New Flowerbed (the last?)

 

Just when we thought all wall building was done forever, there remained one more wall to build. Fortunately, this one was short, and (comparatively) easy to finish.

And now I have a little flowerbed along the side of the shed.

Hooray for more flowers!

 

Overview

It was quite late in the season, but due to a delayed onset of frosty nights, I was able to get these plants in with time to spare. Also, there were some great sales going on at the nurseries. Dangerous territory, that. 

 

So, starting on the left side, this floppy wonder is half of my beautiful orange geum 'Totally Tangerine' from the other flowerbed. It was crowding its neighbors over there, anyway, and was due for a chopping. (I also moved it down some while I had it out of the ground.)

 

Remember this loveliness?

(picture from May of this year.)

Oh yes, this is the treat I will be in for on both sides of my yard, now.

 

Moving down:

We've got Gaillardia 'Commotion Moxie' on the left, Rudbeckia 'Chocolate Orange' in the middle, and a couple of purple irises transplanted from the back flowerbed.

This bed will mostly have hot colors, chosen by my daughter. I'm hoping the purple iris doesn't clash.

(Though if it does, it will be easy to move elsewhere.)

 

The star of the show: Little Lime Hydrangea

The dwarf form of 'Limelight,' this one should get to be 3-5' tall and wide.

Perfect for this narrow bed.

 

I have discovered that I really crave symmetrical plantings. This time I just went with it, so that's why I only took pictures of the first half of the flowerbed. The next half is exactly the same.

I also put some bulbs in here and there that were dug up in my renovations of the back flowerbed.

So I really have no idea what they are. I mean, they are likely either tulips or daffodils, I know that much, but as to form and color? I guess I'll be surprised come spring.

Could be interesting.

Once we turned the corner, the plan was to extend the raspberry patch, so that's what I did.

Awkward angle here, sorry about that.

 

The one and only 'Fall Gold' raspberry plant that I could find.

The rest I put in are black raspberries.

A little variety should be good, I hope.

 

 

The trellis' were all on sale, so we got 3 and actually use wire to make some sturdy raspberry supports, that should be a lot longer-lasting and more effective than the string variety we had up before.  Yay raspberries!

 

Now I think we are really done creating flowerbeds.

At least for this year!

Fall Colors out Front

My front flowerbeds are filled with delightful colors, even once the flowers have gone.

 

The front porch bed.

Oakleaf hydrangea, I knew I could count on you for some gorgeous fall leaves!

Snowball bush, with peony and Echinacea seedheads in the background.

Love it!

Boxwood, rose, and other foliage

Barberry

The guillardia are hanging on, and those lovely red tones blend in just fine.

Catmint seedheads, with purple ninebark in the background.

 

 

Plus a bonus: strawberry foliage up in the garden

 

If our winter is as mild as the weatherman claims it will be, we will be enjoying these colors for a few more months!

Canning & Processing Tally

I'm feeling pretty good about my harvesting, processing, and canning this year. We entered summer almost completely out of home-canned fruit and now our shelves are overflowing!

 

I didn't do so hot taking pictures of garden harvest or what I canned this year. I want to do better on that next year.

The oregano and vegetables were all from our garden.

We had 3 different friends offer free cherry picking in July, and I took them all up on the offers!

2 had sweet cherries, and 1 had a pie cherry tree.

Peaches, pears, and apples were purchased.

 

We ended up with:

 

1 1/2 quarts dried oregano

 

23 quarts sweet cherries

2 quart bags chopped frozen sweet cherries

15 cups pie filling (frozen)

12 pints? a bunch of cherry-berry syrup (jam that didn't set--oops!)

 

5 cups raspberry freezer jam--home-picked fruit

 

8 quarts sliced carrots, frozen

 

39 quarts peaches

 

5 quarts green beans, frozen

 

9 pints plum jam

Free plums from behind the elementary school!

 

33 quarts pears

 

41 quarts applesauce

 

6 pints pickled beets

 

I think that will do it for this year, unless I decide to make some more jam--which is tempting.

I want to make some more lemon-ginger marmalade.

