My name is Fran and I can say I believe I have been gardening all of my life. I grew up on a fruit and vegetable farm in central PA. I have always had flower beds and sometimes vegetable beds. I have been gardening for the past 20 plus years on Martha’s Vineyard an island of Massachusetts. I read GPOD first thing in the morning! I have submitted to GPOD in the past (check out Fran’s past submissions: Gardening on Martha’s Vineyard and Jewels of Fall in Fran’s Garden).I have three large flower bed areas and shrubs in other areas.
Turkeys and deer are frequent visitors to my gardens. My neighbor says the deer are a big presence when we are away from home. In a few days we will be traveling and I am prepared to have no hostas when we return. I spray the azaleas year round to control the deer browsing. I have happily found many plants to enjoy that deer do not like. My favorites are ferns, spireas, columbines, brunneras and others. I also use lots of hydrangeas which the deer do not bother too much. As you can see, I use the chartreuse color frequently giving the design brightness mostly year around.
I’m sure this is too much information. (Never too much information, Fran! I think I can speak for everyone when I say it’s great to hear all the ins and outs and ups and downs of everyone’s gardens!) I enjoy so much the passion of other gardeners in the submissions and find inspiration every day from GPOD!
Ajuga is a great ground cover, a bit invasive but not hard to control.
Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!
To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the
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