Winter Garden Tour of Mimi’s Shade Garden

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Hey friends welcome to Gardening with Creekside  today we are going to take a winter garden tour   of My Mama’s Garden affectionally known as Mimi we  have been in her garden multiple times throughout   various times of the year but we’ve never done  a winter garden tour and I I approached Mimi  

Yesterday I was like mama please can I come do a  winter garden tour and she was like sure why not   um so I absolutely love coming to my mama’s Garden  and taking a tour because she is vastly different  

Than I am we only live a couple hundred yards  away from one another but she lives underneath   these mature pine trees so she is very much a dry  shade garden she has zero irrigation so there’s   not one piece of automated Irrigation in her  garden she either hand Waters it or just allows  

The Lord to water it and or she picks plants that  will thrive in her dry shade spaces to give you a   little background uh my mama mama and daddy have  lived here since the late 70s but it has really  

Been in the last probably 12 to 15 years that she  has really devoted a lot of time to her Gardens   she was a teacher she retired and then she uh  came and just spends tons of time in the garden  

She is a force to be reckoned with she exhausts  me she is like the little Energizer Bunny and   think that you’re going to see how her um efforts  have paid off in her garden so we’re going to walk  

Through and I will also say Mimi does not mind  being in the background of the camera but she   does not want to talk on camera so that is why  she has never been um miked up before and goes  

Through the garden one day I hope to get her on  camera uh just even honestly for my own personal   um sake so I can document all of the fun stories  and because there’s she knows where every plant  

Came from every plant where it came from blah  blah all the good things things but she does not   want to be on camera so we respect that obviously  and she allows us to come through and look at her  

Garden so I hope you find this very inspirational  because I think it’s really important to um look   at other Gardens even if you have completely  different growing conditions you’re going to   find inspiration always and forever you will get  inspired from other people’s Gardens because of  

Great things that they do for example you’re going  to notice as we go through um Mama’s yard is that   because she is dry shade right so I mean look at  all of these pine trees y’all tons of pine trees  

She uses a lot of containers in her garden so  she does a ton of container garden uh gardening   and she has lots of fun Whimsical art that she  has found throughout all of her garden travels  

From different places she is a great she’s a  great uh Shopper when it comes to garden art I   tell you so she can buy things and she also finds  things in nature and adds them to her garden like  

This old gnarly stump that has moss growing on it  so you’re going to notice that a lot throughout   her Gardens is that she really employs a lot of  fun unique natural and man-made pieces right to   enhance her garden you’re also going to notice  that there you might notice that there’s lots of  

Various little buildings around here my daddy is  very industrious and he is forever building some   sort of little building and so that’s what the  deal is with that VI were remember we did a early  

Spring tour and because all of these are aelas I  mean and they go way back we’ll see more of them   later these are the you know traditional old old  Tomy um aelas that bloom once in the spring but  

Are just magnificent when they are in full bloom  so that is is what all the greenery is is the uh   is the zelas that are gorgeous now Mama also  has tons of Linton roses helbor and helbor of   course um are just those beautiful perennials  very very hearty that bloom in the winter time  

Typically around lint some some are a little bit  more overachievers than others she went ahead and   cleaned up her old foliage and this one is putting  out lots of buds you’ll also notice that Mo for  

The most part she does great job of she has her  plants label she made these cute little um plant   signs out of like some copper I think that she got  from Like Home Depot and then somehow cut out the  

Little the little circles so she created those  herself um so we’re going to see lots of fun uh   like I said Linton roses I’m going to back up here  just a second I walk past them too much um right  

Here she has and they’re just dotted throughout  everywhere but you can see so for right here she   went ahead we’ve had an abundance of leaves and  pine needles this year so she had to come in and  

She pulled out just a little bit so you have the  old foliage and then you can see that bright that   bright foliage right there that is coming out  it was underneath those leaves and pine needles  

So she’s just has come in and tried to to show  them off a little bit she’s got an ice and Roses   right here that is budding out and is going to be  absolutely stunning so we’re going to walk on down  

The driveway right here just fun like I think my  daddy may have built my dad like I said my daddy’s   very industrious he built this cute little bird  house for us so you’re going to see lots of lots  

Of fun Whimsy in her garden he is ALS my dad is  also a woodworker um he has a sawmill he builds   Furniture he um refinish furniture for many many  many years and they recently cut down had to cut  

