"One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it brings."

Monday, May 18, 2009

Front yard pictures.

Another gorgeous day here yesterday.  It felt like summer!  I didn't get to spend as much time outside as I wanted today, but that's okay.  A few hours is better than none. Right now it's mostly just columbines blooming out front.  There is also the weigela 'Minuet', choisya and the lilac in bloom.  A lot is getting close to blooming now though.  I found buds on roses, lupine, peonies, daylilies, persian cornflower and more.  June seems to be the beginning of the front yard's bloom season.  It was so bright while I was taking pictures I had a hard time not getting shadows or having the sun wash out the color. 

Here is a view looking down the front border.  The plant at the very front is a pink Carpet rose.  It blooms all summer, lots of buds are on it now.  It doesn't have a scent but behind and to the right of it I've tried to plant lots of good smelling flowers.  Lavender, roses, oriental lilies and nicotiana are a some of what grows there.

This is part way down looking the other direction.  The spirea 'Magic Carpet' has gotten out of control.  I plan to prune it after it blooms.  The tall plant on the left is an 'Iceberg' rose.  It is the easiest rose I've ever grown.  I wish I could find more roses this easy in other colors.  In the back you can see my car in mid wash.  My oldest daughter spent more time spraying her sister and everything else with the hose.  She offered to wash the car to help earn a book she's been wanting to buy.

The iris that my sister gave me last year has a couple of buds.  I was beginning to think they weren't going to bloom this year.  I have a couple more clumps spread throughout the bed as well.

My new Foxglove 'Virtuoso Red' (digitalis purpurea).  I just planted it, I think it must've bloomed early in the growers greenhouse.  The tag said it should reach about 3 feet.  I've found a few seedlings of the Foxglove that usually grows here.  They get to be at least 6 feet tall.  I think the winter must've been to cold for the plants, but at least I've finally found some seedlings that will hopefully bloom next year.  

Hydrangea 'Preziosa' has quite a few blooms on it.  I planted it the summer I was pregnant with my second daughter.  It was a hot summer and by the end I was too tired to care about watering and it really suffered.  Luckily the last couple of years it seems to be recovering and should be very pretty.  Gardening while 8 months pregnant in the summer is no fun!

My unknown peony is covered in buds.  I finally put a grid out for it to grow through this year instead of the ring.  I hope the blooms will stand up a little better.

Part of the:  Used to be shady, then sunny and now getting shady again flower bed under the Japanese Maple.  I'm going to have to move several things soon.  The Jacob's Ladder (polemonium ) are scenting the whole area with their grape fragrance.  Soon Red Coral Bells (heuchera) will be in bloom.  Lots of hostas, fuchsias, hydrangeas, bleeding hearts and even phlox all grow together here.

 Update:  Mystery solved by Anonymous who left me a nice comment.  It is trientalis borealis or 'Starflower'.  It is native in North America and is a woodland perennial which blooms May - June.  It does spread by rhizome.  It is one of the few flowers with 7 petals.
 
Today a little more weeding needs to be done.  I'm wondering if it's too early to plant the zinnia seeds that I have?  I'm anxious to get them in the ground.  I'm trying 'Envy' this year and really hope it looks as good as I think it will.  I also am going to check to see if my clematis 'Josephine' arrived at the nursery.
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38 comments:

  1. Everything is beautiful!!!! Your front yard is great. I love to see the yard shots. Hope you had a good weekend

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  2. Feels like summer there and winter here! But oh such good gardening weather. Wish I could ID your mystery plant. Pretty neat looking. I was also going to say with the spirea, you can probably divide it up too in addition to blooming. These sucker a lot and are easy to spread around.

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  3. Your garden is so far ahead of us here in Iowa, but the iris and peony bushes are at about the same maturity. We are to get 70 and 80 degree weather the next two days which will bring flowers out. Your gardens look so good.

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  4. Everything is looking good! Are the heucheras Dale's strain? They look very similar to some I have.

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  5. Your yard is so beautiful!! I love reading your blog :) Do Foxgloves need shade or sun? We are starting on the yard...we just bought this house and it needs a lot of work. Cross your fingers for us ..tee-hee!

