The garden in our old house was half shady and some of my daylilies did not do well. They survived and bloomed but never seemed to thrive. We moved to Kalamazoo in southwestern Michigan after that. Our back yard was almost all sun all the time. We moved some of our plants with us, including … [Read more...]
Oleander on My Walk – Pink, Rose and Yellow
Several of our neighbors planted oleander bushes along the road, and since ours are way in the back corner these photos are from the Tree Frogs villa down the street. The slightly tubular flowers have 5 petals, with short feathery stamens. Long leaves are lance shaped and grow on the stems all the … [Read more...]
Planting a Perennial Grass Garden – Clean Up Steps
We had a mess in our back yard with weeds and left over black dirt and gravel that covered up the perfect spot for my perennial grass garden. It is the bunch of dead plants and dirt and an old tarp right in front of the fence on the right. Since it's good to share here are close … [Read more...]
Cleaning Up an Old Yard Mess – Perennial Grass to the Rescue!
When we put in our garden we got large deliveries of black dirt and gravel; unfortunately I forgot to put tarps down under either of these and we still have small piles of dirt and gravel out back. We also got extra edging pieces and I kept thinking we'd do something with them - and they are still … [Read more...]
What Will Next Summer’s Garden Be?
The flower and seed catalogs are strewn across my coffee table in the living room and stacked on top my desk in the office. I've already ordered three perennials from American Meadows. Gaillardia comes in bright, cheerful yellows and red, happily blooms all summer and is hardy here. Its only … [Read more...]
Warm January Weather Melts the Snow and Shows the Mess
It's been unusually warm the last few days, 40s Wednesday - Friday, mid-50s today, 50 tomorrow, before we get back to our normal high 20s/low 30s. This is Michigan after all, and no matter what the groundhog sees on February 2, spring is at least a couple months away. The sun felt so good this … [Read more...]
Garden Updates this Fall: Hope for a Glorious Garden in 2017!
My Sweet Williams were beautiful this summer. This early June photo shows rose, pink, purple, red, white and bicolor flowers all spilling over on tall plants perfect for picking. I love Sweet Williams and planted two big beds, one in the main perennial garden and one in the back strip along … [Read more...]
Changes in the Garden – What Didn’t Work in 2016
This spring I changed one garden bed, moving peonies (aka attempting to move peony roots almost two feet square) and planting more summer-blooming gold/red perennials together in the now-open space. We purchased several plants both locally and mail order and I had high hopes they would thrive … [Read more...]
The Blue Flowers of Fall
Have you noticed how few flowers are blue? Purple yes, but true blue is hard to find. In spring we have small bulbs like muscari and hyacinth; summer brings delphiniums and bluebells. And in the fall we have beautiful asters and one of my favorites, eupatorium Wayside. I used to bike all … [Read more...]
Garden 2016 Winner – Butterfly Weed
For some reason I've avoided butterfly weed, Asclepias tuberosa and never planted it until we moved here and have a garden that's sunny all day. Butterfly weed is in the milkweed family and butterflies and bees love it. I have two plants growing between peonies, dark purple salvia and … [Read more...]