Down a tree because it was getting too close to a  building so this is actually the stump well part   of the the butt of the tree flipped over and  so she is using it as like a little tabletop  

For her little containers so these are all various  unique stone containers that she’s put some little   violas in there um she has an aave she has some  simper vums simper vums whatever you want to call   them H and chicks so just really fun right just  adding things in there throughout the garden she  

Even took one a pair of Daddy’s old boots and pl  use those as planters as well this is the Feather   Falls grass y’all is that not just I’m telling you  it is the greatest uh perennial CarX I love this  

Thing so Feather Falls is doing great and then  she has um I want to say this is a uh Bloom struck   hydrangea so it is a macro hyd D because she is  so shady here she does a lot of um obviously shade  

Tolerant hydranges right and for example she  has on this side of the driveway these are the   tough stuff hydranges lots of um good growth here  because it was challenging for her because this  

Area is interesting it gets a good amount I would  say four to 5 hours of intense hot Sun um but then   it’s in the shade so she was having a kind of  a hard time trying to figure out exactly which  

Hydrangea to use she had tried a couple either it  didn’t get enough Sun for the panicles or it was   too much stuff for um a maill so the tough stuffs  they are saratas and they really are doing quite  

Nicely again lots of containers um that she uses  she is a bird friendly habitat as well and so she   I gave her I gave her a bird bird feeder from uh  for Christmas and the birds are just having the  

Most fun on that as well so this area looks vastly  different in the winter than it does in the summer   it is just filled with tons of perennials in here  that you know in the winter a little dormant right  

Uh she has huge hostas I mean massive hostas all  in this bed right here she has of course those   nice Evergreen ferns this is a sum and substance  hosta that is in here and you’ll also notice that  

As we go through the gardens she has a lot of  cast iron plants so that has worked really really   well for her in her Gardens and so she has just  a lot of those available and planted throughout  

Her Gardens as well moving on over here this is  a fun collection growing up as a kid this was   all grass um but of course that was you know 46  years ago when I was born and the the trees have  

Gotten bigger and she has lost her son so they  just decided you know it’s just not even worth   it to try to grow grass so they don’t have any  grass within their yard they have turned it all  

Into natural and it just makes the most sense but  this is such a fun little area where she has put   you know all sorts of different containers right  and so she’s got containers she’s got her little  

Mushrooms she’s got her wind sculptures these are  I know somebody’s going to ask because she has a   ton of these These are um from Lyman Whitaker  he is an artist I believe he is based out of  

Arizona um but she has collected these over many  years from up in Asheville there’s an art gallery   in Asheville North Carolina that she gets these  from so beautiful wind sculptures that she leaves   out year round but you’ll notice with her um her  pots her containers that she has them of different  

Sizes and even even though the pots may be of  different sizes she uses um you know old logs   and stumps to raise them up so it’s not just all  on one level she’s bringing lots of height to her  

Garden um and even here in the wintertime lots of  fun interest in there she got a fire chief Arbor   VY and put it in there and it is doing great same  thing back here right so it’s that same idea using  

Those containers and has them on various levels to  to bring interest especially here to the back of   her garden so these are all in different shades of  blue back here notice that some have uh perennials  

In them that you can see right so she has lots  of ukuras and ukas but then she also has some   pots that are seemingly empty they’re not empty  they have hostas in them but that’s okay that  

They’re dormant for the winter T the season and  for everything there is a season she also has tons   of leaves so Leaf litter she uses a a lot of leaf  litter um she does not use mulch per se like how  

We use a hardwood mulch she just uses what she has  available to her and she is like the queen of leaf   litter and so what she’ll do is as she chops it  you know she’ll put it out but inevitably she’ll  

Have more that she’ll need later on so she uses  uh we happily let her use these old um Nursery   pots and so she this is how she stores it and say  then when the season arrives that she needs a some  

She’ll just come and grab them so that’s what the  deal is with that this is an area right here where   this is an Oakleaf hydrangea and uh there goes  Rosie so Rosie is is their Doberman so off she  

Goes and but you’ll notice all of these Linton  roses in here just tons of them these are what   we call the old Tommy uh Linton roses where they  naturalize so all these have spread from seed and  

She’ll dig them up and she’ll give them away so  um she’s giving me some she’s taking some down   to the nursery lots of those naturalizing hbor  and then as we come to this flower bed this is  