 

My care for the vegetable garden and flowers really dropped off in September...along with my blogging. This list is helping me realize why--I was canning everything in sight! Everything from the carrots on down has been done since the last week of August.

(Not to mention school starting, soccer practice, etc., etc.)

 

Let me just say it again.

It's a good feeling to have all that done for the year.

The Berries

 

I have high hopes for the berries this year, friends!

Take a look at this.

 

These pictures were taken 10 days ago:

blueberry 'Blue Ray'

I just didn't have the heart to rip these out, and now look at them!

This little blueberry plant has never looked so good!

I fertilized with a acid-lover's compost mix and pruned off the dead branches.

Also, the strawberries planted in front of this one were all dead, so I pulled them out.

 

strawberries starting to get big and bushy

a view of the whole strawberry patch, May 13

Berries, May 23

 

'Blue Ray' has green leaves, and is looking incredibly healthy. Yay!

I actually don't care if I get berries from it or not this year. If it can just put on strong healthy growth all summer, I will be thrilled. 

 

'Patriot', in the middle, is still struggling the most, but even it has some healthy-looking new growth and nice green leaves. I also pruned off the dead branches here, and fertilized with the acid-lover's compost mix.

'Blue Jay' here, surrounded by strawberries, has always been the healthiest of the 3.

It seems to be doing fine.

I should probably clear it out a little space at some point, by moving a few of those strawberries elsewhere.

 

I am tickled pink with the blueberry situation!

If you recall, I had all but decided to just tear them out completely about 2 months ago.

Now I'm really glad I didn't!

 

This strawberry patch is so lush and green!

Now the plants are covered with blossoms, and some even have green berries forming.

Woohoo!

 

I don't have the raspberries pictured, but I did get them all sorted out this week, as well.

Weeded all around and through them, tied up several that had flopped over, and pulled out several errant shoots trying to grow under the fence and generally where they shouldn't.

They are also loaded with blossoms this year.

May Bloom Day: Geums and snowballs

Welcome, Bloom Day friends!

I don't know about you, but my list of spring chores just keeps growing, while my time to do them stays about the same.

 

I love the month of May!

Everything is so green and beautiful flowers are bursting open every day.

 

Here's a peek at my garden:

 

Back flowerbed:

 

My geum 'Totally Tangerine' really sparkles this month.

In fact, it pretty much carries the bed between tulip die-off and rose bloom.

Every year I think I need to fit a few more in back there.

 

Do you see what I see?

Huge fuzzy poppy buds! I'm so excited!

I watched a little girl the other day who, unbeknownst to me, picked some off. No doubt she was also delighted with their fuzziness. I was very sad when I found the buds on the deck later.

I have not yet reached poppy abundance, where the loss of a few buds doesn't matter, but I hope to get there someday!

Dwarf iris 'Bubbles' just starting to bloom, with hardy geranium in front.

Back flowerbed, long view looking toward deck.

The lilies in the foreground were a Mother's Day gift.

I can't remember the name offhand.

I'll have to check the tag and get back to you.

This iris is not supposed to be in the back flowerbed.

They all got moved up front, except this one.

I have no memory of deciding to leave it or plant it here.

Ah well. Now that it's blooming I guess it can stay for a few more weeks, at least.

Fruits and Veggies:

 



Strawberry blossoms.

June is coming!!

 

 

(above and below)

Tulips on the back slope.

They're all bent over following a rainstorm we had.

 

 Front flowerbeds:

 

Sem False Spirea (Sorbaria sorbifolia) with columbine.

The colors echo so nicely, it almost looks planned!

Front tulips, lamb's ears, and candytuft in the background.

These flowerbeds face north, so the bulbs here are about 2 weeks later than in back.

I like it--I get to enjoy the tulips longer this way.

Snowballs in spring.

This shrub is quickly becoming a favorite.

I'm impressed with how heavily it blooms here in its second spring.

 

A few mini daffodils.

I'm not sure which variety this is, but it is the latest to bloom of all my daffodils, by at least 10 days.

Wide view of front beds.

Okay, I had to include this shot, because you can see the iris buds better.

So close to blooming!

Any day now...

Front bed, next to the house:

My dicentra is still going strong.

