in sort of randomly which creates a charming feel to the arrangement.

Barnwell wisely kept the plantings in front of the marque view in a simpler palette. There's no need to compete with a view like that. 

Boxwood hedges keep chairs from straying from the patio and entering the flower beds.

Although panoramic photos skew the perspective, this gives you a feel for the layout.

Around the other side, the plantings repeat other areas of the garden for a cohesive look. The red buoy next to the trailer in the background marks the finish line of the sailboat race I participate in every year.

Two views of the main front entrance to the hotel.

And a close-up shot of the neatly trimmed boxwood hedges.

Jack also designs the hanging baskets on the main street on the island. This was my favorite.

It was a little hard to see what was in it, but fortunately I found the same design in a lower hanging basket at the Iroquois Hotel.

As usual, I snapped a couple photos of beautiful gardens on horse-driven taxi ride up to the airport on my way off the island. One of these years I'm going to stick around long enough to do a proper garden tour. I take a photo of this first house every year because I love the pig by the front steps. Wonder where you get a pig like that?

 Jack Barnwell works closely with Proven Winners and uses their plants extensively in his designs, so most of what you see (at least the annuals) are probably PW plants. Because of his arrangement with them he is often able to use new varieties that aren't yet available to the general public.

I did an interview with Jack a few years ago. Check it out here.
You can check out other posts I've done about Mackinac Island gardens here, here, here and here.

This is the second year for the Grand Garden Show on Mackinac Island, an event partly organized by Barnwell in conjunction with Proven Winners. They always bring in a line up of great speakers (including P. Diddy) and best of all, Barnwell hosts tours of some of the private gardens he has designed on the island. It is held this year on August 24 to 26. I spoke with some readers who went to it last year who absolutely loved it. I must get to it one of these years.

You can follow Barnwell Landscaping and Design on Facebook for sneak peeks of some of the gardens Jack is working on and others that will be on the Grand Garden Show tour.

Garden tasks to pass the time

First of all, if you're finding this blog from Young House Love, welcome! I'm thrilled you popped over to see the blog and I hope you enjoy it. I tend to jump around topic-wise, ranging from renovations (currently we're working on our kitchen) to gardening to DIY projects. If you like what you see, you might want to consider getting posts by e-mail, which you can sign up for just over there ----> to the right.

I was surprised and so honored that John and Sherry from the fabulous Young House Love blog (and New York Times bestselling book) featured our house renovation on their blog yesterday. I loved reading people's comments about it and I'm happy that some people found a little inspiration in it.

I know I'm not the only frustrated gardener out there chomping at the bit for spring. Winter is hanging on a bit long in many parts of the country. So to help us all out of our funk, I thought I'd share a few things you can do now to get ready for gardening. Some of these things depend a bit on what part of the country you're in, but up here in zone 5b we're among the last for spring to show up so there's a good bet that you should be on this schedule or ahead of it.

Prune SOME shrubs 
The some is key here. You do not want to prune spring blooming shrubs now because they have already set their buds and you will cut off your flowers. The key is finding out if a shrub blooms on "new wood" (stems that grow this year) or "old wood" (stems from last year or before). Some of my favorite hydrangeas like 'Limelight' can be pruned to whatever degree is necessary. They don't need to be pruned though (other than removing dead wood). I should have pruned my Limelights in late February or early March but I just never did. This weekend I'll put on my boots and stomp through some snow to do a light pruning (nothing like I did a few years ago). The less you prune, the bigger the flowers will be, so keep that in mind. I will just prune the big Limelight by about a third just to keep it in check size-wise. The new Limelights along the deck will just be slightly pruned to shape them a little as they are still growing.

Have no fear, just a few months after pruning, 'Limelight' will be looking like this.

The other shrub that is going to get a good pruning is the purple smoke bush (Cotinus coggygria), which I'm embarrassed to say I have never pruned. It was obvious last year that it was all out shape and badly in need of a good prune job. Like most plants that I'm not familiar with the pruning requirements of I did a little research and it turns out that April is the time for pruning them in my zone. Most advice seems to recommend a pretty hefty pruning (down to a foot or 18 inches) for smoke bushes (this is for smoke bushes that are being grown as shrubs, not trained into a tree form). I know it's tough to do that to a big shrub, but it will recover in no time. The year that you prune, however, you will have no flowers (the "smoke") so you will have to sacrifice those. That's OK by me as I'm really interested in the foliage.

The purple foliage of a smoke bush with the pink bloom of clematis 'Princess Diana', which grows up its branches in my garden.

Get that compost pile cooking again
Although I add kitchen scraps to the compost pile all winter, I do let it go dormant during winter. I just bought a compost thermometer (I am oddly excited about this purchase) and found that my pile is currently 32 degrees. I don't think anything is decomposing at that temperature.

