Morning Glories

The Understated Rose Garden

The rose garden that sits just outside the back door is simple and understated this year:

It includes a container of mint and a container of pink impatiens:

 

Alyssum in pink with deeper hues at the edges of the petals:

And, of course, the white roses:

The "spring" gardening push came late for me this year, so I just put the alyssum in about a week ago. It should fill in by the end of the season. I like the way the green pots sit right in the garden with the color of the containers playing off the green foliage, and the way the pinks of the alyssum and impatiens create a color duet. This continues the pink-white-green color combination I like so much in this garden as expressed in last year's Overview & Evaluation at the end of the season.

Alas, last year's temperamental clematis 'Freckles' did not reappear to redeem itself this year. And the cosmos, which provided so much enjoyment as documented here, here, here, here and here, did not re-seed themselves. And the hypoestes (an annual or tender perennial) did not come back. So other than the roses (which, after all, are the basis for the garden) it's a whole new scene this year -- simple and sweet!

Wildflower Garden Update

The wildflower "Garden on a Whim" that I recently planted around the tree in my front yard is doing very well. Here's a photo update to show the progress since I planted the seeds at the end of June:

I've cut back on the watering to about every other day, giving it a longer, deeper soak each time now that the seedlings are more substantial. I must confess that with this garden -- because of the large amount of territory it covers -- I've succumbed to the ease and speed of hose watering, as opposed to my preferred old-fashioned watering method using a trusty antique watering can.

I'm very anxious to watch this new garden as it comes in and to see if we will be fortunate enough to get any flowers this year. Here's hoping!

Simple Pleasures - Coneflower Blossom

The Joys of Perennial Expansion - Part 2

The rose campion plants in my side border, which have flowers whose deep pink hue can best be described as vibrant, were given to me by my sister in our Plant Swap last year. (At that time we called it a poppy but have since learned the correct name.) She told me how easy the plants were to grow and that they would spread easily from the two shoots. I was delighted with the blossoms last year:

Rose Campion 2007
DELICATE & DELIGHTFUL
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This year both of the original plants have expanded dramatically, and a small new shoot recently appeared nearby. I moved that to a third area in order to continue my symmetrical design for the side border. I just couldn't be happier with these beautiful plants!

Rose Campion 2008
SIMPLY STUNNING!
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Succulent Settling in Nicely

The indoor succulent that had sent up a desperate
Re-potting SOS is settling nicely into its new home:

A stretch and a sigh: "Aaaahhhh...."

Cuttings of the Day - 07/10/08

Morning Rose
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Peg Rack Yarrow
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Single Hydrangea
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People from a planet without flowers would think
we must be mad with joy the whole time
to have such things about us.
Iris Murdoch

Simple Pleasures - Three for the Fourth

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

SPIREA
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CONEFLOWER
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HYDRANGEA
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The Joys of Perennial Expansion - Part 1

One of the great aspects of perennial gardening is the way the plants expand from year to year. (This is not a profound discovery, just a process that is enjoyable and rewarding to observe.) Today's example is the Lilium Asiatic "Corrida" hybrid lily that I planted in the left front border two years ago. This year it has expanded to two full-size stalks and one new smaller stalk:

Each stalk produces more flowers from year to year. I counted (and re-counted) 17 buds and blooms on this stalk alone:

Without question, each individual blossom is stunning and worthy of attention on its own:

For comparison, take a look at this hybrid lily post from last year. The mutiplication that is occurring over time is dazzling and delightful. Gardening doesn't get much better than this! 

(Of course there are also those aggressive plants that provide "The Trials of Perennial Expansion" -- the liriope that dominates the right front border comes to mind -- but that's another post for another time.)

Garden on a Whim

The gargantuan pin oak tree in my front yard is surrounded by a large mulch ring. When I first moved in, the yard was in very poor shape and a tangled pack of weeds surrounded the tree. I cleaned out the weed bed initially myself, contracting a severe case of poison something-or-other in the process. About four years ago I had someone do the annual clean-up, dig an edge, then put plastic and mulch down. At that time the ring unfortunately became larger and somewhat uneven, but it looks better than weeds and I've just sprayed and mulched it every year. 

This year, I didn't spray in time so I had a lot of plant-sized weeds to pull. Once that 3-hour job was done, I decided to do something different this year. I decided to plant seeds and see if a wildflower garden would grow. (The canopy of the pin oak was raised a couple of years ago, so the area now gets enough sun.)  But before I prepared the soil and did the planting, there was a wayward pansy to rescue:

 

The plant had cropped up as a welcome volunteer among the weeds, and I gave it a new home:

Then I combed through the soil (which is really broken-down mulch) to remove as many weed roots as I could. I took six packets of wildflower seeds and mixed them all together: 

 

The wildflowers include: baby’s breath, cornflower, flax, coreopsis, larkspur, poppies, black-eyed Susans, shasta daisy, cosmos, forget-me-nots, marigolds, zinnias, sweet alyssum, asters, sweet william, coneflowers, candytuft, and foxgloves. I planted the seeds, watered them diligently morning and evening, and prayed for germination. Three days later the first seedling appeared, and two days after that there was widespread germination:

Yahoo! I can't wait to see how this "Garden on a Whim" (AKA "The Surprise Garden") develops!

Simple Pleasures - Rose Campion Blossom