Not me! I garden!
Let me introduce you to my gardens. I don't count the front yard but I do have perennials in the front landscaping.
This is what I call the shed garden:
We need to freshen up the edge and add new mulch but you get the idea. Some of the highlights of this garden are the daylillies by the shed door. They are stunning. One is red and the other is purple. Gorgeous. The hostas are doing fabulous right now and everything looks so lush. That is why I am posting these pictures. We weeded and freshened up on Sunday and I was so happy to see all the plants really taking off this morning. Derek and I planted 2 new hostas over by the hose and I hope they take off. I split a hosta by the stepping stones that you can't see in this picture. I hope that wasn't a mistake and it catches back up in size to the others. At the moment it is barely above the dirt.
I have new red bees balm against the back of the garage. This is my second attempt at this plant. My hair dresser gave me some from her garden last year. I took care of these special plants, watere and fertilized it.... only to learn that what I was taking care of was a weed.... the plant never took off. This spring when the plant started emerging I googled it to make sure what I was taking care of was really the plant. No worries, it is. Next to that are Shasta Daisies that do fabulous every year. By the steps to the garage is a Southern Comfort Coral Bell. That has been in the ground for maybe 2 years. Last fall I split it and put it in the new "deck" garden. So far both plants are doing wonderfully. I love the color variation it provides in the garden. Magazines always talk about repeating plants throughout your garden to help with the flow and continuity. I believe them and I am taking what they say to heart. I have hostas, daylillies, hydrangeas and now coral bells in multiple places.
The other side of the shed garden. This is a work in process. I am not happy at all with it. There are a few new plants in there that I added in the fall so we will see how it shakes up through the summer. The large center hydrangea is a Pink Anabell. I have had it for maybe 3 years now. It produces flowers but they are small. On either side of that hydrangea are City Mars Hydrangeas. I saw these years ago at a garden show and fell in love with them. I had a picture on my phone for a while and I found it on Pinterest as well so it was saved in my "outside" folder. To my great fortune I scored 2 on end of the year clearance 3 years ago. THEY HAVE NEVER BLOOMED. Lots of lush green leaves appear every year and then nothing... no flowers. I watch it all summer and my heart just breaks. When we had the landscaper over to dig out the deck garden last summer (I had just given birth so I wasn't doing that myself) I asked hi for advice. I took his advice and used what he said so lets hope this year generates flowers. If not, I am ripping them out in the fall. Maybe I will try them someone else but I can't keep having my heart broken every summer. Not when there are hundreds of new varieties of plants screaming my name at the garden stores and begging to be taken home. At some point I have to cut my losses.
This is what the City Mars variety SHOULD look like:
Source
Gorgeous, right? Now you can see why I was so excited they were on clearance!!! I haven't given up hope yet. This will be my summer.
Below is the deck garden. This was dug out at the end of last summer. This literally is a hodge podge of wonderful plants. I split some that I had in the shed garden and my wonderful mother in law shared with me from her garden. They were moving so she was splitting plants like crazy. I took everything she offered and one night literally was gardening by the light in the dining room that is above the garden. I was not going to let gorgeous plants go to waste. I try and plan out where I want to put new plants. I think about the color, height and bloom time. Everything they talk about in the magazines. Last fall, I followed no rules. I know I will pay for it but I had to do what I had to do. There are also over 100 bulbs in this garden that I planted last fall. I cut all the spent daffodils and tulips this weekend but there are more bulbs ready to open. I saved all the names of the bulbs I planted and I need to dig them out so I can see what fun things I should be expecting soon. Everyday is a surprise.
The beautiful poppy opened this morning. I was just thrilled!! I have never had poppies before and my mother in law said they don't transplant well. I gave it a try, and I was rewarded! Wonderful way to start my morning.
Last but not least, are my alliums that I have planted on either side of our driveway. They are in full bloom and beautiful. This year I plan on drying them and spray painting them for accents on my mantel.
Let me introduce you to my gardens. I don't count the front yard but I do have perennials in the front landscaping.
