Christine’s “Joy Garden”

Today we’ve got photos from Christine Callwood’s garden, sent in by her daughter, Jinger.

Christine with her roses in her “Joy Garden,” named after one of her twin daughters. All of the photos were taken in her front yard. She is located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Zone 7, where the Carolina sunshine presides over her flowers keeping them blossoming and thriving.

A blend of lantanas (Lantana camara, Zone 8 – 10 or as annual) and a few knockout roses (Rosa ‘Radrazz’, Zone 5 – 9). Christine has been gardening for 3 years. She started out taking gardening classes and soon progressed toward growing her own home garden. She’s appreciative of local gardeners and Witherspoon Rose Culture for tips and tricks on maintaining a successful garden and hopes to pass along some of the gardening wisdom she’s picked up over the years.

Christine’s favorite flower is the hibiscus because it’s characteristic of Caribbean tropical locales where she is originally from. She plants them in a variety of colors including, red, yellow, and orange, and pink. These are hardy hibiscus (Hibiscus hyrid, Zone 5 – 9)

A vigorous rose standing at 6 feet tall, a family favorites. A gardening obstacle she’s overcome has been poor soil quality. At one point, the soil was deteriorating the plants, and she had to remix the soil to include compost and soil conditioner, which prepared the plants for healthy growth.

Christine’s biggest success is her nearly 15-foot banana tree which took nearly a year to grow. She and her husband were surrounded by banana trees on the Caribbean island she’s from, so it’s symbolic having a piece of their native territory right in their backyard.

Christine’s King German Shepherd Darwin, loves being out in the garden. Oftentimes,