Terminalcoffee discussion

OK, if you had lovely acreage and a gardener (if you didn't want to do it yourself) and no marauding dog and a perfect climate for everything, what would you plant?
Pictures, please.

Here are mine for today:
1)Tigger melon:

2)Some awesome heirloom tomatoes - maybe pineapple or black krim tomatoes or green zebra?



3)Black raspberries


4)Kale
5)Sweet potatoes
6)peach trees
7)A million types of basil
8)peas
9)quinoa (cause why not? I've got room!)
10)purple broccoli

Those are gorgeous, Sarah Pi! I love colorful food. I would have my gardener cultivate both bing:



and Rainier cherries for me:

Everythiung. I'm sorry, I still don't know how to put pictures in. My dad grew up in Arkansas and they grew practicaly all their own food and he gardening in his primordial ooze. I learned it from him (still don't quite have it). His principles were 1)grow stuff that's better than the store, like tomatoes, and 2) grow what saves you a lot of money, which is why he always had berries and asparagus and figs. Berries are a real money-saver.

I also want 25 different kinds of tomatoes, yes, I do need them!

I want a fig tree.

A ficus, Gail?

A near relative of the ficus. I love figs, nummy.

I'd like to plant some freesias...



...some lilacs...



...and lots and lots of trees.



Maybe food later.

Micheal fresias are lovely. So sweet smelling.

I would love some more flowers--right now I have a lot of easy-to-grow, prairie flowers like Goose-neck loostrife, daylilies, daisies, coral bells.

I have tried unsuccessfully in the past to grow Dahlias and fancier roses. We have one healthy climbing rose, but I've never had luck overwintering the tea roses.

I would want a labryinth much like this one but less maze-like, more simple - waist high shrubs with a large centre.



In the centre would be a fountain with ornate wrought iron benchs (must be comfortable). There would be lots of flowers in the centre of the labryinth as well as in the other parts of the garden.

I would also want a gazebo much like this one:



Stepping stones, a little pond, a swing tucked under a large shade tree, lots of flowers of all kinds and colours.

Hmmm, I might need two gardeners.

I want an English country garden, full of flowers, herbs, fountains, paths, seating every few steps, a vegetable garden and a folly.

Michael, I have a lilac right outside my door! It's about eight feet high now - it reaches to the top of my head when I'm on the porch - and when it blooms I can smell it the second I open the door in the morning.

My driveway is lined on both sides with lilacs--some old ones that were there when I bought the house, and new ones I planted. They've got a ton of buds and I can't wait for them to bloom. I love walking to the end of the driveway in May.

Rebecca wrote: "I also want 25 different kinds of tomatoes, yes, I do need them! "

I have this terrible habit of buying one of everything instead of several of one thing. So I have four types of basil but not enough of any one to make pesto.

Blend the basil with parsley, Sarah!

Sarah Pi wrote: "Rebecca wrote: "I also want 25 different kinds of tomatoes, yes, I do need them! "

I have this terrible habit of buying one of everything instead of several of one thing. So I have four types of b..."

What if you mixed them? I think I had three kinds last year, but the purple I just left for ornamentation.

I would have lots of lavender.
And kiwi fruit and peach trees

I want all of it! No bugs allowed, though. Gardener better get busy.

Rebecca wrote: "What if you mixed them? I think I had three kinds last year, but the purple I just left for ornamentation. ."

My aunt makes her purple basil into fabulous purple basil vinegar - great for salad dressing.

Heidi wrote: "I want all of it! No bugs allowed, though. Gardener better get busy."

In fact, I'd be happiest if I could just transplant this garden to mine.

Complete with corgi?

My aunt makes her purple basil into fabulous purple basil vinegar - gr..."

What kind of vinegar does she use?

Be careful with homemade herb-infused vinegars. Can carry some wicked bacteria.

I love those lavender flowers that look like bunny ears:

Rebecca wrote: "My aunt makes her purple basil into fabulous purple basil vinegar - gr..."

What kind of vinegar does she use?"

I'll ask. Didn't know about the bacteria, Cynthia. Hmm...

If you wash it it should be all right, shouldn't it? There's probably a way to make sure.

Wait! This is the imaginary garden over here, so in this thread about my imaginary garden I have plenty of all types of basil, and no evil bacterium lurks in the herb-infused vinegar.

my imaginary garden is always sunny, except at night, when i can look at the moon and stars. i'll probably be sitting on something comfy and there are strawberries growing nearby.

Sarah Pi wrote: "Wait! This is the imaginary garden over here, so in this thread about my imaginary garden I have plenty of all types of basil, and no evil bacterium lurks in the herb-infused vinegar."

Sorry to ruin your imaginary picture. They were very insistent about the vinegar thing at my master gardener class. Just don't want anyone falling ill.

Sarah Pi wrote: "Michael, I have a lilac right outside my door! It's about eight feet high now - it reaches to the top of my head when I'm on the porch - and when it blooms I can smell it the second I open the door..."

I love the smell of lilacs and what makes them even better is that they're only fragrant for a couple of weeks here. I hope yours is protected from people clipping the flowers.

I would have banks of azaleas and rhododendrons. Beds of tulips; some rows of pleached hornbeams or pleached limes; a section of pine/fir trees. Pathways made of rock, or pea gravel, lined with yew hedges and herbaceous flower beds; steps leading to different sections. Wooden benches here and there. One section would be a butterfly garden with no thought to color coordination or flower size, just whatever would attract butterflies.

Dumbarton Oaks has really beautiful gardens. Also the National Cathedral gardens.

My yew hedge probably wouldn't be this big:



Gardener John Rotterford cuts the world's largest yew hedge at Cirencester Park, Gloucestershire. The hedge, planted in 1720, stands nearly 50 feet tall

Michael wrote: "I love the smell of lilacs and what makes them even better is that they're only fragrant for a couple of weeks here. I hope yours is protected from people clipping the flowers. ."

Yeah - way back from the road and inside our fence, protected by Bo. The flowers outside the fence are at risk, but what can ya do?

Cynthia wrote: "Sorry to ruin your imaginary picture. They were very insistent about the vinegar thing at my master gardener class. Just don't want anyone falling ill. "
Thanks for the warning!

You betcha.