Yesterday when my dad stopped by the house so that we could show my
nephew some of the improvements we'd made since the last time he
visited, dad mentioned that I hadn't updated the Catty-Corner blog in a
little while. Well, dad, here ya go...this one's for you.
If
you don't love plants, then prepare to be bored to death, in a manner
similar to counting sheep. Because I'm about to take you through the
current garden catalog of Catty-Corner Cottage.
Yes, I
DO have a garden journal, with diagrams of my flower beds. I've
discovered over the last year or so that we've been here how much of a
passion I truly have for gardening. Am I good at it? Well, my thumb
may still be tinged more black than green, but I'm enthusiastic about
learning, and my babies...er...(cough) plants are quite patient with
me.
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Catty-Corner Cottage, a front view as of this sweltering warm Memorial weekend Sunday. |
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The left view of the front of the house. We'll go into detail ;) |
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The right view of the front of the house. |
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Remember when I was really worried
about my hydrangea in the spring? Like, to the point of wondering if I
should just dig it up and plant a new one? Well. Nuff said. |
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Hooray! |
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I have two
lambs ear plants in the front flower bed. They are so enthusiastic
about growing! I hear that's pretty much their reputation. I love
lambs ear...sometimes I'll even break off a leaf and bring it in to rub
it between my fingers. It's so soothing and really does feel like
animal fur. |
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Last year we
had an absolutely beautiful hanging basket of Scaevola Blue on our front
porch. We went to Baker's Acres and they were kind enough to
transplant a custom hanging basket of just Scaevola. (no one else
around here had it at all) When we first got it, it looked rather thin
and sparse, but they assured me it would grow in. So far so good! |
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The lavender
pots by the front stairs are starting to bloom. I did some research
this year on the best time to harvest Hidcote lavender, and look forward
to having lovely dried spears for sachets or other such gifts. |
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See? |
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The Blue
Fortune Anise Hyssop is doing quite well too. It's about 2.5' tall so
far, and that's without any blooms on it yet. This plant is a big
seducer for bees and butterflies, so it could make things interesting
for watering my flower beds, since the spigot is almost right behind
it. Ah well...no pain no gain. |
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The flower boxes continue to do well. Here's the one on the sunny side of the front. |
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And on the
partial-shade side of the front. Both are doing well, but it's
interesting to see how different plants are thriving more in each one. |
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The latest addition to the front. After seeing this absolutely awesome artwork,
I've been a bit fixated on Foxgloves. For some reason this year, I've
had a thing for tall spear-like cottage flowers. Hollyhocks and
Foxgloves are all I can dream of. So I went out and bought a couple of
Foxglove plants for either side of the window box under the bay window. |
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The other one. |
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I mean, seriously, how could I resist this? |
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The Hellebore
seems to be ignoring the fact that it's a late winter/early spring
bloomer, and the blooms have stayed on the plant. Most have faded to a
light lavender, but they're still there, and looking beautiful. |
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A view of the Hellebore from the perspective of an ant. Or more likely in my garden, a slug. (grumble) |
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I planted this last year, and...I don't remember what it is. But it's doing well! Behind it is a Columbine all done blooming. |
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The Hosta,
looking a little holey from the slugs in the garden (I plan to try the
beer traps method to make sure all the tiny holes in my plants ARE from
slugs, but I keep forgetting to buy beer!) I'm not a huge hosta
fan...goodness knows enough people around here think they're the bee's
knees...but we do have three of them in the front, and if it's green and
it was here when I got here, I kept it. |
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Speaking of
here when I got here, here's the Lamium I so adore, planted beside the
front stairs. This stuff is so wonderful...a beautiful ground cover
that blooms purple almost all summer long. Last year we transplanted a
tiny bit to the other side of the stairs too to try to add symmetry. It
took off quite well this year, though it's a little more sparse because
there's less shade on that side. |
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A Lamium bloom. |
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In the side
yard, we're fighting a battle against the dirt patch left by the pine
tree we had cut down last year. Apparently after you take out a pine
tree, it's very difficult to get grass to grow because pines are so
acidic, they mess up the soil pH. We're taking a sample to get tested
by the local county extension office so that we know how much lime to
add to the soil to bring the pH up to neutral. Oh, the things you have
to learn as a home owner who wants grass ;) Anyway, we've put in a new
flower bed in the side yard, and I transplanted the Hollyhocks I grew
from seed to there. They...aren't all doing so well, but some are
surviving, like this one. We hope to put a white arbor at the fence
gate in the side yard, and I have seeds for a fast growing bean vine
with red flowers to plant on it. |
Compare the above picture to the
same flower bed
last July after we put all the new flowers in. Very little has bloomed
yet this year, but look how much more LUSH the plants are coming in!!