This is what I call the shed garden:
Shed Garden
We need to freshen up the edge and add new mulch but you get the idea. Some of the highlights of this garden are the daylillies by the shed door. They are stunning. One is red and the other is purple. Gorgeous. The hostas are doing fabulous right now and everything looks so lush. That is why I am posting these pictures. We weeded and freshened up on Sunday and I was so happy to see all the plants really taking off this morning. Derek and I planted 2 new hostas over by the hose and I hope they take off. I split a hosta by the stepping stones that you can't see in this picture. I hope that wasn't a mistake and it catches back up in size to the others. At the moment it is barely above the dirt.
I have new red bees balm against the back of the garage. This is my second attempt at this plant. My hair dresser gave me some from her garden last year. I took care of these special plants, watere and fertilized it.... only to learn that what I was taking care of was a weed.... the plant never took off. This spring when the plant started emerging I googled it to make sure what I was taking care of was really the plant. No worries, it is. Next to that are Shasta Daisies that do fabulous every year. By the steps to the garage is a Southern Comfort Coral Bell. That has been in the ground for maybe 2 years. Last fall I split it and put it in the new "deck" garden. So far both plants are doing wonderfully. I love the color variation it provides in the garden. Magazines always talk about repeating plants throughout your garden to help with the flow and continuity. I believe them and I am taking what they say to heart. I have hostas, daylillies, hydrangeas and now coral bells in multiple places.
Shed Garden
The other side of the shed garden. This is a work in process. I am not happy at all with it. There are a few new plants in there that I added in the fall so we will see how it shakes up through the summer. The large center hydrangea is a Pink Anabell. I have had it for maybe 3 years now. It produces flowers but they are small. On either side of that hydrangea are City Mars Hydrangeas. I saw these years ago at a garden show and fell in love with them. I had a picture on my phone for a while and I found it on Pinterest as well so it was saved in my "outside" folder. To my great fortune I scored 2 on end of the year clearance 3 years ago. THEY HAVE NEVER BLOOMED. Lots of lush green leaves appear every year and then nothing... no flowers. I watch it all summer and my heart just breaks. When we had the landscaper over to dig out the deck garden last summer (I had just given birth so I wasn't doing that myself) I asked hi for advice. I took his advice and used what he said so lets hope this year generates flowers. If not, I am ripping them out in the fall. Maybe I will try them someone else but I can't keep having my heart broken every summer. Not when there are hundreds of new varieties of plants screaming my name at the garden stores and begging to be taken home. At some point I have to cut my losses.
Shed Garden
This is what the City Mars variety SHOULD look like:
Source
Gorgeous, right? Now you can see why I was so excited they were on clearance!!! I haven't given up hope yet. This will be my summer.
Below is the deck garden. This was dug out at the end of last summer. This literally is a hodge podge of wonderful plants. I split some that I had in the shed garden and my wonderful mother in law shared with me from her garden. They were moving so she was splitting plants like crazy. I took everything she offered and one night literally was gardening by the light in the dining room that is above the garden. I was not going to let gorgeous plants go to waste. I try and plan out where I want to put new plants. I think about the color, height and bloom time. Everything they talk about in the magazines. Last fall, I followed no rules. I know I will pay for it but I had to do what I had to do. There are also over 100 bulbs in this garden that I planted last fall. I cut all the spent daffodils and tulips this weekend but there are more bulbs ready to open. I saved all the names of the bulbs I planted and I need to dig them out so I can see what fun things I should be expecting soon. Everyday is a surprise.
The beautiful poppy opened this morning. I was just thrilled!! I have never had poppies before and my mother in law said they don't transplant well. I gave it a try, and I was rewarded! Wonderful way to start my morning.
Last but not least, are my alliums that I have planted on either side of our driveway. They are in full bloom and beautiful. This year I plan on drying them and spray painting them for accents on my mantel.
Who needs a therapist when plants and gardening can bring so much joy to your life. My 4-1/2 year old "helped" me this weekend and it was wonderful being out there with him. He can actually name to a few my plants which melts my heart. Getting your hand dirty and being able to nurture and take care of something beautiful is always good for the soul. Get out and garden. I promise you, a pack of seeds is cheaper than therapy. You won't be disappointed.
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