hilltop haven

Gather ideas for your own shady retreat.

A summer garden bathed in refreshing mountain air, rooted in luxuriant soil, and brimming with a multitude of flowers. These words describe Hope Dunlap's garden. Her ever-changing landscape provides a place to experiment, learn, and play.

Above It All

High in the mountains, Little Switzerland, North Carolina, lies worlds apart from Hope's year-round home in Columbia, South Carolina. There, her planting endeavors focus on a small courtyard with relentless summer temperatures that would challenge even the most seasoned gardener. But when Hope escapes to Rosend, her hilltop paradise, she leaves behind the heat-hardened clay soil, humidity, and tropical temperatures. "I can't wait to open the car door and take in the fresh, cool air," she says about each anticipated arrival.

Hope's heart and soul reside in this mountain getaway. "I wake up early and just garden all day," she says. Time is on her side here, with planting decisions based on beauty and aesthetics, not heat and drought tolerance.

Blooming Abundance

The change in altitude means the ability to grow flowers that are mere fantasies in the hotter temperatures of Columbia. "Here, I can grow peonies, monkshood, and astilbe," she says. Larkspur, money plant, and foxglove roam at will in a manner she only dreams of away from the mountains.

'Annabelle' smooth hydrangeas nod their enormous heads over the split rail fence. Rambling roses that predate Hope's arrival 16 years ago take charge of the garden's boundary. "I think it's a polyantha climber-some half-wild thing that grows very vigorously here," she explains.

Changing Over Time

Inside the fence, terraced beds make the landscape appear much larger than its true size. While some gardens begin with a stated plan, others, such as Rosend, evolve over the years. "I started out with a few island beds. Over time, I kept digging up the grass, and now there are only pathways between the areas. I compose it all as I go," Hope explains.

Amid the abundance of flowers and textures, Hope's sense of style creates order in the landscape. Sprinkled throughout the terraced beds, boxwoods and evergreen conifers such as yews and junipers provide year-round structure and a bit of formality. "Each year, I work on a different section of the garden. I divide plants, move them around, and try to get it right," she says. It's not unusual to see her walking among the beds with a flower petal, deciding where the plant belongs next.

The end of the day most likely finds Hope on the front porch, relaxing next to a vase of fresh-cut flowers and deciding on the following day's projects. Whatever the plan, each garden path leads to paradise.

'HOPE'S BEST PICKS

* American alum root (Heuchera americana)

* Japanese silver grass (Miscanthus sinensis)

* 'Matrona' live-forever sedum m

* pink chrysanthemum

* dark red dahlia

* 'Mount Saint Helens' flame azalea (Rhododendron calendulaceum 'Mount Saint Helens')

* Siebold plantain lily (Hosta sieboldiana)

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation May 2005
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