Lately, I've been addicted to watching YouTube vids of the BBC show "Gardeners World" which I just recently found out goes way way back to the 1960s. I've been watching vids from about 2004 and on up....I find them absolutely fascinating and packed with things I don't know (as if THAT is a surprise to anyone :lol:). There's so many beautiful gardens featured too.... I never even heard of a "stumpery" until I saw this show, and now I'm working on building my own.

I wondered where other gardener's get their inspiration? Any fav shows, online stuff, mags?

I'll have to look for those, Annie. I used to watch P. Allen Smith when he first started on television, it was a very brief show, like five minutes or something? but I learned a lot!

These days I get a ton of inspiration here at ATP, just reading what others are doing and looking at some of the pictures.

And, I look at garden blogs, a few, and occasionally pictures there will spur me to do something different.

In working on my back yard though, I find as soon as I finish one step, the next step comes to me. Which is kind of neat. That just happened today, as a matter of fact.

Cool thread!

thanks, Annie--good tip!

I also find a trip to the used book store is a good idea for ideas! I pick up old garden books (especially those with lotsa pichers) for a couple of $$. Some of the stuff is dated...does anyone remember those big macrame plant hangers??? but there's some neat ideas too.

I love old gardening books! And yes I sure do remember those macrame hangers.

I get garden inspiration from so many places. It seems like gardening is always on my mind and something is always triggering another idea. One of the most recent has been Pinterest. I have "boards" for various inspiration topics and have found and "pinned" the pictures that really catch my eye. What you can find on the internet is almost limitless.
http://www.pinterest.com/aspen...

What a beautiful site you have there, Aspenhill!

There's a site called "The GardenCollection" www.garden-collection.com that is just loads and loads and LOADS of pics of all kinds of plants and gardens. It's a place where I sometimes get a cup of coffee and just go browse. If you sign up (free), you can have a "lightbox" where you can save pics you like and I'm always adding something to my lightbox in the way of ideas.

I don't see how to browse there, Annie.

And Terri, I guess I have to register with pinterest to see anything without that black bar covering half the screen? I think I did have a pinterest account once but dropped it....

And now I remember why I dropped Pinterest, cause I just tried to reactivate and I guess my computer is too clogged with other items because the process froze on me.

But I think I figured out the other site, I just have to be with it enough to enter a search term. Which is not ALWAYS beyond me!

Thanks for sharing the pictures, in any case!

Yes, Garden Collection site is a bit clunky. If you enter a term in the search box in the upper right(?) corner, it will present you with a big "album" of pics. I usually enter the term "border" ...that will give you pics of every kind of flower border. If you're interested in a particular plant "roses" or even more specific than that (species names), you'll get a sorted "album" with just that term.

Thanks for the info for that site Annie. I hadn't heard of that one before. Definitely one to explore. I did an initial search on "Shade Gardens" and a quick look at the "Features" collections. Just what I need, another site to spend time on during the inside winter hours LOL.

I have given up on most of these sites. The plants recommended simply will not survive in my climate.

When I looked at the ATP member map, I found that there are no members gardening in my area of the state. Makes sense to me. With high summer temps with no rain and normally very wet winters, finding plants that can survive dry conditions and wet conditions gets complicated very quickly.

I do have wonderful drainage, but that has its pluses and minuses, too.

When I first started this garden, I was told to "plant what you love." The roses are doing fine, but finding other plants to work with them so that I don't have a mono garden isn't easy.

For me, it's a lot of trial and error.

Lyn

Hi Rose, I wonder if there are gardening shows/vids/websites from perhaps Italy or Greece that might have plant ideas for your climate? I'll try noodling around and see if I can find anything.

Thank you, Annie, @LysmachiaMoon, for your offer of assistance. It's greatly appreciated.

Although my climate is described as a Mediterranean climate, I live in heat zone 8, which means my dry period temps are over 85F for about 4 months. That is higher summer temps than what is generally associated with a Mediterranean climate, nor do I have the ocean influence which generally impacts Italy or Greece.

It's kind of tricky to find the right plants. I've killed a lot of plants ...

Smiles,
Lyn

rose campion? Russian sage?

I grow both of them and they manage quite well. I also have Lamb's Ear, and Santolina. The LE can get quite mooooshy when we have a wet year.

Thank you for the suggestions.

Smiles,
Lyn

sounds like a challenging climate.

Yes, it is. When I bought the house everything was covered in snow, so I thought I was just going to be removing lawn in the back of the house. Much to my surprise, the whole gardening area was covered with weed barrier and decorative rock.

All of the beds have been made and the roses planted and are now mature plants. I've been trying to find plants that I can add to the garden so that I don't have a mono garden. Plants that like the heat, for the most part, don't like the wet soils of winter. I do have perfect drainage, so at least they are not sitting in mud.

It's been an adventure. I've learned a lot by lurking on many of the forums on ATP and reading the articles and tips. I'll just keep on experimenting.

Smiles,
Lyn

How does Rudbeckia do there?