Thursday, July 2, 2009

July 1, 2009 The Green, Green Grass of Home

Green! Green! Green!
We have had a lot of rain which has prevented the dreaded brown grass that is usually beginning by July 1. I went out between the rain showers and took a lot of pictures.

I can't fit the entire side gardens in one picture. This shows a bit more than half the space.

There is a lone red lily in bloom along this path. By the weekend there will be about a dozen more.
Back in the rockwall garden below the tulip foliage is almost ready to be cut down.

Once the colorful spring bloom of tulips and purple phlox, and orange poppies is over, this garden remains mostly green. I have been removing all the flowers and planting different hostas and shrubs for the past two years. My goal is easy maintenance in shades of lemon green to dark green with a few purple accents like this smoke bush.
I planted two of these smoke bushes three years ago. So far they have not taken up the smoking habit...maybe this year if that big flower bud stem does not shrivel up.
This area has a lot of big boulders. A few are full of this gorgeous moss, which I love.
Three years ago I also planted two cherry trees. So far I have not gotten any of the cherries.
I don't necessarily care about eating them. I planted the tree mostly to cover an ugly view. I think I would have to cover the trees with netting to keep the birds from eating all the cherries and that defeats my purpose of having a prettier view.


The side garden has huge peonies this year.

Unfortunately the rain is beating them down.

A bit further out, I have some Artemesia (also known as wormwood). I love the silver foliage and it's great for flower bouquets. It gets a bunch of small yellowish flowers (ugly) later in the season. I try to cut it down before then.



So that's pretty much where my garden is at on the first day of July in 2009.

5 comments:

  1. In your photo of the rockwall garden showing a hosta and dying tulip foliage, what is the name of the hosta? It looks exactly like the one I have, but I have not actual name for it.

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  2. Hi MNS,
    I am afraid I have forgotten which hosta that is.

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  3. I can understand your desire to delay the 'brown' and enjoy the 'green' as long as possible, Zoey. Having just spent six weeks in Europe, where it's green beyond belief, I wasn't looking forward to returning home to our pathetic attempt at 'green'. At the moment it's raining though, so there is a veneer of green to be seen. Sorry the rain is spoiling the flowers, but I'm sure the garden is loving it just the same.

    I love your big side garden (all of your gardens, actually) - a real 'mystery garden'.

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  4. Your yard looks so lush! Thanks for showing us around. The cherry trees will attract birds (my mom had one). It wouldn't hurt to have netting over them for a few weeks I guess or you'll have a mess to clean up all the time.
    Great idea about the hostas!
    And yes, poison ivy can been a vine too.

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  5. here in the Texas panhandle, we are so very jealous of your beautiful garden and your rain! But thanks for sharing the beauty around you with us.

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