In My Garden: Elizabeth Locke
Elizabeth Locke, Millwood, VA
Gardener, Jewelry Designer, and Garden Conservancy Board Member
Jewelry designer Elizabeth Locke’s love of plants and gardens even predates her love of the classics. As a small child growing up in Staunton, VA, she and Toby the cat helped her father plant and tend an organic vegetable garden. She continues this passion today at Clay Hill, her home in Clarke County, VA, where in addition to two gardens devoted to vegetables and cut flowers there are box parterres, a greenhouse for cycads and orchids, a lily and lotus pond, and a limonaia for her citrus trees. Dahlias are her foremost gardening passion in Virginia, while at her home in Beaufort, SC, she looks forward to camellia season each winter.
Elizabeth and her husband, John Staelin, have been members of the Garden Conservancy Society of Fellows since 2013, and Elizabeth was elected to the Garden Conservancy board of directors in 2020.
In My Garden, October 26, 2021
As fall proceeds at Elizabeth's garden, the dahlias are at their peak and covered with blooms (above). "We planted about 60 different ones this year and it's a riot of color," she says. "They love the sun as well as the cool nighttime temperatures."
"We grew cardinal vine (above) for the first time this year, planting the seeds in June. Now, in October, it's over fifteen feet tall! The hummingbirds are crazy for it and it's not unusual to see seven or eight hummers feeding at once. When we grew the cardinal vine, I realized how aggressive hummingbirds are. They are like tiny kamikaze pilots diving at one another...it's fun to watch!"
"Years ago, when we built our pool house, the architect jokingly referred to this room (above) as our orangery. Years later, it actually became our limonaia, as the potted lemon trees that need winter protection spend the colder months here. It's quite a production to move them inside. The process requires four men, a truck, and a harrowing journey down one steep hill and up another. The trees produce two large crops of lemons each year and, when they are in bloom, the fragrance in this small room is intoxicating," says Elizabeth.
In My Garden, August 31, 2021
In Virginia, it's time to harvest dahlias for cut flower displays and tomatoes for the kitchen at Elizabeth Locke's garden, and then to enjoy the waterlilies, lotuses, and the shade by the lily pool.
"I am crazy for dahlias and plant new varieties each year," says Elizabeth. "So far, this is my favorite of the newbies: 'Islander'. There are so many considerations when choosing dahlias that you learn from the experience of growing them. Oddly enough, stem length turns out to be really important as some of the spectacular giant ones have super short stems that make them hard to display in a vase. This one wins in all the categories!"
"I simultaneously look forward to and slightly dread the end of every August when the tomato plants are in full production. What don’t end up as soup or sauce for the winter is donated to Meals on Wheels, and even these good people are starting to be less welcoming when I drop off yet more."
"Every year we overwinter the four large plumbago plants inside the pool house and I ask myself why, until July when they prove their worth! Due to the shady conditions of our lily pool, we find that the tropical varieties and lotus are the best performers."
Elizabeth closes with a quiz: "Try to guess what this beautiful pink flower is… It’s cotton! We are growing two varieties for purely decorative purposes and had to obtain an agricultural permit in order to do so. It seems that the dreaded boll weevil is still at large."
In My Garden, August 3, 2021
In Elizabeth's garden, the large thistle-like blooms of cardoon are silhouetted against the Vitex agnus-castus in the background (above). "The vitex is especially loved by bees and butterflies," she says. "I am curious to know why its common name is ‘chaste tree’, since lots of pollinating seems to be taking place."
"We are down to only 27 tomato plants this year, which feels like hardly any at all until they start to ripen and we harvest them with a wheelbarrow. There are six varieties planted – some heritage, some hybrid – and all sorts of shapes and colors (above, left). All were started from seed in late March. Each year we try new bulbs in the cutting garden. This year’s experiment is the South African Galtonia candicans, also known as 'spire lily' (above, right). The white flowers are on 3-4 feet tall spikes and are long-lasting, so it's definitely a winner and we will plant dozens next spring."
In My Garden, July 6, 2021
Early summer highlights in Elizabeth Locke's garden include hostas and ferns as well as many flowers. "We have very little heavily shaded space on our property; the little we have is devoted to several types of ferns and hostas. I tried growing hostas when I first moved to Virginia but to no avail. Only once we had installed a deer fence did they flourish."
Above, left: "When we moved to Clay Hill there was a large bed of well-established daylilies. They are impossible to remove, so my solution was to add quantities of Asiatic lilies, in all colors, which bloom from June until August and tower over their more mundane neighbors in the lily border." Right: " 'Betty Corning' clematis makes her delightful annual appearance in mid June and remains until the end of summer. Here she is growing through a viburnum. In addition to being charming, Betty requires no care whatsoever!"
Early summer cut flowers including rudbeckias, stock, zinnias, and sunflowers. Elizabeth notes that "the selection and colors vary week by week. This is the first year that we have grown stock and we are thrilled with its color and fragrance."
In My Garden, June 8, 2021
"This weekend I have been gardening to the background noise of millions of the Brood X cicadas," Elizabeth tells us. "Newly emerged from his seventeen years underground, this fellow has only several days to attract a mate and ensure his future offspring. When the sun is shining, the noise is deafening! The side lawn at Clay Hill Farm (above, right) is shaded by a huge black walnut tree (the fourth largest in the state of Virginia); the side lawn is a mosaic of greens in the late spring."
"Perched on the top of a hill with views of the Blue Ridge mountains in the distance, the kitchen garden enjoys full sun all day (above, left). Radicchio (above, right) is one of our favorite crops! There are many varieties of radicchio and we are systematically trying each and every one. Well worth growing at home, fresh radicchio is vastly superior to anything you will buy in a supermarket."
Pictured above are roses at the base of Elizabeth's kitchen garden. "Late May through the end of June is our prime season for roses here in Virginia. After that we are plagued with heat, humidity, and Japanese beetles. This particular rose is 'Mother of Pearl' and it is practically perfect—wonderfully fragrant, resistant to black spot, and nearly thornless! Below the roses is our patch of rhubarb, another spring favorite." Below is a basket filled with early June harvest from Elizabeth's garden.