Another fun one this just gets uh some sun but  not a ton definitely not a full sun flower bed   notice how she uses her edging how to define  from the Natural Area you know where the dog  

May play or the kids may play the grandkids old  logs right so she’s brought this in to bring a   nice defined border epimedium epimedium is a  wonderful more shade tolerant perennial that   is Evergreen right so even in the winter time she  has got structure here and makes a great border  

She’s got some yin and yang V burnhams she’s got  the Florida sunshines she has uh a white by the   gate so chamia as just like I do uh we got these  of course from the nursery and uh so the wi by the  

Gate and then she actually found the trellis and  I loved her trellis so much I ordered one exactly   like it so we do have a very very similar taste  and then the cute little Weather Vein right there  

With her uh rooster Weather Vein but all dotted  throughout her Gardens all the way in the back in   the woods there’s just you know aelas that have  been there I mean some of these are older than I  

Am and just all dotted throughout their just bring  that Garden you know out right into the woods for   sure and then I love this little area too because  she she employs a lot of Evergreen ferns so she  

Is a huge fan of the Autumn ferns as I am so see  even in the winter time I mean it is right the   very you know 2024 is here right and so she uses  these because they bring such fun and interest  

To her garden throughout the dead of winter here  cast iron plants all dotted throughout more hbor   she just has them spread out all out through the  woods all right so what we’re going to do now is  

We’re going to move over to the other side Garden  as we transition over to the side Garden um this   is the area when we were here in the spring this  is that whole Bank of aelas that was in full blo  

In all of their glory and just spectacular uh so  in the winter time they are the home of tons of   little birds I can see they’re actually moving  through there like the pl if you look at the  

Plant you can actually see it moving and those  are the little birds that take uh refuge in the   winter time and really I guess year round in  there so lots of cover for her sweet little   song birds again you’re going to see Linton roses  all throughout her flower beds and talking about  

You know massive pine trees these pine trees are  wider than I am I mean just massive this is I’ve   always loved this little bed this little island  bed has been here as long as I can remember it’s  

She’s got Roa dendrons in here she has got um  some sweet little like there’s a a maiden hair   fern right here that uh is is doing well for the  end of you know for the dead of winter right here  

Uh but lots of different plants in here um and she  you know obviously she’s going to repeat a good   number she has like I said tons of helbor she’s  got various different types of cast iron plants  

Like look at this one look at that beautiful one  oh my goodness I do not see a name tag on this   one I don’t know if this is Milky Way um but  just such neat color to it with those spots on  

It so just repeating those same even though it  may be the same uh type of plant right it may   be a different cultivar a different variety  so different types of autumn ferns different  

Types of helor and so forth and so on again she is  the queen of using uh natural elements to come in   and just make things fun and different these are  literally just old logs that they have set into  

The ground upright created a little bit of a bed  around it with some little baby helor in there and   then another wind sculpture in there sometimes in  the Summer she will take pots of you like smaller  

Containers and put them on top of the logs um but  yeah even without in the dead of winter it looks   great lots and lots and lots of hydranges whether  they are the various oak leaves that she has tons  

Of Max in here because this is definitely an area  that lends itself for it and Chamilia so she and   I have both gotten on the chamelea kick together  so we are trying to implement more and more Chamas  

Into our garden if a container breaks no worries  she’ll just flip it upside down so it can become   home to like a little a toad or a little critter  um so yeah so don’t don’t freak out too much when  

Something breaks it’s just another opportunity  uh for something fun she has got um this bed as   well is full of hydrangeas helbor Bruna various  ferns in here and uh these aelas too are about   older than I am and just full of blooms tons of  different colors in here and so the springtime  

It is just absolutely alive if you remember we  were in the forest pansy bed last week and I was   sharing with you my Arbor V Fern look look at how  her arbu ferns have just grown and developed y’all  

This this pine tree is probably u 2 and 1/2 3 ft  wide just straight across it is huge and all the   way around it she has got those arborite ferns  just they will natur I don’t I don’t remember  

How long she’s had these here it has been a while  um so this is not like an invasive plant but it   is clearly very very happy here at the base of  this pine tree and of course the arbor ferns are  

Called they’re not technically a fern they’re a  member of the spike Moss family but they look like   a fern and they’re called arbiv ferns because  they’ll take on these Brown coppery colors in   the winter and then in the summer spring it is  a bright bright green so just I mean a beautiful  

