Wednesday, May 26, 2010

May Ending


This is the side of the house.  We put in the brick stairway 4 years ago.  We added the beds in front of the fence last year and planted  Lady's Mantle and Rose Campion.  This year we added the edging down the side of the walkway / shrubs and planted hostas and Nepeta Walker's Low.  Can't wait for that to get going!   Under the trees was a weedy mess - this year we were really tired of looking at it and mulched.  So much better!    Someday it will be a shade garden. (I'm just finally realizing that I can't do it all in one year ;)

Here's the side yard garden beyond the pool fence.  This will be it's third year.  I increased the size a bit this spring, moved some plants around, added a few new.  I tried to include more pink.  I didn't plan very well in the beginning and ended up with a lot of yellow, white and blue.  Nice combo, but a girl's gotta have pink!  A few of my Magic Fountain Delphiniums didn't make it through the winter.  Will replace those next year if I don't get around to it this year.   The plants inside the fence are Geranium Rozanne.  I am kicking myself for not ordering more of these when Bluestone had them on sale. C'est la vie.  Especially since I still have not planted everything that I did order. 


This is the back bed behind the pool (and behind the pool fence - sep pic for that).  Inside the fence, there is a row of Lavendar 'Blue Scent' with some Snow-in-Summer planted in front of it - which really hasn't done a whole lot for me.  I planted it in two different locations in the yard and it was not happy in either place.  I was going to pull it out this year - and of course it is having it's best year ever. It must have known it was going to meet it's maker and pulled out all the stops.  It bought itself another year. In the corner is a group of Echinacea 'Magus'

The bed outside the back pool fence.   The Delphinium Magic Fountains on the corner bit the dust this winter.  The little tiny thing there in it's place is a Nepeta 'Walker's Low'.  Come on, little guy, start growin!   Also  in this garden is Blue Spidorwort, Gaillardia, Knockout Roses, Rudbeckia  (new) and Echinacia Baby Swan Pink (new).  Notice the blob of mulch in the bottom right corner.  No, we have not finished spreading that mountain of mulch.  This weekend for sure!

My buddy, Geranium Rozanne

Multi-blue Clematis

Dianthus Ideal Mix (these are thriving this year!  Usually they come back and limp through summer.  Must have been the mild winter)

The view from the back of the yard toward the front

The view of the backyard from above (to truly appreciate this pic, see older post that shows what the backyard looked like 12 years ago when we bought our house)


And to finish up with some cool moon and sky pics.  My new camera is awesome, except for the fact that I broke the battery door so I have to hold it closed with duct tape.  However, it is not the camera's fault that it looks like a flea market find...


Pool at night with the best bargain of the year so far - brown metal torches that match the new pots by the pool

2 comments:

Diane at My Cottage Garden said...

Tracy - your yard reminds me of my own in several ways. Just the way the gardens are around the grass and also you seem to have well-established trees surrounding your property, the way we do. Looks like you have some good privacy there.

Thanks for you comment on my peony. They really are one of my favourite plants....they are ones that just bloom for a relatively short time, but are well worth the space they take up the rest of the time!

Tracy said...

Thanks for commenting Diane! We are surrounded by lots of trees (maples, oaks, pines and hemlock)and are lucky enough to have many trees between our neighbors and us. Our entire back yard used to be all pine trees - we cleared it out several years ago. I have some old posts that show what it looked like before.

You have inspired me to definitely plant peonies some day. I'll have to start planning a new bed! Our yard is all rocks so if I want a new bed, I have to buy a truckload of soil/compost and make raised beds.