As soon as it is workable (and, um, not covered in snow), I will start stirring the pile, adding water if it is too dry. Because I put a lot of well chopped up leaves and yard waste in the pile during our fall cleanup the pile always comes into spring a bit heavy on the "browns" (high in carbon). I kick-start in spring by adding well moistened alfalfa cubes. Alfalfa is very high in nitrogen so really balances things out and getting things decomposing again. I buy a bag of alfalfa cubes at the feed store about once every three years and soak them well in a five-gallon bucket so they break down a bit. Then I pour them into the compost, stir well and within a few days I usually have steam rising from the pile. There is something so incredibly satisfying about making the best thing for your garden. My problem is that there is never, ever enough compost.

Plan your vegetable garden
Ideally you will grab a piece of graph paper to do this, but I'll be honest and tell you that I usually end up doing it on a piece of scratch paper while watching television, but that's because I know from previous years about how much space I need for various things. Just putting it on paper helps a lot. Remember not to plant your tomatoes in the same place every year if you can at all help it. They say it's best to alternate between three different places but I just switch the tomatoes from one side of the raised bed to the other every year. It helps to know how much space things need to grow but keep in mind that you can plant much more intensely if you have very good soil enriched with a lot of compost. That's the theory I subscribe to. Make the soil as good as you can and then stick a lot of veggies in there. You can also plan out where you'll be switching things out. For instance, I always place my cucumbers and my peas in the same spot because the peas are usually done by the time it's time for the cukes to be planted.

Finish your clean up
If you're like me, sometimes you don't get to everything that needs cleaning up in fall. I prefer to leave some things, like perennial grasses, standing for winter interest. It's important to chop off the dead foliage on these as soon as possible (mine are still under snow, but I will do it the second I can get to them). The problem with spring clean up is that you have to be careful about walking in your beds. The last thing you want to do is compact your soil when it is sodden. If I have to step in beds I try to do it in one step instead of tromping all over the place and then I use a rake to reach in and pull out any material I've cut down.

So all is not lost as we wait for spring to arrive!

Speaking of spring, don't forget about the Grand Garden Show on Mackinac Island this summer (check out some of the details here). They now have the website for the event up and complete and I'm absolutely thrilled to see that Stacey Hirvela of Spring Meadow Nursery and Susan Martin of Walters Gardens have joined the line-up. I heard Stacey speak back when she was working at Martha Stewart Inc. and it was memorable.

Jack Barnwell also tells me that he's got all the private garden owners signed on for tours as well and I can assure you this will be a spectacular opportunity that is probably a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

Anyway, check out the website for more info or you can call Karen at 906-430-1206 or email her at mackinacgardenshow (at) gmail.com if you want to ask some specific questions.

The ultimate gardener's getaway

Have your thoughts turned to summer yet? I've been trying to stave off that feeling I get every year at about this time when I get the itch to start gardening, but it seems impossible.

What I'm about to tell you about won't help with that. If you need some help with your garden dreaming though, that I can help with.

Remember Jack Barnwell? I did a Q&A with him a couple years ago after finding out that he was the talented garden designer behind some of Mackinac Island's most amazing gardens. Well Jack wrote to me a month ago or so with some really exciting news that I'm so happy to share with you.

Jack Barnwell toting plants the Mackinac Island way.

This summer there will be a garden event  on Mackinac Island to best all garden events. OK, maybe I'm being dramatic, but there is no doubt this will be phenomenal.

Here's the quick rundown: Two days, three nights, umpteen amazing private gardens, the amazing gardens of The Grand Hotel, seminars by amazing garden designers, cocktail parties, dinners and oh yeah, my buddy P. Diddy (that's P. Allen Smith in The Impatient Gardener speak).

It's called The Grand Garden Tour and it will be held August 25-27 at none other than The Grand Hotel. You do know The Grand Hotel, right? It is certainly one of the most famous hotels in the world and was featured in the movie "Somewhere in Time" starring the late Christopher Reeve. It is the epitome of charm and is the first thing you see when you approach Michigan's Mackinac Island. Its grounds are immaculately kept and feature enough gardens to spend a day exploring. I actually spent part of a night there a couple years ago.*

This is the same bed that borders the road at The Grand Hotel in 2011 and 2012. It is always so much fun to see what they come up with every year.

A bit about Mackinac Island, in case you're not familiar with it. It's an island (8 miles in circumference) right where lakes Michigan and Huron meet. No cars (other than the occasional emergency vehicle, but I've only seen one in 30 or so times I've been there) are allowed on the island, so you either get around on foot, on bike or by horse. All of this makes it totally unique. It survives on summer tourism, but there are absolutely lovely summer homes (and a few year-round homes) all over the island. It is really the ultimate retreat. Gardeners know there is something special about Mackinac Island. If plants could dream of plant heaven, it would look a lot like Mackinac Island. Of course the black gold that is composted horse manure is part of it (obviously that's plentiful on an island that relies on horses for transportation), but there's something special going on here beyond that.