Specimen right there of of the um that Spike Moss  that Arbor bite Fern throughout these are helbor   these are different they look very different maybe  than the type of hore that you were used to um but   they are hellor throughout here fun you can see  yet again another Feather Falls lots of autumn  

Ferns of course she has her Charleston basket  boy she has a fun uh log Limb and she’s using   it to hang her Windchime on and then as we go  through you’ve heard me talk about the um Oakleaf  

Hydrangea that Mama has that she has had for um I  remember taking pictures of my Emily in front of   this in the springtime and it was a decent size  then probably maybe like I don’t know 5T tall  

Emily’s 19 so that gives you an idea of like how  long this hydrangea has been here um I am 52 53   used to be 5 three I think I’m shrinking um and  this thing is huge I mean it is massive so when  

You have those old traditional oaklea hydranges  give them room y’all they’re going to get big so   when she is in all of her glory she is stunning  but you’ll see here Underneath more of those what   we call just the old timey traditional helor  that naturalize so these have just all spread  

From seed and going around um throughout all of  her containers right it looks empty but it’s not   and she has her little tag on there that is a  June hosta is in there um and so she has lots  

And lots of containers because she does deal with  um vs vs are a big problem for her so she employs   the containers to use a lot edgeworthia she has  got two stunning edgeworthia right here edgeworthy   of course is that fantastic shrub that gives you  wonderful late winter interest because these are  

The flower buds and what they’re going to do is  they’re going to open up and they’ll turn um like   a really sweet kind of a yellow orange that all of  these will be like little trumpet flowers in here  

And the fragrance is absolutely Divine so this  is a two gorgeous Edgeworth is that she has right   here just creates little pockets right so here’s  like a little mini bed within the big bed she has  

One again around the pine tree this time she used  stone that came from the property and she edged   it out more see another Feather Falls we love  that and I am sure that there’s a yeah there’s  

A UK carella that is in there as well and there  might even be a hosta that is in talking about   her dealing with um vs in her garden because they  just absolutely destroy it so she’ll use use the  

Containers and then she use um uses these little  cages from the vulk King which are like wire mesh   bags and so you take your plant and you put the  plant inside the bag and then you bury it all and  

Then you leave a little bit on the outside so that  the vs cannot get to it so that the roots can grow   through um so even if the vs were to eat some of  those smaller roots that go through the bag they  

Can’t get to the part of the plant so this is a  great way to protect your plants especially when   you’re planting new ones so she has one here here  and then up so she has them throughout and then  

If you use you know your pine needles your mulch  your compost whatever it is to kind of Disguise   those edges of it where it’s sticking out is not  very noticeable but it allows you to have plants  

In your garden um without being annihilated by  the vs so that is a that is an option vul King   and so you can check them out that you can order  from them online also daddy built Mama this little  

Gazebo um I remember exactly this would have been  14 years ago because we actually came out here he   was building it and we were like Daddy we’re  having another baby uh that was when we were   pregnant with Jackson and so he built this gazebo  there was actually this is Carolina Jasmine that  

Is on here I mean there’s only two plants y’all so  two plants these are close to 14 years old 13 14   years old um planted one is down here at this base  and then you can see one is on the other pole and  

They have just completely taken over this gazebo  there was a Weather Vein up at the tippy top I’m   not sure if it’s still there if they were able to  get it out um but yeah this is just a fun little  

Place to go in the spring spring early summer  it smells Divine because the Jasmine is is in   full bloom and is just spectacular but you can see  what she did is she started it out and used some  

Chicken wire some fence paning whatever you want  to call that um to get it going and then you can   see how much it has just gone up and it’s just  doing great Mama obviously loves using big pops  

Of color so you’re going to see both colors in her  garden just like the red chairs the little yellow   this is like I think a Mason masonry bee little  Hive that she is very very aware of her sweet   pollinators and beneficial insects just gorgeous  color right even in the dead of winter bright  

Chartreuse colors right here this is another fun  bed that I just adore right now it looks pretty   empty but there are tons of hostas in here and you  can see too that cu the vs seem to like the hostas  

The most if you kind of glance through you’ll be  able to see she probably has maybe 10 hostas that   are in those vul King bags in here just to protect  them and again just about everything is labeled  

With her little her little signs she has got look  at this how fun this was an augur off of a grain   grain machine that Daddy put in for her and and  then that’s a little bird house that he built  

