The garden book I found most helpful when I planted our first perennial garden recommended building around 5 main plants: peonies, daylilies, phlox, mums and I think iris. I got the book from the library - and it has been over 40 years! - so I don't remember for sure. It was either iris or … [Read more...]
One Week Later… Peonies, Sweet Williams, Salvia and More
We left camping May 31 with the peonies first burst of bloom and came home a week later to a garden in full glory. Early June is incredible with 40+ peonies all flowing with flowers. I saw this walking out the back screen porch. The deep purple on the left is salvia, beautiful surrounded … [Read more...]
What A Difference A Day Makes! Peonies Galore
Memorial Day evening (May 30, 2016) our first peonies opened. This is right after my last post about the pre-peony garden with everything holding its breath waiting for the bloom explosion. I got a few photos the next morning before we left camping. Wow! Here's a view of the left end … [Read more...]
Flowers Blooming In My Garden This Memorial Day, May 30, 2016
This year spring has come in like waves on the beach, in and out, in and out. Days in the 70-80s followed by days in the 40-50s, sun followed by rain. We always have variable spring weather, but it's not common to have 80 degree days in early May or 40 degree days in late May. My flowers have … [Read more...]
Springtime Clean Up, Weed, Fertilize and Get Ready for Flowers!
It's spring time, busy time, garden time. I love it! I'm getting about 10 new perennials next week (read about them here) and need to make the garden ready for flower power. Main jobs: tidy up, weed, move a few plants to get color bursts and fertilize. Last fall I made a long list of all the … [Read more...]
Busy Week in the Garden! Pansy Planting
It's been warm here and I've been busy in the garden weeding and planting. First part of the week I weeded the gardens - got rid of all the bits of grass that snuck into the perennial beds out back and raked out most of the leaves in front - and have it all ready for flowers. First up were the … [Read more...]
Daffodils, Peaches and Late Snows, Freezing Weather
We had a mild winter here in Michigan with very little snow cover and only a few days below 10 above. Plus March was unusually mild; we normally have one or two March days in the 50s or even low 60s but this year we had 50+ for several days. Trees are budding and spring is coming! That changed … [Read more...]
Iris Plants and the Icky Iris Borer
I like iris flowers just fine, although we have too many plants and not enough different varieties. What I don't like is how the plants look when they finish blooming. Ugh. Several plants were especially bad, with brown leaves and spots and soft rhizomes. I remembered iris get … [Read more...]
My Garden Late June 2015 – What to Change for Spring 2016
Spring ended a week ago and I'm already looking forward to planning improvements in the garden for next spring. This was an odd spring. Iris, Sweet William and peonies bloomed heavily - but started late and ended fast. I don't think even my peonies lasted more than 8 days, which is very short. … [Read more...]
In Praise of Dianthus – Lovely Pinks and Sweet Williams
Dianthus come in beautiful colors of pink, rose, carmine, red, purple and bicolors, and as a bonus they have at least a faint scent. I always include some of the annual dianthus in our flower pots by the front door because they bloom all the time and look great without needing … [Read more...]