Time Flies!

6/13/15

Brunnera and grape hyacinths in the backyard garden.

     Where did spring go with its grape hyacinths, brunnera, and flowering dogwood trees?  It has been so busy in our household for the past six weeks, that I haven't had time to blog, much less appreciate what was happening in the garden.

     The flowers on so many plants and bushes have come and gone.  I would notice and quickly photograph each blooming, and then all would promptly be forgotten in the swirl of activity in the household. 

The Japanese iris blooms swiftly came and went.

As did the blossoms on the sweet woodruff.

And on the rhododendron bush.

          The following photos show what is blooming now in the yard.

Pink astilbe

Midnight salvia

Digitalis

Lavendar

Oriental fountain grass Karley Rose

          I've had some deer damage in the side yard garden on plants the deer did not touch last year and on seedlings that I planted a few weeks ago that had just pushed through the soil.  There are several other plants that are just about ready to bloom that will be in my next post. We had an unusually cool first week of June here, with one day not getting above 58 degrees.  We were tempted to turn the heat on one night when it was in the high 40's.  And this past week has been 90 or above almost every day.  It's fine with me if it stays hot from now on after the bitter and prolonged winter we had.

Perennials Have Finally Come Up

5/18/14

rhododendron

     It has continued to be cooler than normal here.  Last night it was in the 40's.  Everything is late.  The azaleas are just done blooming.  The rhododendrons have just bloomed all over the neighborhood.  And I noticed a few iris are blooming in some yards.

     Here are some photos of my perennials that have finally come up in all my gardens.

The three Asiatic lilies are getting taller by the day. 

My Japanese iris has buds and will be blooming soon.

This balloon flower finally emerged from the ground.

The Midnight salvia is the only perennial blooming right now in the side garden.

This coneflower was slow to make an appearance.

 This is a digitalis plant a gardener friend gave me last fall.

I was worried about this gaillardia plant.  But it finally put out some green leaves.

     One of my plants, a coreopsis, did not survive the brutal winter.  I have seen nothing in the spot where it was growing.  I had damage to other plants which I will show in another post.  I hope it gets hot and stays hot here soon.  We have had a cold fall, a brutal winter, and a cool spring.  I think everybody is ready for some warmth here.

Brave Plants

11/23/13

mums

     In the last three weeks we have had some cold night temperatures.  The temperatures have not just gone below freezing, but have been in the mid-twenties.  Yet I have some flowers that are still hanging on with a few blooms.  The mums, of course, are still blooming.

Carolina Jessamine vine

     The Carolina Jessamine vine has a few blooms.  I did not know whether it would bloom this fall, since it was so recently planted.  But it did surprise me with several blooms.

begonia

     I have one begonia that is still blooming.

petunia

     Everything around my one petunia in the back yard garden succumbed to the cold.  But it is still holding on.

gaillardia

     The gaillardia in the side garden is still trying to put out blooms.

back yard garden

     My back yard garden is cleaned out for winter except for some sweet alyssum that still has flowers.

bare trees

     Most of the leaves have fallen off the trees in our neighborhood.  So everything is looking kind of bare outside now.

rhododendron

       But surprise!  As I was doing final cleanup in the gardens yesterday I saw a flash of pink in the rhododendron bush.  I looked inside and found three blooms.  So even though we are supposed to have wind chills in the teens tomorrow, these blossoms reminded me to think about the coming spring.

Growing Season Over

11/3/13

     The freeze we had last weekend killed all my annuals and put a halt to perennial blooming.  This photo shows some of the vinca and hardy begonias in my backyard garden that succumbed to the freeze.

     Similarly, the annuals in my deck planters, like these wax begonias took a hit.

     Although the calibrachoa in one planter is still fine.  It may last until December.

     The deer, which never bothered my jumbo begonias along the front of the house, one night ate all the top blossoms off of them just before the freeze. 

     After the freeze, I planted ornamental cabbages in their place

     Peak color on the trees suddenly appeared this week after the freeze.

     I saw a stray violet blooming this week on my daily walk with the dog.  When I went back to photograph it, I couldn't find it.  Too many leaves covered the area where I saw it.  But there is the promise of spring as we head into winter in the buds of my rhododendron.

Is It May?

5/13/13

rhododendron

     The temperature finally broke into the 70's for a few days last week, but on Mother's Day it turned cold and windy.  Last night was in the 40's, and the heat came on.  There is a frost/freeze warning for our general area tonight with temps in the 30's. We could set a record low temperature tonight.  We are having mid-March weather in mid-May.  When it it going to stay warm here?

     Despite the cold, there is blooming going on.  The rhododendron in the back corner of the house put out some blossoms this week.  I also noticed bearded iris blooming in the neighborhood.

begonias

     I went to a garden center last week and bought some red and white begonias and put them into one of my railing planters.

New Guinea impatiens

     I also bought some New Guinea impatiens to plant in my large deck planters.  Most garden centers are not carrying the common garden impatiens, which I much prefer, because of impatiens downy mildew that has reached our area. 

hostas

     At a garden club plant sale I picked upsome hostas that will be going in the backyard garden.

daisies, iris, black-eyed Susans

     At that same sale bought some daisies, iris, and black-eyed Susans which will be going into the new garden in the side yard that I am in the process of designing.

chrysanthemum

     I saved a chrysanthemum my neighbor gave me when we were in the rental house last year.  I kept watering it, and left it outside on a deck table until frost.  I cut it back and put it in the garage all winter.  In mid-April brought it out of the garage and started watering it. It did get rained on now and then, thank goodness, because half the time I forgot about it.  It is still sitting outside the garage, and when I looked at it yesterday, it had tiny green leaves!  I'm so glad it's still alive.

Mother's Day flowers

Mother's Day flowers

     The last two photos are of the flowers I was thrilled to receive from both of my sons on Mother's Day.

A New Yard

11/21/12

Kwanzan cherry tree

     A few days ago we closed on our new house.  Now the fun begins to turn it into a home.  We won't be moving in until mid-January because of inside renovations.

     The house sits on an acre of land, and there is a lot of lawn which I realize is a no-no for many gardeners.  We are supposed to be growing meadows to support wildlife.  But I love the spacious, open feeling of the property.  We do have woods behind us that I hear have resident foxes and many deer.  There is a country feeling to the neighborhood.  A few weeks ago I took the following photos of some of the bushes and trees that are growing in the yard.

crepe myrtle

loriope and holly

Japanese laceleaf maple

pine

   

rhododendron

black walnut

dogwood

     This is about half of what is growing in the yard.  I don't believe there are any perennials except around the cable box in a front corner of the yard.  I will be planting about 150 bulbs this holiday weekend.  A Happy Thanksgiving to all.