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  6. Just beautiful Catherine! Everything is so lush, green and healthy looking. So maybe my Irises still have a chance to bloom this year. I am so excited to hear that Bilbo is headed your way. Can't wait to comment for a chance for him to visit North Florida!!

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  7. Very nice, lush gardens you have there Catherine! BTW, did you move to Wordpress?!

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  8. Your front yard is every bit as nice as the back. Lovely shots. What a beautiful foxglove. Have a good day.

    I hear Bilbo is coming to visit. He will love it there. He seems to thrive next to flowers and he just grins.

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  9. That foxglove is stunning. Columbines are giving most colour in our garden here in Ireland at the moment too. I'm raising a new variety from seed this year called William Guinness. Like the drink it's supposed to be almost black flowers. Won't get any flowers until next year to find out.

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  10. What a lovely tour you took us on! Everything looks great. It's cold and rainy here today. Only 48 degrees and tonight we are expecting a frost - YIKES! Good thing I didn't plant the tomatoes yet. -Jackie

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  11. Your blog is beautiful! Could your mystery plant be Starflower (Trientalis borealis)?

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  12. Even tho you say you don't have many blooms yet it still looks gorgeous around your yard Catherine. Did you get your car washed?? It's supposed to hit 90 here today (first time this year) so it will be a perfect car wash/hose fun day!

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  13. Catherine, You have the most lovely yard and collection of plants I've seen. Everything is so pretty. That's cute about your daughter spraying her sister - some things NEVER change! I'm proud of her for wanting to buy a book. It's sunny with a nice breeze here in GA today and I've been weeding. Hope you have a nice afternoon. Thanks for sharing your photos.

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  14. Loved seeing your yard and all the lush growth and variety of flowers...I am so jealous of your long and warm growing season.Very little here is up or blooming yet...mostly just the creeping phlox, daffodils and tulips thus far.
    Are you in a garden club? You certainly should give tours of your garden!!

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  15. Dirt Princess - Thanks! We had a great weekend. Perfect weather.

    Tina - It's much cooler today, but still sunny. I hope it warms up there. I didn't know spirea could be divided, thanks! I love the colors of the leaves.

    L.D. Burgus - It is interesting to see the similarities and differences across the country. Hope it does warm up so your flowers will bloom.

    Dave - Thanks. I'm not sure which heuchera this one is. I planted it many years ago and I think it was an unnamed one from Home Depot.

    Four-n-Flowers - Thank you. Most foxgloves appreciate some shade, the foliage tends to get crispy if it's too hot. There are some varieties that will grow in wooded areas too. Mine get mostly full sun but seem to do okay that way. I hope my new ones will reseed here, I like the color. Have fun with your new yard, you'll have fun seeing all the changes!

    Darla - I hope they will. I had given up on these and then all of a sudden I found these buds. Another clump doesn't have buds yet, so maybe they'll bloom next year.

    Tatyana - Thanks. No, I'm still on blogger. I just changed my template a little which was easier to do than I thought. I used The cutest blog on the block and they explain it very clearly, which I needed :)

    Becca - Thanks, it's so nice to see it filling in. It'll be fun to have Bilbo here. Maybe he'll see you next!

    Twisted Willow - Columbines sure do add a lot of color and interest, especially now while it's kind of between flowers here. I like the sound of you Guiness columbines. I bet they will be really pretty!

    Jackie - This time of year is hard isn't it? We get fooled into thinking it's finally warm only to have it cool back down again. It's supposed to cool down at night here again so I'll have to wait on my zinnias.

    Anonymous - You are right! I did a search thank you!!!!

    Kathleen - The car did get washed although it took her over 2 hours :) It turned out pretty good, better than I ever do. I always miss a lot!
    It's going to be warm there! I don't think it'll be 90 here until August!

    Mildred - Thank you very much. It sounds like you have perfect weather!
    My daughter is loving a series of books called "The Sisters Grimm". She's already excited that an 8th book is coming out.

    The Retired One - Our season sometimes feels short compared to the South, but with all of our rain it stays green here for a long time.
    I'd love to find a garden club nearby, they all seem to be a little too far north of me.

