Oriental Lilies Galore

The summer heat wave is unrelenting, and so I harvested the Oriental Lilies this weekend to enjoy the blooms indoors.  Each year I get more and more flowers, and they are a happy sight and smell wonderful.

Farmhouse Sunny Border

April 2015

Our farm property was quite barren and bland when we purchased it five years ago, but after many seasons of gardening our efforts to beautify the land are now beginning to bear fruit.  We established three garden beds as a start, with the largest being a drumstick shaped sunny border anchored by an existing tree. To fill the huge space, I planted 7 Viburnum 'Winterthur' shrubs below the tree canopy and 5 Callicarpa 'Early Amethyst' (Beautyberry) at the opposite end of the bed.  A Crape Myrtle with purple foliage is also in the mix, just waiting for its breakout moment.  In the center of the bed are masses of  Caryopteris 'Longwood Blue' (Bluebeard), Montauk daisy which I transplanted from another part of the property, and Echinacea 'Powwow Berry'.  The biggest challenge with this garden bed is the front section closest to the Kitchen Garden, as there are suckering tree roots which stubbornly push up out of the soil.  I am also realizing that I need to work at incorporating different foliage colors and more Annuals into my garden, to break up the monotony of all the green.  My plan is to swap out the Echinacea for Heliopsis 'Burning Hearts' as it has a nice dark foliage, and I will also plant a grouping of Carex 'Everlite' which has variegated cream foliage.  Hopefully these new additions will thrive in the location.

Wordless Wednesday: Endless Summer

Purple is Pleasing

April flowers have brought many beautiful May flowers, including Spanish Lavender, Dianthus, Iris, Peonies, Clematis, Snowball Viburnum, and late-blooming Azaleas.  My spring show of Tulips and Daffodils have wound down, but I always have something new and lovely to look forward to in the garden.

Sunflower Power

The glory of summer is symbolized by sunflowers.  I delight in their magnificent cheer and bright happy faces that track to the sun.  This year I planted a variety along the Kitchen Garden, however most were lost in infancy to some kind of animal.  The survivors are in show-off mode and I am relishing them while I can.  The bees and birds and butterflies gleefully flock to them, and next year I look forward to planting up thick patches of sunflowers.