Some of our annuals from last year volunteered seedlings this spring. Last summer's annual candytuft bloomed in blah colors, but the volunteers are blooming in pretty shades of purple and pink. I didn't need to plant the cosmos seeds we bought because my garden is full of seedlings. Our … [Read more...]
The Great June Pause: After Peonies and Before Daylilies
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...]
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...]
Heather So Tough and So Pretty – Blooming in Snow All Winter
One of the puzzling landscape features we inherited with this house is a big round garden-ish spot in the middle of the drive. It is divided in half, with black lava rocks on a mounded area and granite rocks on a flatter half. I suspect there used to be more plants as the ones there now are a bit … [Read more...]
Top 10 Gardening Challenges for 2016
My garden has several problems that I need to figure out, plus the usual challenges we face every summer. #10 One of my personal problems is that I feel terrible when I discard a living plant. Last year my iris struggled with pests and took over the best garden spots. When I cleared the plants … [Read more...]
Beyond Mums – More Beautiful Flowers for Fall
When you think of fall, do you see gardens bursting with chrysanthemum blooms? Mums are beautiful, bringing us golds, russets, pinks, purple and white, but we can make our gardens even better by adding a few other flowers. This plant here is Eupatorium Wayside, vigorous and hardy. It's about 18 … [Read more...]
New Flowers for My 2016 Garden – Pink, Orange, Blue and Gold
Yesterday I placed my first 2016 garden order, this one from Bluestone Perennials, in time to use their winter coupons. You too can use them before January 20, 2016. (Note all photos below are links from the Bluestone website.) Last summer my phlox were pretty, but scattered in my garden and … [Read more...]
It’s Been A Rainy Summer – And A Buggy One!
We have had great summer weather this year, with only a few days of I'm-dying-it's-hot but it has been wet. That means bugs, mosquitoes and flies. I've had to wear bug repellent to garden and even to go for a walk. This week it's been very hot, high 80s and into the 90s, and I have walked early … [Read more...]