Blogging was not a priority during the summer for a very clear reason - gardening!
Fall is also busy, but at least I can choose some pictures of my summer garden, in chronological order.
Fall is also busy, but at least I can choose some pictures of my summer garden, in chronological order.
Poppies are my love.
Columbines are appreciated too, but they take more time to thin them out, otherwise they will take over the flower beds.
Lately, I started to use more annuals in my front garden that was not typical for me.
Right-side border is getting wider and wider thanks to my efforts to reduce the lawn, and it provides more space for plants:
The foxglove in the above picture probably came to the border from the Terrace Garden several yards away:
Weigela, below, was put in the pot just temporarily, Well, it spent the whole season there...
As they say, nothing is more permanent than the temporary.
My Tree Peony from the front bed got some disease. I removed all affected parts, practically everything..., but didn't discard it.
I gave it a second chance and moved it to the other part of the garden:
These Lilies are multiplying and spreading through the garden:
Birds are making nests:
Cotinus is getting bigger and prettier:
Little white house with a vane on top stands on my rotating composter:
The Cistus hedge had its last season. I removed it in September:
First ever bloom on my Podofyllum from Gossler Farms:
This lovely native lily, below, came from a fellow NPA gardener whose garden I visited last summer. Gardeners are such sharing, kind people!
Saxifrage likes it here, and this particular colony has already jumped to the lawn:
Sweet Bay Laurel from Watkins Nursery:
Pelargoniums were doing good, both the newly bought and those overwintered in the garage:
Those were June pictures. Now, we are moving to July.
JULY
JULY
July was not hot and pretty dry.
Rose campion was a shy newcomer in my garden a couple of years ago, but now it got bolder, showed its superb ability to spread and, consequently, is getting pulled out.
I considerably reduced my Daisy population, but I still think they can be an easy and showy addition to the garden. Old-fashioned and reliable.
Romneya is not easy to relocate, but if settled down in some spot, it starts to actively spread:
I know for sure that I didn't plant this Feverfew, but somehow, it made its way to my garden:
Another plant that is happily spreading to the point where it needs to be controlled is Lobelia tupa:
Below is the corner of the garden that had the most significant change this season.
Very few plants could grow on this small mound because of the dense mat of tree roots.
This year, our fir tree was removed due to its closeness to the driveway and two cedars belonging to our neighbors were also removed.
What a change happened after that! A half-bare mound started to turn into a lush plant bed.
The happiest of all was Aralia Sun King:
I planted several new plants here, including Phormium that I got after division of the huge old container-grown plant, Malva from a generous garden friend (Thank you, Patti!) and hydrangea Oregon Pride (a cutting from my own plant).
Filipendula is another newcomer in this bed:
Suddenly, I got interested in cacti! I had my first and I thought it'd be my last cacti while being a child.
Now, I have four plants that I need to decide what to do with during winter:
It's not the first time I bought a pink Nasturtium. Well, I guess I'll keep trying to get an actually pink one:
I wrote previously about planting chives next to roses. I read somewhere that it reduces black spots. Chives should be older than 3 year old. Well, what to say?
It doesn't eliminate 100 % of the black spots on this lovely rose, but there are very few of them (spots) and there could be weeks and weeks before I see any of them. So, just in case, I keep these chives here while remembering to remove its blooms timely.
Taller plants here are Campanula Pink Octopus (Thank you, Radell!):
This is the left side of the yard. I had a big problem with my multiple Fatsia japonica plants - brown spots on the leaves, yellowing and curling leaves. Mites were one of the culprits. Spraying foliage with sesame oil last year helped temporarily (Thank you, Jane!), but the problem returned.
Well, this time my son and I cut off the affected tops of the plants, sometimes radically.
So far so good. New growth appeared fast on the branches. Time will show how it goes in the future!
Fatsia japonica Spider Web behind Hosta:
This Hydrangea Oregon Pride has grown from a cutting of my big plant in the front bed:
Cotinus Royal Purple in bloom:
Below - it could be Begonia bowerae nigramarga. I saw a beautiful clump of it at Amazon Spheres last month.
I tried to replicate the Front Garden look from last year:
Senecio Angel Wings grew huge!
Japanese Anemone is turning into a gorgeous weed. I started to pull it out, otherwise it'll take over the garden!
Look at them in the Sunken Garden:
I do like Perennial Phlox. There are white, melon-pink and purple phlox in my garden.
All the Yucca plants bloomed this year. I guess they all matured:
This year, bunnies left my Black Mondo grass alone. It was eaten to the ground last year:
Stachys officinalis is a very attractive plant, but I started to pull it up since its getting weedy!
I wish my Thalictrum rochebrunianum (Meadow Rue) would spread the same as Japanese Anemone and Stachys.
Little Eugenia looks like it stands between its parents :)
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Fatsia japonica plants cut down due to their tops disease:
Plants in different parts of the garden were affected, including these behind the garage:
The tall trunk below belongs to my oldest Tetrapanax. Its top mounts above the garage's roof:
Hydrangea started to bloom in July and is still going strong now, in October:
Less blooms equals larger bloom heads.
I left this shrub at the bathroom window alone, and it grows as tall as it wants:
Ligustrum blooms are pretty, but my eyes and nose react to their smell:
My Potager doesn't get enough sunlight, that is why I set a couple of cucumber containers in the dry zone in front of the house:
The Potager still have kale, beets, arugula, sage, parsley and other herbs:
Back to the Terrace Garden:
Monarda is a good spreader and hummingbirds love it:
Pagoda, at last, got moved to the Shade Garden:
This is a new Abyssinian Banana Tree, the fourth in my garden:
Japanese maple, to the right from the Gunnera, got very bushy and later I gave it a good thinning to show its beautiful structure:
More different hydrangeas:
Terrace Garden at the end of July:
Hardy Schefflera:
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Moving to August garden:
Moving to August garden:
Ginger Lilies
Viburnum's second bloom. By the way, this plant is still blooming now, in October, and it's not just random blooms, it's a good generous blooming!
Love the purple phlox! Thank you, dear Karen!
Local plant swap find - variegated Butterfly Bush:
Helenium:
Meadow Rue past its prime time:
August garden looks disheveled:
Humming birds switched to Salvia Black and Blue:
Fuchsia loves cooler temperatures.
Dichroa's blooms are lovely:
Nicotiana is getting wild in my garden. It seeds everywhere to the extent that I started to pull it out.
But, it's so nice to see its white blooms even in late fall!
Gunnera is happy in this spot with some sun and good moisture.
Anemone that I mentioned before... so beautiful and oh, so invasive in my garden.
Innocent faces and aggressive rhyzomes...
Sunken Garden in August:
Agave is one of my favorite plants:
The only Gladioli that managed to bloom before being eaten by bunnies:
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Well, this is one of the Fatsia plants after removing its tops. New growth!
Very strong plant! This is the first time in more than 10 years that it got a problem.
This Aralia Sun King, below, was just developing blooms in August, but now, in October is in full bloom.
I think I will finish my summer report with this cyclamen picture:
Thank you for stopping by and for your time!
Have a wonderful end of October!
