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The Secret to Growing Blooms like the Biltmore

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I hold in my hands, or head maybe, the secret to having Blooms like the Biltmore!  Long, long ago, when I lived in a land of rich loamy soil and mild summers, I was quite confident of my gardening skills.  In fact you can see one of the posts I shared in my Washington State gardens HERE.  Alas, since moving to the red clay land of Upstate South Carolina my green thumb has wilted.

Last year I did all the right things.  I brought in organic topsoil, mixed it with mushroom compost, and native clay (which they call soil), watered, fertilized, and planted beautiful plants from one of Greenville’s best nurseries.  Everything seemed to be doing fine until summer wore on, and the drought that came with it.  In spite of our watering system, I lost nearly one-third of everything I planted. 🙁

Well, because I inherited SISU from my Finnish mama, I’m here to tell ya’ that I’m not giving up, and I’m back at it this year, prepping, planting, and praying over every single thing I place in the ground.

Now, let me share with you my secret to having blooms like the Biltmore!

Come along and we’ll take a stroll through the gardens of the Biltmore Estate.  They are fantastic!

We’ll begin with some photos of the Bass Pond Garden:

 

Next are the flowers of the Conservatory, both inside and out:

And finally, my favorite, the gorgeous Walled Garden:

So my secret to growing blooms like the Biltmore?  Gardeners.  A huge staff of gardeners that come in at night while you’re sleeping to water and fertilize, cut off dead blooms and straggly branches, pull weeds, clandestinely remove sad looking bushes and replace them with brand new ones.  Yeah, you get the picture.

So I’ll admit that I tricked you just a little to pull you in, but y’all, I didn’t want you to miss the beauty of the Biltmore Gardens for anything in the world.  I am so fortunate to have this wonderful place to wander so close to my own back yard.

I’m heading off this morning to find some more plants to add to my garden.  I have no illusions of creating anything to match the beauty of the Biltmore blooms, but I do hope I can eventually green up this sad thumb of mine again.

If you liked my photos, don’t forget to Pin me 🙂

Happy Saturday,

I’ve been known to link up to the following great parties!!!

Sunday:

TheDIYShowoff, LifeOnLakeshoreDrive, SilverPenniesSundays, RusticAndRefined, Spiritual Sundays, GiveMeGrace

Monday:

IShouldBeMoppingTheFloor, TheDedicatedHouse, Dwellings, ProjectInspired,  InspireMeMonday, BetweenNapsOnThePorch, CelebrateYourStory, Making Your Home Sing Mondays, What Joy is Mine/Monday Musings, Darling Downs Diaries, The Art of Homemaking, SmallWonder, MomentsOfHope, Glimpses, SittingAmongFriends

Tuesday:

TalkOfTheTown, HomeStoriesAtoZ, AStrollThruLife, CoastalCharm, CedarHillFarmhouse, TuesdaysAtOurHome, TheWinthropChronicles,  Rich Faith Rising Unite Linky, Testimony Tuesday,Cheerleaders of Faith,Tell His Story

Wednesday:

SavvySouthernStyle, Posed Perfection, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, Woman to Woman Word Filled Wednesdays, ChristianBloggerLinkup, Mom’s Morning Coffee, Women with Intention, Coffee for Your Heart, MessyMarriage, ThreeWordWednesday

Thursday:

ShareYourStyle, ImpartingGrace, EmbracingChange, HaveADailyCupOfMrsOlson, MyRepurposedLife, ADelightsomeLife, KatherinesCorner,  I Choose Joy,   Thought Provoking Thursday, SincerelyPaulas, ThankfulThursdays, ThoughtfulThursday, Tune-inThursday

Friday:

FrenchCountryCottage, TheCharmOfHome, RootedInThyme,  TheDedicatedHouseAnythingBlueFriday, ShabbyliciousFriday, Sweet Inspiration,  Faith’nFriends, Missional Women Faith Filled Fridays, Dance With Jesus FreshMarketFriday

Saturday:

FunkyJunkInteriors, OneMoreTimeEvents,  SaturdaySparks, TheInspirationGallery, Make My Saturday Sweet

Comments

  1. Thank you for sharing the beauty! I was inspired by the picture of the pot with the Crown of Thorns. I have two of those plants that need some love touches!
    Have an amazing weekend.

    Reply

  2. Love Biltmore, We live in Greenville so we get season passes and go frequently. The tulips were beautiful last week. Your pictures are great. Love Greenville also!
    Shirley

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  3. I would love to see the Biltmore gardens in person! We’re actually thinking about heading that way later this year to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary.

    Reply

    • That would be a lovely thing to do for an anniversary celebration. I love the gardens and the house too. Such a fun day trip from here.
      Happy 30th!

      Reply

  4. The Biltmore Gardens are incredibly beautiful…almost as beautiful as the gorgeous Pacific Northwest. Thank you for sharing God’s beauty …where you find it.

    Reply

  5. I can relate! Here in Indiana we have clay also, only it’s not red, just an orangey-beige that is like concrete. I planted a knockout rosebush last y ear and just today, dug up the completely dead remains, got in the car and drove to Lowe’s and paid 1/3 of what I paid last year for what was supposed to be a hybrid, kill-proof bush. Knockout roses, for pete’s sake. Isn’t everyone supposed to able to grow those????

    Reply

    • HAHA! I thought so but I have a few that I planted 2 years ago and they are still looking scraggly! I WILL get this yard figured out eventually 🙂

      Reply

  6. You got me. And don’t you know I wish I had those gardners?! The grounds there are so beautiful. I will be happy if the new border I am planting doesn’t look like some hodgepodge of color just shot out of gun without any rhyme or reason. I find landscaping hard.

    Reply

  7. What spectacular gardens.

    A dear friend is hosting my daughter’s baby shower next week. As a gift to thank her I am surprising her with a visit to a local spot, Rose Story Farm, where we will tour the roses and enjoy a special lunch in the gardens. The only trouble is they don’t allow any photographs.

    Reply

    • That is just plain wrong Carol! Haha! I know how you love to take photos. Just don’t go in there trying to sneak some with your iPhone. 🙂

      Reply

  9. I’ve never visited the Biltmore, but always hear how beautiful it is. And now I see it! These flowers are gorgeous. Looks like spring would be a lovely time to visit. So to have flowers like that, I just need to add a few more gardeners to my staff of one (only me!). 🙂

    Reply

    • That’s right Lisa, a few more gardeners would do it! Maybe when we both make our millions selling our writing we will be able to afford to do that 🙂

      Reply

  10. Ahhh man – makes we want to go back! that place sure is beautiful. I am so glad we were able to go…. ok and when I got all the way to the end and you revealed your secret – I was laughing so hard! Yep – gardeners – lots and lots of them. Thanks for joining the community at #TuneInThursday this week.

    Reply

  12. Patti, the gardens at the Biltmore are breathtaking! I just know that yours will be gorgeous as well, even without the large crew of gardeners! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

    Reply

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