Peggy Titus Garden The three quarter acre garden of Peggy Titus has been developed over a 19 year period from the perspective of an artist and hostess. The original bones of the garden included three small spill ponds, a large man-made 50x20 ft. pond with waterfall stocked with over 200 pond fish, edged on one side by an extensive bog, a bridge over the pond entered an 18ft. octagon shaped gazebo on stilts. It also featured a 25x15 ft. vine covered pergola with the potential for dining. With an artistic eye and a sense of adventure, Peggy laughingly admits that she purchased “a yard with a house attached”. The rear enclosed garden containing all of the original “bones” was developed with the idea of garden rooms, connected by a circular path of natural stone and gravel, with stacked stone edged planting beds. It is accessed through two entrances of laser cut bronzed steel gates in an egret design created from Peggy’s design. Plantings consists of large trees, and mostly shade tolerant plants including over 300 hostas. Astilbes, ferns, fairy wings, azaleas, rhododendrons, and over 200 distinct specimens, many from exotic locations round out the plantings. The garden combines different textures, leaf sizes and colors to add to the artistic palette. All of the natural elements are complimented by over 70 pots, mostly in hues of blue including three fairy gardens. Of the original “bones“, the gazebo now is decorated as a seating oasis for 12, with a bar, the pergola now features a crystal chandelier with dining for 12, and a dozen adult koi have been added to the large water lily and pond fish filled pond. The front garden completely redesigned and created on 2008, consists of four large raised island flower beds, filled with azaleas, rhododendrons, hydrangeas, hostas, ferns, daylilies, astilbes and New Guinea impatiens scattered across a sweeping lawn with a meandering stone path leading to the front door of the house. Peggy’s garden featured on two national open garden tours, has been the site of several weddings, political fund raisers, and both large and small parties all catered by Peggy. You are invited to spend some time being entertained by the sights and sounds of this lush, artistically designed sanctuary.

Peggy Titus, Raleigh, NC

My Visit: Holly & Jim O'Donnell St. Anne, Illinois After emerging from the air-conditioned bus into the scorching heat, many attendees hurried up the driveway toward the backyard where there was a promise of shade. The raised beds in the front yard are filled with ornamental bushes, such as rhododendrons and hydrangeas as well as hostas, astilbes, and New Guinea impatiens. The driveway is edged with pink impatiens which provide a contrast to the hostas, caladiums, ferns, and hydrangeas alongside them. Bronzed steel gates with an egret design were designed by Peggy to separate the back gardens from the front yard. As we pass through the gates, a frog seranades the garden visitors from a small pond – obviously happy about last night's much needed rain. A table under the pergola is set for twelve, with turquoise and white place settings over which hang a crystal chandelier. The table overlooks a 50 x 20 foot pond that is covered with flowering lily pads and features a waterfall. Giant ligularias line the sides, many of which drape over touching the water. A stone and gravel path leads past the pond to an area with a driftwood sculpture, which is beautifully framed by cobalt blue pots filled with towers of impatiens. More ceramic pots full of hostas and ferns complete the vignette. As we move further into the backyard and through a wooden archway, the path is lined with hardy begonias and wood ferns with H. 'Sum and Substance' often used in the more sunny areas. Giant trilliums, pinnacle hydrangeas, maidenhair ferns, and Japanese maples are abundant. Azaleas and rhododendrons fill in the landscape under the trees, with epimediums creeping along underneath. Even a few potted fairy gardens are found along the way. An iron archway covered with chocolate vine and edged by pots of H. 'Mystic' line the border at the rear of the

yard. (Warning: Peggy does not recommend this highly invasive plant.) Along the stone path, we recognize H. 'Blueberry Cobbler', H. 'Old Glory', and H. 'Sweet Sunshine'. The path skirts the stilts to a eighteen foot gazebo, which is accessible from a wooden bridge over the pond adjacent to the pergola. The sides of the gazebo are not screened, but instead are draped in nylon netting. (For those of you interested in duplicating the “look,” Peggy purchased the netting from IKEA.) Mystic A ring of ferns and hostas, including H. 'Potomac Pride', surround a large maple. A stunning Bottlebrush Buckeye grows near a corner at the rear of the house and is closely joined by a beautifully shaped Japanese maple and gardenia. She even has a bottle tree filled with cobalt blue bottles. (A bottle tree is a part of southern tradition brought to the South from African slaves. Its purpose is to protect the home by trapping evil spirits.) Peggy confesses that her favorite hosta is H. 'Old Glory'. Her favorite plant, however, is impatiens. In addition to gardening, she loves to cook. Peggy uses her backyard to cater weddings and host fund-raising events. She is also a hostess for a U.S. State Dept. program which brings professionals from former USSR republics to study American business and government practices. How does she find the time to maintain such a beautiful garden?

Back Deck

Bottlebrush Buckeye

Sum and Substance

Table Setting on Deck

Wood Carving