Ninebark Diabolo in Full Bloom, Zesting Lemons New Iris

 I love the blooms on this mature Ninebark.  If memory serves me right, this guy is about 8 years old and has never been cut back.  I find that I like Ninebark best when its limbs are allowed to grow and fall  gracefully in its natural form.

This is how it looks from my computer room window:

We are still waiting for a good rain to end a very early drought. Hence, the nearly dormant grass.

I was thrilled to see this gorgeous bloom on a new iris, Zesting Lemons. I purchased this from Breck's in 2019. It was part of a group package of 6 iris.  Unfortunately 4 of the 6 died off before I ever got to see the bloom.  I waited two seasons before contacting Breck's for a refund  as I know iris often do not bloom the first year.  I just emailed them today, so will see if they send a refund or  replacements for the 4 that croaked .  They have always been very good about standing behind their product.

Love, love this Blue Oat Grass with the blue orbs (bowling balls) and the Speedwell Sunny Border Blue ( which is actually purple).  I have never understood whey companies insist on telling us their flower is blue when it is purple.  Maybe they think we are all color blind.

Royal Purple Smokebush and Miss Kim Lilac are Performing so Nicely This Year

 Love this smokebush! It's about 10 ft. tall and in full bloom right now.

Miss Kim Lilac is also in full bloom and looking very lovely this year.

I have a bright pink peony planted in front of the Smokebush and it's about to open:

Now if we could just get some rain to get out of the severe drought we are currently experiencing.

It's Been Nearly Four Years...

Where does the time go??? I can't tell you how many times I have returned to this old blog to help me figure out something I wanted to know but could not remember. I decided to make a few posts of my garden this year just so I have them for my own benefit. I am really enjoying this combination of Ninebark and Goatsbeard (Aruncus dioicus). Goatsbeard is the one with the feathery plumes of creamy ivory. I planted three of them in 2014. The blooms are not what I expected, but I have grown to really love them in front of the Ninebark. They come back larger every year and require almost no maintenance.

My Ninebark planted by the road has gotten so large that I had to remove all the other shrubs and allow it to take the stage:

Spring in the garden was spectacular this year with a gazillion purple, pink and yellow iris. Unfortunately I only took this one picture.

My Royal Purple smoketree is over a decade old and finally supplying gorgeous reddish-purple height.

This year I planted something new to me - this Celosia Dragon's Breath - in a container planting. I love the bright red color and am waiting for the Tropicanna leaves to do their job to fill out the planting so it doesn't look so lopsided.

Red Alert Calla Lilly in a Container

I am really enjoying this new purchase of 'Red Alert' Calla Lilies in the urns beside my garage. (You can see some dahlia foliage and some handsome striped leaves of a new pink canna lily planted behind)

 'Red Alert' remains short - no more than 24" high. One bulb produces multiple flowers in a nice red/orange color that looks great with this 'Henna' coleus.

 I am especially fond of the white-speckled leaves some of which echo the red floral color.

 

I am also happy to see that my Korean dwarf lilac shrub 'Miss Kim' is full of blooms this year.

 'Miss Kim' blooms appear just has my old-fashioned lilac bushes fade.

 

This shrub should get about 4 feet tall and wide.

 

Despite very little attention, June has been a great month in my perennial gardens.  I am looking forward to a good season in 2015!

 

My Shrub Borders are at Their Best Right Now

 

I took these pics less than an hour ago.  This is the front of my home  looking from the perennial gardens to the new picket fence garden.

This is at the garage entrance looking toward the same picket fence road garden.

 And this is the picket fence garden.  It is planted with a Ninebark and 2 Golden Cypress Mophead shrubs.  Since the shrubs are still small, I filled the garden in with red and pink dahlias and J's favorite flower, marigolds.

I am happy to report that all of the Limelight Hydrangeas that I planted last fall are doing great.

I put three of them in the old apple tree border.
Same area looking in the opposite direction toward the picket fence road garden.

