Garden Growth On The Fourth of July

7/4/14

seashells cosmos

     In the back yard garden there is a pause between spring and fall blooms.  The seashells cosmos that reseeded are one of the few plants that are blooming.  The following photos show what else is blooming there.

The hostas are all blooming.

There are still some blooms on the hellebores.

The Asiatic lilies have still refused to show their blooms, although I have seen some blooming in the neighborhood.

I added solar lights all along the perimeter of the garden.

In the garden surrounding the electrical box, the milkweed  are blooming, and I hope for some monarch caterpillars this year.

The daisies in front of the electrical box are in full bloom.

In the full sun side yard garden the zinnias are producing a riot of colorful flowers.

Although the daisies by the electrical box are blooming, the ones in the side garden that the deer/rabbits ate, are finally recovering under my netting, but no blooms yet.

The under-the-netting balloon flowers that were also eaten are recovering nicely and are starting to bloom.

The oriental fountain grass "Karley Rose" is beautiful now.

     In our area it is a delightful day with plenty of sunshine, breezes, and low humidity.  Hope everyone has a joyful fourth, with good food and fireworks.

The Electric Garden

7/2/13

Scotch broom

      At a far front corner of the yard there are plantings I call my electric garden.  These plants were here when we moved in, and they surround a large electrical box.

     This is the garden in mid-May.  Two red Scotch broom shrubs bloom at the  back corners of the electrical box.  Scotch broom is considered invasive in some states, particularly out west.

front of  box

     At the front of the box in mid-May daisies and milkweed are starting to grow.

mid-June

     In mid-June the Scotch broom is done blooming, and the daisies and milkweed are starting to blossom.
    

July

     Now in July, the daisies and milkweed are in fulll bloom.

milkweed blossom

     Here is a close-up of a milkweed blossom.  The bees love it.

daisies

     The daisies seem so bright and cheerful.  I think I will cut some and bring them into the house.  We need some cheering up here.  It has been raining everyday for almost two weeks.  We have had ten inches of rain in June.  I need some sun!

Side Garden Makeover

6/2/13

fallen tree 

     Last weekend it was so cool we had to turn the heat on, and now this weekend we are having a heat wave of 90 degree days.  The heavy rain and winds from the thunderstorm that passed through our area last Monday caused one of the trees that line the back yard to fall.  Tomorrow it will be cleared away.

     For the last two weeks I have busy planning and putting in a new side yard garden. 

side yard gardens

     This is what the side yard looked like in mid-April.  Each of the three raised beds had only one rose bush in them when we bought the house the end of November last year.  I planted the daffodils at that time.

bed edges removed

     Two weeks ago my husband removed the boards that defined the three raised beds.  They look like railroad ties.  They had huge spikes through them because they were two boards thick.  It was a big job getting them out of the ground.  He had to use a chain saw, a pry bar, and some other tool he rented to get them out.

new side garden

     I combined all three beds into one, with the rose bushes defining the left, right, and back edges of the new garden.  The grass my husband cut out between the raised beds we used as sod to bring in the edges of the former beds to the rose bushes.  I added a few plants and mulched over the whole garden.  Here are photos of the plants I added.

veronica

black-eyed Susans

coneflower

white daisies

Japanese anemone and Siberian iris

buddleia bush

lavender

plants waiting to go in the garden

     The next post will feature photos of the second round of plants pictured above that were planted in the new garden.  The last three weeks I have been in full planting mode not only on this side garden, but the back yard garden and along the front of the house.  I wanted to get most of the plants in before the cicadas arrived, but it seems our area is on the edge of the infestation and will be spared.

Greg's Flower Garden

7/30/12

daisies

    
     Since there is not much gardening going on in my yard, I will share some photos of my son's flower garden.  These were taken in June, a month or so after we moved here.  He lives nearby, so he gardens in zone 7a.

sunflower and echinacea

balloon flower

nicotiana

coleus and snapdragons



gardenia bush

     Greg has had this gardenia bush for several years.  He pots it up every winter and takes it indoors.  This is not the full extent of his garden.  He has many other flowers including liatris, pentas, lavender and several other herbs.  And we regularly enjoy the abundance from his vegetable garden.  A week ago we enjoyed a side dish of tomatoes, cucumbers. and watermelon.