Liz and George Knowles have lived and gardened in Mono since 1976. Photo by Rosemary Hasner / Black Dog Creative Arts.
Painterly dabs of colour announce spring in one of the rock gardens. Photo by Liz Knowles.
In spring, Liz Knowles’ gardens burst into life. Photo by Rosemary Hasner / Black Dog Creative Arts.
A close-up of a pond’s Primula japonica and lily pads. Photo by Rosemary Hasner / Black Dog Creative Arts.
A sea of Geranium macrorrhizum ‘Ingwersen’s Variety’ makes magic beneath an old apple tree. Photo by Rosemary Hasner / Black Dog Creative Arts.
An enchanting spring view of an interconnected series of Liz Knowles’ gardens, including a sand bed in the foreground with its pink Verbena canadensis, yellow dianthus and pale purple penstemon. Hits of white and fuchsia Primula japonica dot the edges of two small ponds. Photo by Rosemary Hasner / Black Dog Creative Arts.
A rock stream bed leading to one of the ponds. Photo by Rosemary Hasner / Black Dog Creative Arts.
The grass garden in summer is awash in big bluesytem and little bluestem grasses, echinacia, and the blue tones of Russian sage and eryngium. Photo by Rosemary Hasner / Black Dog Creative Arts.
The stone barbecue is being transformed into a crevice garden. Photo by Rosemary Hasner / Black Dog Creative Arts.
A clever combination of pale allium and deep purple Cotinus anchor this spring garden. Photo by Rosemary Hasner / Black Dog Creative Arts.
Two shaped Mugo pines hold court amid the lush textures of spring at Larkspur Hollow. Photo by Rosemary Hasner / Black Dog Creative Arts.
In the sand bed looking toward a pond, a native dogwood in bloom is just one of many spring plants offering colour and form. Photo by Rosemary Hasner / Black Dog Creative Arts.
Pink peonies sit tall in the Korean pine bed, sharing space with lime-green dogwood to the left and variegated iris to the right. Photo by Rosemary Hasner / Black Dog Creative Arts.
A thick patch of hybrid hellebores in all their glory. Photo by Rosemary Hasner / Black Dog Creative Arts.
This grass garden is filled with varieties of Miscanthus and Panicum that sway in the breeze well through autumn. Photo by Rosemary Hasner / Black Dog Creative Arts.
The impressive vegetable garden’s rows of kale stand at attention. Photo by Rosemary Hasner / Black Dog Creative Arts.
One of many small nursery and potting sheds near the house. Photo by Rosemary Hasner / Black Dog Creative Arts.
A bountiful harvest of tomatoes in the greenhouse at Larkspur Hollow. Photo by Rosemary Hasner / Black Dog Creative Arts.
One of Liz Knowles’ tufa beds, in which she grows some of her favourite alpine plants. Photo by Rosemary Hasner / Black Dog Creative Arts.
A Malus ‘Red Jade’ stands proud in winter. Photo by Rosemary Hasner / Black Dog Creative Arts.
The Berberis koreana ‘Red Tears’ offers a hit of colour on the winter landscape. Photo by Rosemary Hasner / Black Dog Creative Arts.
Read on for the full story on Liz Knowles’ gardening style. Click here for a look at the botanical stars of her gardens. And check out our Editor’s Desk for more on Liz’s history in Mono.
About the Author
Tralee Pearce is the publisher/editor of In The Hills Magazine. More by Tralee Pearce
Gardener Liz Knowles’ passion for rare yet rugged alpine flora has transformed her Mono gardens into more than an aesthetic triumph. They’re an aide memoire of her life and travels 40 years on.
