Stargazers

Love these lilies - I just wish they lasted longer!

Cutting Garden - with lilies in bloom

The yellow and white and Stargazer lilies are blooming in the cutting garden.  Other flowers that are blooming are cosmos, zinnias, and bachelor buttons.

 Here's a closer look at some of the lilies.

Sven shrub rose

I planted 7 of these Sven shrub roses at the front of a border.  As you can see, they add a lot of color!

Blanching green beans

Yes, we picked our first batch of beans and I just finished blanching them.  I also picked some small tomatoes today and we have been enjoying zucchini and  banana peppers.  My potatoes are growing - I "planted" them in big black nursery pots and am using straw to cover them rather than dirt.  As the plants grow taller, I add more straw. 

We did have some wind damage - my tomatoes were blown all over and I had to tie them up.  Our peas were pretty much destroyed, so I am going to replant them - I figure that we might have enough time to harvest a few in September if I get them planted now.

Through the arbor

This is the view through the arbor of the front garden.  The arbor got blown over again in the last storm, so I am thinking that I need to replace the wisteria with a climbing rose.  That might be a bit sturdier and not so easy to blow over.

White balloon flowers and a pink Volcano phlox!

View

This is the view from where my hose is - so I see it often when I am watering.  In the upper left corner, there is a new birdhouse - it is surrounded by grapevines.

Cutting Garden

It is mulched!  After I planted this garden, I realized that it might have been more effective to plant in drifts.  So I might be re-arranging it next spring.

Waiting for the lilies in this garden to bloom!

Russian sage

Can you see my new gazing ball hiding in the Russian Sage?  It is nestled in begind the Moonbeam coreopsis.  It looks like a big bubble - and it's pink!

Border - Mulched!!!!

This big border that wraps around my vegetable garden is all mulched.  What a great feeling to have it done!  I laid cardboard and thick layers of newspaper (10 pages or more) under the mulch.  The front border that I mulched last fall has had some grass that has come through the newspapers - I think we laid about 6 layers of newspaper under the mulch.  I'm hoping that the extra layers will keep the weeds out! 

Tree rose

This rose has blooms that change color as they age - orange, pink, and yellow!

Twist and Shout hydrangea

It is a bit hard to see, but the Twist and Shout hydrangea just behond this planter is starting to bloom!  There are three of them in this border and they are all getting ready to put on a show!  I'll post more pictues when they are showing more blooms.

(The Twist and Shout is a zone 4 plant - but you never know if they will work in your part of zone 4 until they survive a winter or two!)

Purple Smoke bush

I planted two Royal Purple smoke bushes last summer.  This one is beautiful!  The other one - well, it's blooming, but it isn't as nice looking as this one.  I plan to cut these back to a foot or so high every two years, as they tend to get tall and spindly looking as they age if they are not cut back. 

This one is combined with Goldmound spireas and the other one is combined with Gold Lace junipers.

Eldorado grass

Love the way this eldorado grass looks in the border!  I especially like the movement as it sways in the wind.  Next to the grass is some Joe Pye weed, which I am sure will be much larger next year!  There is another eldorado grass on the other side of the Joe Pye weed. 

I like this grass so much that I am going to add more on the adjacent side of the fencing.  You can't see it  here, but there is a wild indigo planted in the area and I think the grass will compliment it very nicely.

Surprise garden -

Last fall, I scrambled to get some plants that a friend had given me in the ground.  I didn't know what color the daylilies or the phlox were, I just put them in and hoped for the best!  They are finally blooming - and while I need to do a bit of moving, they are looking quite nice at the entrance to the vegetable garden.  I need to add some plants that bloom in spring and early summer. There are some spring bulbs in this garden, but it needs a bit more color, especially in early summer.