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At the far left of the flower bed along the fence, there's a purple coneflower starting to bloom. |
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The Coreopsis next to it is just starting to show signs of its cheerful yellow blossoms. |
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Next to that is a purple Columbine almost at the end of its flower. |
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And behind that is a Siberian Iris. |
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With another Siberian Iris to the other side of it. |
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Our neighbors were generous with giving me Sedum. Here's one of three plants in this flower bed. |
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Next to that
is a thornless Raspberry plant I just got a couple of weeks ago at the
local Master Gardeners plant sale. A Vinca Vine is beside it, and has
made babies all over the flower bed too. |
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Next to that
is another purple coneflower. I was super-worried about this one as the
other one was already starting to bloom and I saw no signs of any buds
or stems on this one. But... |
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....it appears
to be starting to work on it? This is my first year with the purple
coneflowers...I put them in last year already fully grown as a
transplant from a friend's garden, so seeing them come up from the
ground is new for me. I'm still learning what the buds even look like
on the plant. Can anyone confirm? |
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In front of the Coneflower is Burgundy Glow Ajuga. It's a groundcover that spreads like wildfire, but it's so very pretty. |
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To the right
of the Vinca vine, behind the Purple coneflower, is another Siberian
Iris, probably feeling pretty crowded. I may have to move this one
eventually. |
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Earlier in the
spring another generous neighbor gave me a baby Foxglove. Here it is
starting to grow. And of course another baby Vinca Vine next to it. |
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Two more Sedums! |
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And finally
the Bee Balm is going crazy as only a semi-wild domesticated plant can
do. I love the stuff, so I hate to thin it out...I started to try in
the spring, but whenever I cut any of it it just smelled so good..... |
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Around the
edge of the patio I keep my daylilies. My coworker Sheli generously
gave me these cheerful yellow early bloomers last year. |
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And my preciouses, the Egyptian Queen Daylilies
that are arguably among my top favorite garden plants, (and turned the
tide on my opinion of daylilies in general) are starting to shoot up
stems in preparation for blooms.... |
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My friend
Salena, who also gave me the Purple coneflower last year, introduced me
to the joys of Calendula, an enthusiastic self-seeder that comes up with
cheerful orange blooms in at least two or three different styles among
the same plant. They've started to bloom. |
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An overview of
the patio edge. The lilac is shooting up tall as well...it's almost as
tall as me now. Please to be ignoring the mulch bags on the bricks.
;) |
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The mum we planted last year as a memorial to my Uncle is doing well. |
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My parents gave me this 'Telstar Mix' Dianthus last year for my birthday, and it's covered in blooms this year. |
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On the back porch is a planter box with ivy and morning glories. |
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I have a couple of antlers in the planter box and I love how the vines are twining around them. |
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It's amazing how these vines don't even need to be trained to twine beautifully around the supports provided. |
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Under my beloved Hawthorn tree is a Coral Bell |
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(dreamy sigh) I so love this tree.... |
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In the back
corner of the yard is a bed I mostly let grow wild. These ferns don't
quite get enough shade, and sadly by midsummer can get brown and
dead-ish. But for now they're lush and green. |
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The only thing
I planted in this bed is a thornless blackberry plant I picked up last
year. It's doing quite well, and I hope I can beat the birds to the
harvest this year. |
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The same
neighbor who gave me the baby Foxglove also shared with me these orange
poppies she originally picked up from a coworker over twenty years ago.
I love the sharing aspect of gardening. It's so romantic and
sentimental! Anyway, this is the first year for these baby poppies, so
they're doing well just by staying green. Next year I look forward to
blooms. |
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Finally, I
have four tomato plants along the garage wall in the back yard. Three
of the plants were generously given to me by a patron at my library, and
how can I say no to that? I wasn't planning to try tomatoes yet, but I
decided to give them a try. This one, the fourth plant, is an heirloom
black cherry tomato I picked up at the Rural Society Antique and Garden
Show a few weeks ago. It's doing very well, and I eagerly anticipate
the dark purple-black tomatoes I'll taste from this. |
So
there you have it. An epically long tour through my gardens. Of
course, my birthday is coming up, and I've already given my husband my
wish list. Which may or may not include a plethora of more plants....
:D I enjoyed it! And yes, your coneflower is about to bloom. ;) Are you certain those are the same variety of coneflower? I forgot to ask that obvious question when we were discussing the differences between the two. Derp. Thank you for sharing your garden, and your enthusiasm. i wish so much i was your neighbor!!
ReplyDeleteI wish the same! We could share seedlings and baby plants :) I really hope your Hollyhocks come up...I keep watering the bed religiously!
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure the two coneflowers are the same...here's a picture of them from last year...the left one is more sparse, but the flowers were the same. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CJm5h4Su-uQ/TjStXNghZ5I/AAAAAAAADP4/OFa6_blg21A/s1600/blogexterior3.jpg