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Friday, May 6, 2011

The Family Bed---I Mean Garden Bed

Ever since we started planning our new house and new garden, I wanted to plant a family garden.  I already had a family name plant-- Ledebouria cooperi.  Our last name is Ledebuhr, very close to Ledebouria.  I bought it years ago and brought it with me to our new home.   I was worried it wouldn't come up this spring but my fears were dashed when all of a sudden there it was!  Hooray---



Now we wait for it to bloom. 

After reading some of the blogs I decided on a David Austin order for my namesake plant--  David Austin Rose 'Janet'.  It came bare-rooted and dormant but quickly started to sprout. 

'Janet' is a light pink mixed with copper color, with a strong Tea Rose fragrance.  I can't wait! 

My husband's plant is due to be delivered in October....Paeonia 'Charlie's White'.   This was a tough one to find in stock.  Will post about its arrival this fall. 

Our daughters, Rachel's and Rebecca's plants have been planted close by 'Janet'.  Clematis 'Rebecca' is a repeat bloomer.  First blooming in May-June time frame and then later it will bloom again in August.  It is Pruning Group 2...prune lightly in early spring just above new leaves.  Remove dead or broken branches.    It is a gorgeous red bloom.



Rachel's plant is a peony, another tough to find plant....but I finally was able to buy one and it is now in the ground.  Paeonia officinalis 'Rachel' is another red bloom--a big, double crimson slightly fragrant bloom.  I will have to wait until next year for it to bloom....this one is still pretty immature.  This season will be root and foliage production.  

I found a few other Rachels and Rebeccas, might add them as the years go by....The Rebecca Dahlia is really pretty and Rachel Dianthus is a sweet little fragrant bloom. 

We will be having a wedding next summer, welcoming Alex to the family as Rachel's husband-- and will need to find a proper Alex plant.  There is an Alexander Fleming peony...a possibility.  Anyone have suggestions?   I have been looking around to see if I can find a good Alex to add to the family garden. 

If you are thinking of doing a family garden there is a nice website that can get you started on some of the plants with 'people' names.  The downside of the website is that it is an English site and not all the plant material is available in the States.  Royal Horticultural Society.
Have fun with it!! 

A little follow up on the cicadas... the ones in my neck of the woods are the 13 year cycle species -- in the northern part of the United States there are the 17 year cycle species.  There was a question about the size of these ugly bugs-


And an interesting photo-- one of the cicadas emerging from its exoskeleton. 


©Copyright 2011 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

24 comments:

  1. Fabulous shot of the emerging cicada!

    I never thought of doing a garden with plants bearing the same name as the family! How cool!

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  2. I've been thinking of putting in a family bed for a while. It's so hard to find appropriate plants. So many plants with first names also have last names, which don't really fit. So I've been trying to widen the field by including the names of hobbies and stuff.

    Thanks for the link to the RHS plant finder, that might be useful.

    The plants you chose are all quite beautiful. Unlike that cicada coming out of its exoskeleton. Yuck.

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  3. I like the idea of a family garden! For a long time I've toyed with the idea of a Star Trek garden or a chocolate-themed garden.

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  4. Great idea, the family garden. Rebecca is beautiful I can't wait to see 'Janet' and 'Rachel' in bloom. :)

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  5. I love this idea. I think all your choices will work well together.
    Cicadas are strange creatures, that is for sure. Good shot!

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  6. A family garden. Now that is such a wonderful idea. Thanks for the follow up on the cicadas.Happy Mother's Day Janet!

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  7. Happy Mothers Day Janet.
    I love the choices you've made.
    I started getting plants that had the ggs's names a couple yrs ago. Gd's was a geranium, youngest ggs's was a Japanese grass. Sadly both died but I have tried to replace them. Hopefully I can.
    Thanks for the link.

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  8. Neat idea doing a family name themed garden. I've never heard of this before. Looks like yours will be very lovely with lots of blooms.

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  9. The family garden sounds fun, I might have to borrow your idea if you don't mind. My boys would get a kick out it that's for sure. :)

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  10. I love your idea for a the Family Bed, er, I mean Garden, Janet! All of them look like lovely plants and I hope they'll do well for you. I looked up 'Janet' and it looks like she's a Squill. I've heard of them blooming in late winter/early spring, so yours must be a very different type of Squill. I'll be interested to see the bloom. That's a really good shot of the cicada emerging from the exo-skeleton; I've never seen that happen before. I do have photos from the cicada's here, last yr. or a couple of yrs. ago. They are certainly different, I'll say that. Luckily they are harmless!

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  11. I love the idea of a family garden, I will bear that in mind for my next place. Love that last shot, good catch, though a slightly disturbing image.

