Summers past...

Oh, another cold and frosty day.  Forecast of possible snow this weekend.  I needed to feel warm this morning.  I looked back at some pictures of my gardens from the past few summers.  Hope you will feel warmer too!

This is the front of the cottage garden area.  It's full of a variety of perennials and shrubs.  The pink carpet rose in front blooms nonstop spring through summer.  I continue to prune it back which seems to encourage more blooms. The tree right above it is a weeping cherry.  The taller tree further back is a pink flowering dogwood.  Gorgeous in the spring covered in flowers.

Here is the beginning of the backyard facing the pond.  This 'Summer Ice' daphne blooms spring through summer.  Lining the edges of that bed is catmint.  It does attract the neighbors cats, but it's tough and always bounces back.  There is an oakleaf hydrangea, a dwarf variety, across the path with a monkshood not too far behind it.  This area gets morning shade and several hours of afternoon sun.

Here is my favorite part of the garden, our pond.  I'll have to post sometime about how we put it in.  There was a lot of hard work involved, but well worth it.  It is situated in our yard where we can view it from our dining room.  I can even watch the fish from inside our home.  Our apple tree is just out of view to the right.  My hope is that the branches will grow out about halfway across the pond.  When it's in bloom it's beautiful.  Many perennials grow around the pond.  A large hardy fuchsia grows to the left of the waterfall.  You can also see yarrow and hyssop here.  The very large pink shrub is a favorite of mine.  It was bought in a one gallon container and grew this large in two years.  It is lavatera 'Barnsley', sometimes referred to as tree mallow.  I cut it back to about 3 feet every fall, by the end of the summer it's at least 6 feet tall, and covered with flowers.

Here is a close up of the lavatera.  I highly recommend this one.

These plants are growing along side the shadier part of the pond.  Many varieties of hosta, astillbe, and ferns.  The pink flowers come from an unknown variety of oxalis that was given to me by a former neighbor.  It is so easy to divide and flowers all summer and fall.

I can't wait to show these flowers when they are actually in bloom, that means it'll be warm!