Enjoying Autumn on the Deck

 I am loving these two dahlias with the dark-leaved canna:

The purple ball dahlia is Natal (new this year) and the one below it is American Dawn.

I have added some fall fun to a few containers:

Boo!

Scarecrow fun:

Pumpkin in Tropicanna Gold:

Gotta love the beautiful leaves of Tropicanna Gold:

I sure hate to see the growing season end!

Little Lamb Hydrangea

 I have had a Little Lamb hydrangea planted for 3 years.  After the first rain when it has blooms it looks like this:

This happens every year.   In May I used Espoma plant food, hoping it would help to make more sturdy stems, but it has not helped.

 I really hate having to tie plants to keep them upright, but I went out today and did just that.

I would not recommend Proven Winners 'Little Lamb'.  Do any of you know the secret to growing Little Lamb?  I would LOVE some advice!

Whiskey Barrel Containers are Getting Humungous!

 

Everything is now blooming.  This one is at least 3 feet wide and over 5 feet tall.

This is my current favorite container on the deck:

The red canna bloom is almost the same color as my favorite new dahlia around the bottom.  The petite dahlia is called Pulp Fiction.  It only gets 10 to 12 inches tall.  I love the fiery red flowers with the dark foliage. The huge green leaves are calla lilies. They are yellow and have already finished their bloom.  I love that the green leaves last for weeks after the flower fades.

Here's a close up of Pulp Fiction (I got it from Breck's):

I changed the bicycle centerpiece to something very neat and tidy:

Stems of Sedum Autumn Joy still in their green stage and balls of golden marigolds.  I added a little sprigs of the blooms from my Japanese Bottlebrush shrub. This should look good for at least a week before the marigolds dry up.  The sedum will probably be fine for much longer.

A Few Shots of my Limelight Hydrangea in the Main garden

I believe that I planted this Limelight seven years ago.

Here is the view a few feet further back.

I think the speedwell in front is 'Sunny Border Blue", but I cannot remember for sure.  I removed an aggressive perennial behind the speedwell and have not yet found anything to substitute. I am leaning towards a big patch of pink coneflowers.   The tall poofy purple plant is phlox.

Deck Containers are Really Filling Out

 I call this one the Pelican Container. The Tropicanna Gold does not have a bloom yet, but those gorgeous striped leaves still gives me pleasure.

This is the first container you see when you step onto the deck.  This is the full corner planting:

Planting under the whirligig:

Same area viewed from the glider:

A couple more containers that I am enjoying on this beautiful August afternoon:

A few new deck container blooms

First canna lily

Natal dahlia (new this year)

American Dawn dahia is in the same big container as the Natal

Bicycle Centerpiece on Deck

Had a little fun today making this new centerpiece for the deck coffee table:

Retirement Life is Good

This morning I spent three hours digging weeds in my main garden. What a chore! I have let it go for a long time and now I must the price to get it looking decent again. DH and I have been working on it for weeks now. 

This is one area that we have completely dug out and replanted.

We still have a long way to go.


I am spending the rest of the afternoon sitting on my deck reading a culinary murder mystery book that my son sent to me (for Christmas) and sipping an icy cold glass of Chardonnay.  Life doesn’t get much better!

While sitting there, I took a few pics of the deck today.

The pink flowers are Zephranthes or rain lilies that my blog friend Pati sent me from her Missouri home.  I can't remember how many years ago...maybe  8?? They are not winter hardy in Michigan, so I have to store them every winter.

 This flowers stay very short and I love them as a centerpiece on my deck coffee table.

I almost lost these black/yellow lilies called Lionheart Tango Lilies (from Breck's).  I had only one left in my garden, so two years ago I dug it up and planted it in a barrel on my deck.  Look how it has multiplied!  I think it likes its new home.

Yesterday I bought some Coneflower 'Sombrero Hot Coral'.  I don't have much luck with coneflowers in my garden, so I put these three in another barrel on the deck.  They should stay less than 2 feet tall. I hope they acclimate and come back next year!

Yellow Explosion at Entrance to Deck

Milkweed.

Yellow Calla Lilies and Marigolds

I love the salmon color of these geraniums with the aqua milk can.

A Few Early Summer Blooms in the Main Gardens

Oat Grass (I love this grass--wish I could find a few more of them).  Peony bushes and Royal  Purple
Smoke tree (which is 15 years old).

I painted those bowling balls over five years ago.  I leave them in that exact spot all year long.  It's amazing how well they hold up through our Michigan winters.  I was going to freshen them up a bit this spring, but never quite got to doing it.

Allium Christophhi and Gold Mound Spirea. The Allium keep getting shorter each year.  I am just glad that they come back because most of my allium disappears after a year or two. In this spot, I like them short like this.

Summer Skies everblooming hardy geranium (the name is incorrect because it never reblooms!)

New Dahlias and Iris from Brecks in 2020

Only 1 of the first 2 iris shown, bloomed this year.  Hope next year is better!

Appreciating Summer Beauty

Lying on my deck admiring the view.


Daybreak in Chippewa County...gorgeous!

What a Difference Seven Years Makes in a Garden Bed

In 2013 we had a couple of large pine trees and an apple tree removed from our front yard. This left a big bare area for me to redesign. I decided to go with a lime green/purple and white color scheme. I planted Dwarf Golden Threadleaf Cypress around a center Ninebark Diabolo with 3 Limelight Hydrangeas in the back. Here I have it ready to plant You can barely see the Ninebark in the center:

Here it is today (looking from my main gardens):

Here is a close up (Look at the size of the Ninebark today!):

In a difficult area filled with 75-year old pine tree roots, I consider this border to be successful. In the past years, I have added a few other plants. Here you see Weigela (pink flowered shrub). Behind the Golden Cypress I have 3 Goatsbeard (Aruncus dioicus) which have not yet shot up their very tall feathery plumes. I have a white bench tucked in the center of this border. It gives me great pleasure to sit in this shady area for a garden work break. Right now I have the special pleasure to watch a mother robin tending to her newly-hatched brood in the big old crabapple tree just four feet from where I sit. Life is good in the garden.

Spinach Salad for Dinner

We love a fresh spinach salad with my homemade sweet poppy seed dressing. This salad has Spinach, fresh pineapple, avocado, tomatoes, hard-boiled egg, almonds, scallions, carrots, and bacon. Usually I use chicken breast, but this time I had leftover bacon to use up.

Here is my Poppy Seed Dressing: 2/3 cups canola oil 2/3 tsp salt 2/3 tsp onion powder 1 Tablespoon poppy seeds 2/3 tsp dry mustard 1/3 cup sugar 1/3 cup vinegar (I use Rice wine vinegar) I put everything in a pint Mason jar and shake, shake, shake. Just prior to serving I put the jar (without the lid) in the microwave for about 20 -30 seconds to warm it up and make sure all the sugar is dissolved.

Roasted Garbanzo Beans

I love these crunchy little gems in my tossed salad in place of croutons.

They are so easy to make. I used canned beans. Just rinse them and then dry on paper towels as they will not crisp up if wet. Put the beans on a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper. Dribble a bit of oil over the beans with whatever spices you like. I used salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes until they reach the crispness you want. After 15 minutes, I checked them every 5 minutes. They are also great just to nibble on with a glass of icy Chardonnay (so I am told).