For her so lots of fun different kind of Whimsy in  here she is like I said the queen of some yard art   this is um stained glass from a gallery in colia I  believe it’s called one-eared cow pottery and they  

Have got beautiful beautiful stained glass that  is both for the home and the garden just really   really cool and uh another Oakleaf right tons of  hostas are in here and she’s got all her bags in  

There she’s got some you know Iris she has got  different caraxes in here and then of course the   uh famous Savannah ear is right here this was one  of her very first unique stone pieces that she got  

We put it in here for her and it is absolutely  filled with tons of beautiful shade perennials   so when this thing is in all of its Glory it is  spectacular it is gorgeous so remember don’t be   afraid think outside the box when you’re looking  at your containers put those perennials in there  

Yes it’s good and uh again she has a problem she  has bowls she needs to solve that problem they   can’t get to it in our containers so there you  go um as we move out out closer to we call it  

The Walnut field because this this field out here  is full of walnut trees that my dad planted and so   you get to get more sun here we have um she has  her David Austin Rose I gave her a poet’s wife  

For Mother’s Day I gave her the unique stone and  the rose so this is a poet’s wife the poet’s wife   excuse me U from David aluson because yellow is  her favorite Rose so that is a beautiful yellow  

Rose and is doing quite quite nicely but as we  move out further um it gets more sun so this   area um if she’s going to have Sun this is where  she’s going to put it and I’m telling you what  

Y’all these beds are just jam-packed with tons  of perennials this is a fig tree that she took   a cutting from her mama’s yard and planted this  one I don’t even know how many years ago and so  

Then I have a cutting off of it and I have a  fig tree near the chicken cook po so this is   grandama Betty’s uh figs that produce figs and  their Doberman uh Rosie absolutely loves like   she’ll eat them straight off the tree Mimi and  Poppy don’t get very many because Rosie eats  

Them all um but just in these beds lots of fun  interest let’s go let’s kind of tiptoe and notice   that she has little paths right here so again she  has Stone from the property and then we’ll create  

A little path that we can walk through so you’re  not actually walking in her flower beds but as we   have a a different perspective here um going into  the field so that you can see all of just kind of  

That whole um the whole big picture here lots of  grasses dianthus sedums eonia butterfly bushes   amsonia I mean tons of just variations of sun  loving plants that she has still bringing in um   some stumpery back there uh all throughout here  and is just just a fantastic job lots of of the  

U the stained glass the blown glass lots of that  within her Gardens but just I just adore coming to   Mama’s Garden and um seeing all her fun cuz she  just thinks outside the box which I love and so  

She is she is a tough Gardener she is uh she does  not baby her plants they’re uh you know is kind of   like you’re either going to make it or you’re not  and she is not afraid to move plants she will move  

Them in a skinny minute if somebody’s not working  and she’s like okay well we’re just going to move   you and figure out somewhere else for you to go  so she is um definitely a Master Gardener and all  

All definitions and all aspects of that and I am  thoroughly blessed and I know that I am blessed   to have her as my mama and as a gardening Mentor  we have a lot of fun together in the garden we  

Can get into some trouble together into the garden  and uh you know I think as most gardeners you have   those gardening buddies that you you know they get  you into trouble but it’s all in a good kind of  

Trouble you know so that’s me me and I so we’re we  can be quite dangerous in the garden together um   but I hope you have found this fun and informative  and just knowing that you can have tons of winter  

Interest in your garden even if it’s a shade  garden even if it’s dry and you have no irrigation   whatsoever just that time and energy that you put  into your garden and that gardening is a lifelong  

Event it is not a static sport it is not a static  hobby we are constantly out in our Gardens and to   show you that this is a mature garden right I mean  she has been working this Garden some of these  

Pieces have been in here for 40 years right those  aelas and other pieces are brand new but she’s   constantly adding and tweaking what is working if  she finds a new plant where can I put it that kind   of thing so just you know give yourself Grace  when you’re garding don’t think you’re going  

To get this kind of garden overnight I am still  working my little honey to get halfway where she   is in her garden so it’s a lot of fun visit those  other Gardens so that you can be inspired I don’t  

Have a ton of d shade I hardly have any dry shade  whatsoever but I can take nuggets from her garden   and Implement them into mine so as always hope you  found this fun informative and inspirational y’all  

Have a fantastic day thank you Mama for letting me  come to your garden again see y’all next time bye friends