Did you notice all of the sedums just beginning to turn pink in my driveway borders?  I have dozens of them.  This is next to the sidewalk to the front door looking toward the old apple tree border:

 

 

A few feet to the right looking in the exact spot where the apple tree stood.  We are loving living without that tree there. This is the first time in over a quarter century that we have not had to pick up apples every day in late summer.

In a week the sedum will all be a lovely medium pink  color.  In two weeks they will turn their rust color and then sadly summer is over.  It goes faster every year, don't you think?

 

I Could Just Cry

The winter of 2013/2014 has been so brutal! I planted this Alberta Spruce in 1986. It matured into the exact size I imagined way back then when I wanted it to grow tall enough to cover the electric meter. 

After the brutal temps of this winter, it looks like this:

99% of it is dead.  I have over a dozen of these shrubs and every. single. one. looks. like. this.

I am so sad. I feel like moving into a condo and letting someone else worry about the landscape.

My Autumn Projects

I cut down all of my deck containers today--just in time as we may get some snow flurries next week. DH's marigolds stilled looked good, so I moved them to the front yard where they work nicely with the pumpkin décor.

 Despite many night's in the 30's, my tropical containers still look good.  Being under a roof overhang and next to the house shelters them in their own little mini climate. I have not even covered them.

Since my last post, I have planted some Japanese Silver Grass with my Limelights in the old apple tree border.

If you look closely at the pic below, you will see our latest addition to the landscape...the white corner fence.

DH worked very hard digging 2 ft deep holes in our rocky ground.  At first he did not think he could go down the full 24 inches, but perseverance paid off and he finally got all three holes level.

Here is the area last week after the removal of three trees and a long perennial garden where nothing would grow & the addition of new top soil:

and here it is today--almost ready to be planted.  The new grass will have to wait until next spring.

My intention is to use just 2 mop heads and one Ninebark. The color scheme will be  the same chartreuse/dark purple that I have on each side of the front porch:

It will look exactly like this, except there will be a mop head on each side of the Ninebark. Once planted it should be as close to maintenance free as any border can be.

I hope you have all been enjoying autumn in your area of the country!

The Beginning of a New Border

The 15 trees are now gone

and we are beginning to redo the first big border in the front of the house where the apple tree once stood.  DH removed all the old plants and  hauled 15 wheelbarrows of new top soil to this area.  We bought a lot of shrubs and decided on this layout:

Tomorrow while I am work, he will plant them. On the side you see here, I am using the same shrubs that I have in front of the house--Ninebark and mophead false cypress--I love the form and the bright green/yellow color of the false cypress.  To the side on your right, near the perennial gardens, I have two 'Limelight' hydrangeas.  I have a third 'Limelight' on the left side.  On the backside facing the road,  we are going to plant burning bushes.  That whole side will be flaming red each fall.  My plan is to have a border requiring very little maintenance.  While the shrubs are so small,  I will fill in between with waves of Sedum 'Autumn Joy'.  This will carry over the masses of pink I have in front of the house.

So that's my plan..................always subject to change. :)

I Found a Ninebark to Replace the Smokebush

Yesterday I stopped at Home Depot and they had a few Ninebarks.  They were not very large, but I needed one so I grabbed it and immediately took it home to plant.  Here it is where the Smokebush used to be:

I like the pop of red/purple foliage among all the green.  It is a brighter red than the Smokebush foliage.

Unfortunately after the Smokebush was removed, I realized that is was not dead!  The  leaves were just beginning to come out. 

I  replanted it in a different area in hopes that it will live on and grow 10 feet tall, producing clouds of smoky blooms for many springs to come.

Yesterday I noticed my first blooms of purple Spiderwort.  Have you noticed that so many spring bloomers are in the purple color family?  I have the blue spiderwort right next to it, but it still has a few days before it blooms.

In the crappy (forgive that vulgar descriptive term) rocky area near the big arbor this pink Lupine has returned.  I am thrilled to see that it came back in this inhospitable neighborhood!

That's about it for my new bloomers. 

