Green!! We've finished the work on the patio gardens, at least for this year. We'll see how the plants all look when summer comes. As I mentioned in the May post, we removed a few day lilies from the left day lily garden, and you can see that there are still plenty left to fill out the space. I never make note of the colors so it is an annual surprise when they blossom. The garden by the wall now has chives, aquilegia, baptisia australis, orange day lilies, other day lilies, violets, mallow, catnip, bearded iris, and a little lilac bush.
We moved the phlox from one side of the fence to the other, where the day lilies used to be, to give it more room.
and planted a forsythia where the phlox were. I've never grown one before but this one is supposed to be very hardy for my zone, so I'm hoping. Those yellow flowers are just so cheerful in the spring. I'm thinking of planting some crocus beside it in the fall.
The day lily garden near the forsythia, is a new one we put in last September. We planted Hush Little Baby, in honor of the grandchildren who weren't even born when we planted them. My friend Judi gave me some orange day lilies that aren't the common ones, but a kind of frilled edge variety. I posted a picture of them seven years ago and you may see it here, the fourth photo down. And there are couple others that came free with the Hush Little Baby plants called Fulton's Ford, a 'peachy yellow' variety. I also planted another orange one called Primal Scream. So this should be a beautiful little area of color. I do so love day lilies.
The garden on the other side of the patio, the terrace garden is doing great. We thinned out the day lilies there, as well. Just now, the bleeding heart, lily-of-the-valley, violets, and lilacs are in bloom.
Meanwhile, in the flower garden formerly known as vegetable, there are now day lilies, Siberian iris, the six peony plants we put in a couple years ago, and the new Walker's Low catmint. This week we'll plant yellow beans along the bean pole, and we've decided that is the only vegetable we'll have in that garden. We had thought we'd do lettuce, but local lettuce is already in the store, and it just seems silly to bother.
Out back, the lupines and Siberian iris are growing like crazy. Both have spread over the years, and will be a beautiful display before long.
Thanks for letting me live another life for a few minutes! Your gardens are simply charming, welcoming, and oh so beautifully green....I love daylilies and will enjoy following their progress.
ReplyDeleteThe lilac header shot is wonderful (I swear I can nearly catch their wonderful scent). They were through blooming by the time we got to Oregon (and of course another 'never in Florida' one).
Oh that GREEN! Beautiful gardens, all of them!! And I too love the masthead photos of lilacs. Stunning! I bet they smell sweet.
ReplyDeleteJust this morning, walking in a nearby nature sanctuary, we decided that we need to plant some Babtista. The australis is one we are looking to get and here you are showing it. I love your choices of plants in honor of the babies, Nan. We have done the same with our grands.
ReplyDeleteYour beds are looking good and hope to see them as they grow.
Have you ever read Barbara Cooney's children's book, Miss Rumphious? It is a delight and I thought of it reading about your lupines. Miss Rumphius, after some life adventures, sets out to make the world a better place by scattering lupine seeds wherever she goes. It is a lovely storybook for young, and not so, with beautiful illustrations. You might enjoy it.
My day lilies are budding up now, I do understand how much you love them! I grow them intermingled with other things, for their season is short and I like colour for as much of the year as I can. I moved a white one last year which was very unhappy in it's former home.... and I see that it has at least one stem of buds, so here's hoping! Wishing you a colourful summer there, Nan.
ReplyDeleteMy, what a lot of space you have!
ReplyDeleteHow I'd love to be magically transported over to sit on your patio with you and have a natter.
It's all so beautiful and green. It must smell just wonderful on a warm day. I love the picture of your two children and grandchildren on the sidebar. Could you possibly be any happier or prouder?
ReplyDeleteYour gardens look so beautiful. Isn't it fun to try new things? It is interesting to see how our tastes in gardens change over the years. I am now planting more shrubs. Happy Spring.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful before
ReplyDeleteand as time goes on
beautiful
but a little different for you.
Love seeing
all you have done.
Your garden reminds me of England. Oh wait, they don't call it New England for nothing, do they?
ReplyDeleteI love how you've decided to simplify your lives and just have pretty flowers and your beloved beans. Reading to grandchildren is so much more fun than weeding and watering, don't you think? I have a hedge (maybe 5 individual bushes) of forsythia which are absolutely gorgeous in early spring. As soon as they bloom, I know spring has arrived! My daylilies are blooming and look so cheerful next to the purple salvia and a bright pink hybrid rose. The peonies are finish (so short-lived!), as are the rhodies. I'm hoping my oak leaf hydrangea blooms this year. It was a very rough winter (dry, windy, extremely cold) and a lot of the evergreens and hydrangeas suffered all over town. I had to cut quite a bit of mine back, but it's alive!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your garden! Won't be long before you have two little helpers toddling along beside you. :)
It's a very beautiful garden, and everything you've done to it makes perfect sense to me. I am sure the day lilies will look fantastic when they are in bloom.
ReplyDeleteIt seems wonderful to me to have such a nice large variety of areas to garden in. But lots of work too. I don't blame you for deciding to concentrate on flowers. I have a small container 'garden' on my front porch with only one veggie in the bunch: basil. :) For me it isn't Spring or Summer until I have flowers. Though occasionally I will plant parsley too. Thanks for sharing your garden with us, Nan.
ReplyDelete