This is the Jack Barnwell-designed garden at The Iroquois Hotel. It is one of my favorites and the inspiration for  the stacked-stone wall I put in the back yard.

It never ceases to amaze me how much plant material Jack fits into his installations to make them full but not crowded looking. 

As I mentioned, I've been to Mackinac (pronounced Mack-i-naw, it's a French-explorers-weird-spelling thing) Island many, many times in my life and every time I've gotten there by boat. All but a few times, I've sailed there in a sailboat race from Chicago to the island, but guess what, you'll get there by boat as well, because that's the only way to get there. Well, technically speaking you can fly into the small airport on the island or, in winter, ride a snowmobile there over the frozen Straits of Mackinac, but almost everyone gets there by a ferry from either St. Ignace or Mackinaw City (on the Upper Peninsula and the mainland of Michigan and connected by the spectacular Mackinac Bridge).

The Mackinac Bridge as seen from a plan leaving Mackinac Island.

But back to the event. Attendees will go to a cocktail reception on the front porch of the Grand Hotel (probably the most famous front porch in the country, and by the way, if you're not staying there you usually have to pay to even step foot on it). The front porch is always decorated with gorgeous red geraniums, but they are doing it up even better for this event. Proven Winners, which is a partner in the event, is going to bring in huge planters and loads of amazing flowers. Then you can have dinner in the dining room and enjoy the Mackinac Island nightlife (I know a little something about this so if you want personal recommendations, let me know).

This photo, taken from a horse-drawn taxi while passing by show just the tiniest corner of the Grand Hotel's amazing front porch, but the entire thing is lined with red geraniums.

Monday morning there will be seminars and live hands-on demonstrations in the hotel's Tea Garden. Presenters, including Jack, will do container and in-ground design and installations live. Jack tells me that lemonade, tea and cookies will be served (as well as music) during the presentations. Can you imagine a more perfect day?

After lunch, attendees can head off to view about a dozen private gardens on the island. Honestly, this would be my favorite part. The gardens are so amazing, but you'll never have another chance to see them like this.

This is a favorite private garden of mine. I walk past it on the island every year.

After that, it's more cocktails in the garden with P. Diddy, who will also present a seminar Tuesday morning. P. Allen Smith is gardening's secret funny man, as I found out at Proven Winners event a couple years ago (see, me and P. Diddy go waaaaaayyyy back).

I do not know what is wrong with my face in this photo. I look like I had dental work done or something. Anyway, see, me and P. Diddy are pretty much besties.

When Jack first wrote to me about the event he described his vision for The Grand Garden Show as, "Simple, yet elegant and awe inspiring." Given the rundown of the program and the setting, I'd say that sounds just about right.

So that's the preview of what I have to think is going to end up being one the most amazing gardening events ever. Rooms are already booking up at the Grand Hotel, so don't wait too long to decide if you're going. Keep in mind the prices you're seeing for the booking through the Grand Hotel (I have to check with Jack if you can stay in other hotels on the island and still participate) include everything: all the seminars, food, cocktails and discounts on ferry tickets. I'm told the website for the event will be up soon and as soon as it is I'll let you know.

So what do you think? Sound like the perfect gardener's getaway or what?

A favorite Jack Barnwell-designed hanging basket.

The amazingly lush window boxes outside the downtown grocery store, designed, of course, by Jack Barnwell.

*So, a few years ago, we didn't have hotel rooms sorted for after our sailboat race to the island (these usually book up a year in advance or close to it) and I went to Expedia in hopes of finding a room. I did book a room at a small hotel but it turned out Expedia had poor records and there weren't any rooms available. Since it was Expedia's fault, it was up to them to find me another room. And the only available rooms on the island were at The Grand Hotel. It's a bit of a walk from where the boats dock up to the hotel, but I was still excited to stay there even if it was only for one night. But here's the problem. The race was one of the slowest in recent memory. Normally we finish very early in the morning on Monday or sometimes even Sunday night, but that year we finished Tuesday at 2 a.m. My room was only for Monday night. So at 3 a.m. I wandered up the hill and checked in to the fanciest hotel I've ever stepped foot in, having not showered or slept much in three days. I think I may have still been in the same clothes I wore during the entire race. I wasn't alone though. Checking in in front of me was famed Chicago architect Helmut Jahn (who is also an accomplished sailor) and I took solace in the fact that he looked worse than me. Anyway, I checked in at 3 a.m., slept until 9 a.m., went downstairs for the included breakfast (delicious by the way), and was checked out by 10:30. And that's how I spent my seven-hour stay at The Grand Hotel.