Late Autumn Deck 2024

The Boston ferns have been hit a few times with frost and are turning an autumn brown. I love how they look with the rusty crusty pumpkins!

Deck Garden Favorites from 2024

I am enjoying the Lionheart lilies and calla lilies on my deck.

Lionheart Asiatic Lily

I am totally giddy over the number of these Lionheart Asiatic lilies that are soon to bloom in this container on my deck. These lilies are black in the center with yellow-tipped edges. These are the only lilies that bloom consistently for me. That is because they are up on the deck and the deer and rabbits have (so far) not ventured up to eat them! Holy smokes! I just counted a total of 94 buds!! Wow. There are only two 2-gallon containers in this barrel. Cannot wait to see them bloom.

Current Favorite Dahlia Barrel

This one is in glorius bloom and most afternoons I sit in my glidder directly opposite and watch a humming bird flit throughout it. The humming bird's favorite is the tall one in the back, which is a salvia.

The orange dahlias are American Sunset and the reddish ones are Boom Boom Red (not really red to me, more burgundy).

I am also enjoying these dahlias under my front window.

Snowflake Dahlia

Snowflake is a very small dahlia, known as a pom pom dahlia. In this container I have it growing with the larger ball dahlia called Jowey Martina. I am enjoying this delicate color combo.

Here is my second container of Snowflake.

In the background I have an heirloom variety of rudebeckia, commonly known as the “outhouse flower”. I love to use the outhouse flower for indoor bouquets.

I especially like this one because it matches my window valance.

Beginning to Enjoy the Deck

 I have my deck containers planted with mostly dahlias, calla lilies and canna lilies.  The calla lilies bloom first and now the dahlias are beginning.  So far only a few have bloomed, but it is enough for me to enjoy sitting out here.

My first dahlia to bloom was American Sunset (purchased from #Brecks).  I love this one!

Here it is today July 25, 2021:

Boom Boom Red was next.  I am disappointed that this one is NOT the bright red the Breck's site said it would be.  It is burgundy.  I already have enough ball dahlias in burgundy.  But Boom Boom Red is still a gorgeous one.  Only one of the two tubers I planted came up.

Here is the container this one is growing in:

The spider dahlia on top is called China Town.  
This is another new one I purchased from Brecks.   Both of these tubers came up and I am happy with this purchase.

Here is a close up of China Town:

I am eagerly awaiting the first bloom of the other dahlias I have planted.  I did purchase a beauty called 'Dutch Carnival'.  

Unfortunately this one never came up.  Soooooooooo disappointed! 

Spring Recap of My 2021 Garden

 My garden is always a awash in hues of purple in early June.  This year is no exception.

I've had these old purple iris for over two decades.  They never disappoint me.

I also love the light purple of chive blooms.  I have quite a few chive plants.

Many gardeners look at this plant (sometimes called) spring phlox as a weed.  I think it has its place when kept controlled and not allowed to over take the entire garden.  I redid this area last fall and although I did not plant these, there must have been dormant seeds in the soil..  I decided they were perfect for now.

This Miss Kim lilac has only bloomed for me once (I have had it many years).  Last year I made sure to give it extra water -- even a few buckets of water with Miracle Grow and look at it now--TONS of buds about to burst--I am thrilled!

I have been weeding in the gardens for about two hours each day for the past week and I am finally making progress.  I will never get to the end, but I am feeling pretty good about what I've accomplished.  I just wish it would rain.  We are in drought status right now with a 95 degree temperature (unusually  HOT for lower northern Michigan this time of the year).  With temps like that I felt it was a good day to be inside trying to figure out how to make a post.   It seems like Blogger changes every time I decide to make one.

I bought some very unusual container plants for the deck this year.  I love containers that are different, so when I saw these I grabbed them!  Lemon coral sedum with begonias in the center:

I bought three of them.

In the bicycle centerpiece I put 'Forever Blue' Felicia...such a dainty flower in blue and yellow .

I am missing my pillows on the deck furniture.  I will have to go search the basement to find them.  Now that the avalanche of  pine pollen has finished, I can bring them out.

Inside I am enjoying this nostalgic bouquet of lilacs that I picked from the bush I planted 25 years ago from small clumps dug from my parents huge lilac bush that was on property once owned by my grandparents. 

 A lot of family memories in this bouquet.  What a treasure to have these lilacs in my yard!

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!

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.

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!