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The Greenest Thumb! Contest: Carol and Martin's Vibrant Vertical

(Note: This is a wonderful late entry)

Name: Carol and Martin
Location: Hoboken, New Jersey
Size: 12’ x 14’ plus 5’ x 10’

Pitch:

"Our L-shaped deck overlooks some of the beautiful trees and backyard gardens in Hoboken, providing a great background for an outdoor living space where we can escape from the stresses of city life.

We find that vertical gardening makes the most of our limited space and provides much needed privacy – as what we have done with vines growing on tuteurs that we constructed from bamboo and garden twine.
...."
[more below]

 
 
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Our container garden is a collection of : vines (honeysuckle, clematis, boston ivy, trumpet creeper, purple hyacinth bean, black-eyed susan, hummingbird vine, vinca, golden hop, silver lace, passion flower), tropical plants (elephant ears, cannas, banana), hostas, coleus, herbs (lavander, thyme, sage, mint, basil), strawberries, tomato, jalapeno, rose of sharon, busy lizzies, forget-me-nots, and an un-identified silver-green-leafed deciduous tree which we inherited from the previous owner.

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Favorite Resources:

• Union Square Farmers Market

Various online stores:

• www.waysidegardens.com (plants)

• http://lazyssfarm.com/ (plants)

• www.plantdelights.com (plants)

• www.gardeners.com (garden supplies)

• Whole Foods (seeds in packets)

• Crate and Barrel (teak furniture)

• Pier 1 Imports (wicker chairs)

• Our neighbor, Alex, who has been giving us “extra” plants from her garden

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Tags

Greenest Thumb 2006 - entries

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Comments (8)

Nice! I also love to see the left bank of the Hudson represented here!

posted by me on 2006-07-07 13:48:24

I love the elephant ears! can you say something about your growing conditions? looks relatively shady, and I think I see some hostas, so am I correct in thinking they're good for shade/partial sun? I'd love to see your passionflower, too.

posted by ocgrl on 2006-07-07 15:10:10

I love your garden, especially all the very cool climbing trellis-like things. How lucky you are to be able to lie in bed and admire it! COngrats!

posted by serra on 2006-07-07 15:50:48

So nice to have your (very elegant) bedroom open up to the patio -- also the herbs your growing sound delicious. Keep up the good work!

posted by Vanessa on 2006-07-08 16:10:52

Dear Ocgrl - The area shown in the fourth photograph is shade/part-shade. Yes, the hostas love it there. The area shown in the last two photographs(taken at dusk) are in full sun as it faces west. The passion flower thrives in that area, right next to our air conditioner, able to withstand extreme heat. Hopefully, in a month or so, it would fully cover its tuteur and bloom!

Thank you all for your comments.

posted by Carol on 2006-07-08 18:22:33

I like your choice of plants for your container garden. They have very interesting textures, shape and sizes, and foliage in countless shades of green. You garden proves that with creativity (and a green thumb), you can bring the lushness of a tropical garden to a limited space of a backyard patio. Would love to see your garden when the flowers are in bloom. Great work!

posted by MM on 2006-07-10 22:56:36

From a fellow Hobokenite: Love your bedroom color and the dark woodwork.

posted by Suzanne on May 15th 2007 at 4:48am
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I'm in love with your garden!! Is there going to be The Greenest Thumb Contest 2009"??

posted by ilovenature on May 13th 2009 at 8:42pm
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