Juniper Hill Farm

I recently visited Juniper Hill Farm, Joe Valentine and Paula Hunter's garden in Francistown, New Hampshire.  Joe is a fellow blogger (click here!) and is interested in all things garden related: garden history, different gardening styles, England, and, of course, plants. Joe and Paula together have created a beautiful garden in the rolling and rocky hills of rural New Hampshire. They have traveled all over England and America visiting the best gardens, attending lectures and symposiums, buying plants, and bringing many of these ideas home to their garden. There are English style hedges, Japanese inspired garden rooms, and American meadows. Through these different ideas, Joe and Paula have developed their own style, while always incorporating the natural landscape- not always an easy task.

Their garden has the most wonderful collection of conifers and evergreens, designed beautifully to create lines and layers of hedges and undulating forms.

One of Paula's container displays. Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost,' Aparagus densiflorus 'Meyersii,' and a Japanese maple.

And now, the Verbascum conundrum. I LOVE these things every time I see them, from the roadside ditches to the formal topiary garden, their gangly spires make a statement. The trouble for me is figuring out who is who. The one pictured above is Verbascum 'High Noon,' which looks a bit like the one pictured below, Verbascum 'Yellow Lightening' (one, I believe, was named by Fergus Garrett) I would love to line up all the Verbascums, side by side, and really study their differences.

A newly designed pool garden, already full of frogs!

Looking from the lower pool garden up to the house. I love the vase- like sprays of brightly colored grasses against the tight, dark green box and lilac topiary.