It's right next to the front porch, so I get to check in on it several times a day.

 

Lovely little heuchera ('Sweet Tart', I think), with oakleaf hydrangea, astilbe, and euonymous foliage in the background.

 

I didn't include the shade bed this time, but I may get out there to take pictures for a separate post.

I have a volunteer forget-me-not blooming right now, which is just delightful!

 

To see what else is blooming around the world right now, click over to

May Dreams Gardens.

 

Thanks for visiting! See you again soon! 

April End of Month Views

Hello, friends!

I'm linking up to Helen's End of Month view meme, which can be found here:

https://patientgardener.wordpress.com/2015/04/30/end-of-month-view-april-2015/ 

 

Let's get started, shall we?

 

Back Flowerbed

 

Tulips are providing nearly all the color at this point with the mockorange giving some needed height.

 

Looking down toward the deck.

 

L-R: mockorange, 'Mariette' tulips, rose

Oh, and one random iris in front.

Geum is big and bushy.

More tulips surrounding mockorange bush.

Tulip distribution is a bit uneven, so that's something I would like to work on for next spring.

 

Vegetable Garden

overview

The bottom terrace is completely planted with spring veggies.

Obviously, nothing has come up yet.

The bright green on the bottom is oregano.

 Greenery on top are strawberries.

 

Pea sticks!

I planted some "Pole Sugar Snap Peas" this year, so I thought I would give pea sticks a try.

Those are dead aspen branches stuck into the ground for a trellis.

If the aspens come alive again and start growing in my garden, I'm going to be mad!

 (Knowing aspens like I do, I wouldn't put it past them!)

 

Shade Bed

 

It's all columbines and heucheras in the shade bed these days.

I haven't seen any sign of the hostas that used to be in here too.

Maybe they'll still come later...

 



 

 

Raspberries

 

Starting to fill out.

I need to get back over there to compost and weed.

 

 

Front Flowerbeds

 

Overview

 

Front: Middle Terrace (where most of the flowers are)

 



Tulips again giving most of the color.

If I can, I want to dig up the lighter-colored ones to put elsewhere, and get a few more of the vibrantly-colored ones.

The bright green on the left is a new delphinium I put in, to replace the phlox that was mostly dead.

I put in 3 and they're all in this middle terrace.

I'll try to point them out in the pictures.

They are all 'Blue Mirror' variety.

 

The tulips almost seem to glow in this picture, don't they?

On the right is one of my new 'William Shakespeare' English roses that I put in place of the daisies.

This photo should be named "Second Chances."

Those little spots of green in front are the hydrangea from the bottom front terrace, which I thought was completely dead until about 2 weeks ago. This spot gets more shade than the former, so maybe that will help it perk up.

The peony growing in back was transplanted from a friend's yard in the middle of last summer and pretty much looked dead the whole rest of the year. Surprise!

I will be really surprised if it blooms this year.

 

A few different varieties of muscari with phlox in the background.

Still on the middle terrace.

 

Sem False Spirea, with columbine, salvia, and of course tulips.

This lovely little shrub brightens up the shady corner here beautifully.

 

Front: Bottom Terrace

 

Grape holly (Mahonia aquifolium)

This is thriving in a tough spot, which I'm glad to see.

It has tripled in size since I planted it, and even had a few of its signature bright yellow flowers earlier this spring.

 

 

Boxwood, barberry in a pot, plus another barberry.

I need to decide where to plant this extra barberry.

It has not been doing so great down on the bottom terrace, so I replaced it with another one of my new roses.

 

 

Another 'William Shakespeare' rose, replacing the barberry, as mentioned above. I planted it good and deep, and I'm really hoping it takes off and adds a shower of deep crimson roses going up the wall.

 



Looking down the bottom terrace.

 

 Tulips by the mailbox.

I'm actually thinking of taking these out.

It's hard to keep this area weeded, with no real flowerbed here.

Plus, all the real flowerbeds are just a few feet away.

They would transplant nicely, I think, to the back flowerbed.

 



 

If you made it all the way through that, way to go!

This is my favorite time of year, with things changing daily, it seems.