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  12. Such a cool post! I have a daffodil with my name and I always feel extra happy to see it blooming. Love the link to the namesake plants. Good luck with Alex!

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  13. I've never ever thought of doing a family garden Janet but how meaningful. I'm now going to be searching for Kathleen plants (me first, of course, since I'm doing the planting!!)
    Hope you are having a great Mother's Day!!

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  14. What a great idea--a 'family garden'! All the plants are beautiful, and no doubt 'Charlie's White' will be quite a handsome addition. Whereas the cicadas, not so handsome. Perhaps even the inspiration for horror/sci-fi movies. Ewww. But I can't take my eyes off them. Kudos to you for being brave and bold and getting up close for some fantastic shots.

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  15. your family garden is going to be beautiful. the challenge for me was finding the plant possibilities for each member and then trying to figure out what would work together (similar light needs, etc).

    That emerging cicada picture is amazing!

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  16. Unless you think it will go to his head, you could plant Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea).

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  17. What a neat idea Janet! I may have to do that myself one day. Thanks for the link to the website as well! Looks as if your doing well in your new state. Your gardens are looking great!
    Alan

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  18. I add plants to my garden that remind me of my childhood but never thought of making a family named garden. What a wonderful idea!

    That shot of the cicada coming out into the world is awesome! They are still singing their little hearts out here. A constant ringing of the ears....

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  19. The family 'bed' is such a fun idea! There is a Princess Alexandra of Kent english rose, but I bet your Alex would prefer a 'male' peony named Alexander Fleming instead. Isn't the Janet rose supposed to have especially pretty buds? You'll have to post pictures in all stages of bloom!

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  20. Your garden looks great!

    Here cicatas just started singing. I can tell summer is comming.

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  21. A family garden is a great idea! It sounds like a scavenger hunt to find the the correct names. Lots of fun research, I'm sure!

    The cicadas here are so loud--all the time! Non-gardening types have been so confused by all the noise. It took me a day to figure it out...the first day, it sounded like someone's burglary alarm system was going off a few miles away. When it was still going on the 2nd day, I realized what was happening!

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  22. Greeting folks, the Cicadas are even louder than last week. Hard to imagine. I enjoy the peace and quiet of the evening..as the bullfrog start their songs.

    tina, I was surprised to find the emerging cicada. You ought to try a family garden, especially as your family is growing!

    Alison, for some of the family names I may ignore the surname. There is an event Rhododendron called Mt. St. Helens, which I have thought about putting in. It erupted the year we got married, almost stopped my husband from being able to drive from Seattle to Virginia.

    Sweetbay, there is a chocolate garden nursery-- worth looking into if you decide to do the chocolate themed garden. Would be fun!

    Grace, I am looking forward to my ladies blooming too.

    Rosey, I think the choices will be great together, adding to the challenge of adding Alex.

    Lona, seems these cicadas could be the focus of any blog posting for weeks on end!

    Lola, thanks, sorry your namesake plants died. Maybe some others will be more hardy?

    Marguerite, I can't remember where or when the family garden idea started, but glad I am finally able to get it underway.

    Racquel, you should do it! I know the boys would think it was fun.

    Jan, haha thanks! Yes, the Ledebouria is a squill and am hoping it will bloom this year. Since it was transplanted it may need another year.

    Janet, it would be a good start to a new garden. The RHS link would be perfect for you.

    Eliza, thanks! I will have to Google the Eliza daffodil.

    Kathleen, it does make it special to have the family garden in our new house. Good luck finding a good Kathleen for yours!!

    Aerie-el, thanks, from everything I have read about Charlie's White, it will be wonderful.
    As for the cicadas, they are harmless (save for one flying in your face) just ugly with those red eyes. They are all over the place.

    Ginger, right, that is the challenge. My family bed is on the corner of the porch so I am able to have a varied light environment. Good luck with the rest of your family garden.

    Les, I will have to think about that one. While I don't think it will go to his head, I need to see if it would work in with the rest of the plants.

    Alan, hi, thanks for stopping by. We are doing well here in SC. Sorry we didn't get a chance to meet before we left.

    Skeeter, childhood memory plants are nice to have as well. My problem with that is we lived in so many different places not all would work here.

    VW, yes, the Princess Alexandra wouldn't work, but I imagine it is gorgeous, like all the english roses. I am looking forward to seeing Janet bloom...there are some buds forming.

    fer, thanks! there are cicadas in Japan as well??? wow!

    Cameron, it is a bit of a scavenger hunt to find some good names.
    I think the cicadas are louder than last week!

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  23. I love the idea of a "family" garden.

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  24. Kim and Victoria, thanks. It is a fun idea, maybe you could try a family garden.

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