We have been bringing the deck furniture out this week.  I am not doing nearly as many deck containers as in the past.  A number of cannas and dahlias died out over the winter. I am taking that as an omen to cut back this year.

Need One More Golden Privet Shrub

After I planted the 2 smoke bushes last week, I realized I needed one more Golden Privet Shrub behind the smoke bush  (red X on the left ) so it would match the other side.  I would also have a nice triangular arrangement of that bright chartreuse color.

I do love triangular plantings, don't you?

 I have a fairly large Golden Privet in my rockwall garden.  I really don't like digging them up from there and moving them just when they are getting big enough to make a statement, but if I buy one, it will be way too small.
So today I decided to dig it out.  About noon, I checked the weather channel and it appeared that I had a good hour before it would rain. 

 Never trust the weather channel. 

It began raining within fifteen minutes after I got outside. I decided to stay out and at least get the daylilies removed (2 wheelbarrow loads). Since I was already wet, I thought I may as well  get the hole dug and filled with water. I bet the neighbors wondered why I was hauling out the hose while it was raining. :)   I was probably out in the rain for about 25 minutes.

I was thoroughly soaked when I came inside!

The rain stopped after about 45 minutes and I went right back out (still in my wet clothes) to finish the planting.

Here it is all finished. The Golden Privet is not as tall as the one on your right, but I think it will catch up in a short time.

From this angle, both of them ended up behind a tree.  I did not even plan that, but I  like that symmetry.

A few days ago I cut down the Lamb's Ear because  it was already flopping.

I really do not like floppy plants. As soon as they begin to fall over, I cut them back almost to the ground. 

I am amazed by all that is blooming so early.

In a normal year, I would not have any of these lilies blooming until about July 4.

This  year everything is at least two weeks early. 

 By the end of July I won't have anything left to bloom! 

Royal Purple Smokebushes moved

Yes, it is absolutely the wrong time to move them, but that never stops me.  Once I get an idea in my head, I just do it.

I had a pretty good-sized smokebush growing in the rockwall garden. Given the fact that it has been in the ground, (in the same spot!) for six years, it should be a lot taller.  Lucky for me, it isn't so maybe it will survive the move.

Here it is at 7:15 a.m. all replanted in the bare spot I showed you yesterday. 

Fills it right up nicely, don't you agree?  I think the foliage contrast looks great. The shrub should not grow bigger than 15 feet. At the rate it's been growing, that will takes years.  Here it is looking from the back side toward the big arbor.

I love it.  I love it so much, that I moved a second one that is the same age, but only about 1/4 the size.

 It was growing in the woodland area and did not get much sun.

Now it lives here:

Directly opposite the other one.

 I just hope they don't die from the move!  I usually have very good luck moving plants at the wrong time.  I dig a big hole and I fill it with water. Once all the water is gone, I move the plant in, then water it again.  I have found that if given enough water, they usually survive.

As often happens when I start digging, I can't quit.  I started another big project.
I am removing everything from this very shaded woodland garden and turning it into a hosta garden.

I will probably replant with only hostas.

  I would like to get this all dug out today, so my breaktime is over-- I have a ton of work to do.

Seeds are just not my Thing

Remember all those seeds I bought from an online source....3 different amaranthus plants...I was so thrilled to find amaranthus seeds.............well, I planted all of them about six weeks ago....in the area where I removed some daylilies. Here is what it looks like today:

Yes, it is still bare. Not a single seed came up!  Now I need to find something else to plant in this bare area. 

I am very happy with the 'Manhattan' Asiatic lilies I moved here last summer.  They are full of big fat buds about to open:

I am also happy to see the 'Bridal Veil' shrub in bloom:

I may use some of this in my centerpiece for my Sunday Father's Day dinner.

Here is a nice combo of hardy geranium and silver Lamb's ear:

I was thrilled to see that my Ninebarks bloomed:

 

This weekend I really need to clean my paths...they are all full of pine cones and pine needles.

It's my #1 task on my list of things to do tomorrow.

As you can see,  I have tons of work to do! 

Here's hoping we all have a productive and fun weekend.