The Backyard Garden Evolves

6/23/13 

backyard garden November 2012

     




     This is a photo of the backyard garden taken when we bought the house at the end of November.  There was nothing in the garden but two rose bushes. 

April 2013

 
     I threw some daffodils into the garden in December so there would be some color in the spring.

June 2013

                                      This is a photo of the garden today.

hostas

               The first plants I bought in the spring for the garden were hostas.

hostas planted

                               Here are what the hostas look like now.

hardy begonias

                   The next plants to go in the garden were hardy begonias.

Japanese anemones

                                      I added some Japanese anemones.

annuals

                 For a quick splash of color, I put in some petunias, new guinea impatiens and alyssum.

boxwoods and nandinas

     Dividing the backyard garden are five boxwood and three nandina bushes which were here when we bought the house.  Some of the boxwoods will be transplanted to other areas of the yard eventually.  Among the bushes I planted a ghost fern, some sweet woodruff and primula.  These were given to me by a gardening friend.




ghost fern

 

sweet woodruff

primula

tulips

     On the other side of the bushes there is a pink dogwood tree under which I planted tulips in the spring.

begonias

      Now a mix of red, white and pink begonias occupies the space where the tulips were.  This garden is still a work in progress.  More plants will be added in the future.

Side Garden Additions

6/12/13

side yard garden

     The side garden is starting to fill in as I have added more plants over the last two weeks.  I'll be adding a few more annuals and perennials over the next few months as I watch the plants grow and see how much room is still available.  Here are photos of what I've recently added.

glossy abelia

     Glossy abelia is a deciduous or semi-evergreen shrub that has rounded, gracefully arched branches.  It can grow six feet tall or more, has glossy green leaves, and blooms from mid-summer to autumn with fragrant, funnel-shaped, white flowers tinged with pink.  I have never had an abelia in any of my yards.

oriental fountain grass Karley Rose

     On each side of the garden I have planted the oriental fountain grass Karley Rose.  It has graceful, fluffy flower spikes.  It can grow two to three feet and blooms from June to September.  This is a new grass for me.

gallardia Arizona Sun

yellow foxglove

     A gardening friend gave me some yellow foxglove.

goldenrod

     The same friend also gave me some goldenrod. I don't know the species as there are over 50 species.  It has bright yellow flowers that bloom late summer into fall.  It is sometimes considered a weed, but many insects interact with goldenrod, uncluding bees, butterflies, and moths.

salvia

      I filled in some space with annuals like red salvia.

marigolds





zinnias

coreopsis grandiflora

     Although supposedly deer-resistant, like everything I have planted in this garden, I presume the deer sampled the flowers which are missing off the top of this coreopsis and the zinnias.

roses

      For the past two weeks, roses have been blooming all over the neighborhood.  The rose bushes in my back garden have bloomed also.  I have no idea what kind they are.  The rose bushes were here when we moved in in February.

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.

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.

Spring Show

5/6/13

tulip garden

     The last two weeks have been downright cold here by late spring standards.  We have been 10 to 15 degrees below normal.  Our heat is still coming on in the early morning hours because the temperature has been in the low 40's at night.

     Some of the trees are struggling to put out leaves.  This is extremely late for trees here which are normally full of leaves by early to mid-April.

     Despite the cold, there are some things blooming.  My tulip garden has been in full bloom for a week now.

     The late spring blooming daffodils in my front garden all bloomed this week.

St. Patrick's Day daffodil

     This St. Patrick's Day daffodil is so named because the perianth segments are tinged green when first opening.

     Last week I bought some pots that fit the deck railing at this house and filled them with diascia and calibrachoa.

diascia

calibrachoa

     Two weeks ago I made a discovery on the side of the house.  Three asiatic lilies suddenly appeared in front of the boxwood bushes.  I wonder what color they will be.

asiatic lilies

    

violet

     I found one lonely violet in the back yard.  I routinely gather violets in the spring wherever I find them as I walk the dog.  I put them in a tiny vase on my kitchen table.  To me they are a lovely and true sign of spring.