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  16. Hi Catherine, your garden is looking just lovely.

    I like your foxglove. I think the slugs have eaten much of mine.

    Rob

    PS, are your seedlings starting to move?

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  17. I hope that the good weather might drift over to us soon Catherine :) Your garden looks so full of colour. I have made a note to go and smell my Jacob's Ladders :)

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  18. Your front garden looks beautiful!

    I love the foxglove colour. We have lots of foxgloves here. When they are gone to seed, I shake the seeds all over the gardens and then wait and see what comes up.

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  19. Hi Catherine, what a lot of beauties you have! The magic carpet will like the pruning. It flowers on new growth so you might even get another bloom if you do it soon after the first flush. I like to keep them small and tight with hard pruning in late winter. Your iris bud is exciting, looks like a good one.
    Frances

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  20. You always have such beautiful blooms. I love your new Foxglove,the color is great.

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  21. It all looks just lovely!!

    Jen

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  22. Rob - Thanks! I've never noticed the slugs eating my foxglove, they're too busy with the dahlias right now :)
    All the seedlings look good except for the nicotiana sylvestris. I sprinkled the rest of the seeds a couple of weeks ago and I think they may be sprouting. I've looked for the plants so I could still have them, but haven't seen them anywhere.

    Anna - I will be waiting to hear if you smelled them :) They were smelling good today.

    Phoenix - I try to remember to sprinkle the seeds too, but I think I forgot to last year. Maybe that's part of the problem. It's fun to spread them in the areas you hope they'll grow.

    Frances - I will prune it right after it blooms then. I have more that I'll prune too. They just look too big now even though the color is still pretty.

    Lona - Thanks, I thought it was pretty too, something other than the purple I usually have.

    Jen - Thanks!

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  23. Wow, beautiful yard!! Love the foxglove!

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  24. Envy! I was going to try that. Let me know how it turns out. Right now I have a bunch of Zinnias that self-seeded from last year.

    Your gardens look so lovely.

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  25. Your front border bed is so pretty. Everything looks so healthy. It's so nice there where you live.

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  26. Your yard looks so lovely and green! I bet you're loving the sunshine!

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  27. It looks grand! All of it! I planted my Envy zinnias and they are coming up. They did so well last year.

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  28. Absolutely beautiful! My iris just started to bud, too. Like you, I was beginning to wonder if it would bloom this year.

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  29. Allen - Thanks! I hope it gets taller than it is now!

    Prospero - I will! I don't think I've ever had zinnias reseed, lucky you!

    Susie - Everything is even happier because it just started raining. It's amazing how dry it got here in just a few days.

    sweet bay - The sun was great! It wasn't quite as sunny today, but still nice enough to do a little gardening.

    Anna - Maybe I'll get them planted this week then. I ran out of time today. I'm glad to hear they grew well for you, I hope I have luck with them too!

    Renee - Good! Iris is one I'm not that familiar with so it's a nice surprise to see it will bloom this year.

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  30. Hi~~ I like your new look. I have Hydrangea 'Preziosa' too. Isn't it a great plant? I also have Clematis 'Josephine' and can attest to its beauty.

    A few days ago I bravely sowed my pole beans and they're coming up which makes me think that sowing Zinnia seeds would be okay.

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  31. What a pretty site...I'll be sure to check back!

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  32. Looks great, Catherine. Those foxgloves are lovely. I can imagine how wonderful that front border would look, covered with roses in summer! Wow! Your garden's going to turn heads around!

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  33. Grace - Yes, it really is a great hydrngea. I love the color of its flowers!
    I'm going to start the zinnias this week. I have my packets out and ready to go :)

    Susie - Thanks, I hope you will :)

    Chandramouli - I think my neighbors think I'm crazy being out there all the time. It's a lot of work, but it does look good in bloom.

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  34. I'm so glad I stopped by today to see your front yard...it's so exciting to see everything filling in and expanding, isn't it? I just LOVE this time of year! I have so many photos of my yard that I just haven't put on my blog yet. I need to get with it and start posting! I think I might, maybe even today
    ;-) Thanks for sharing your gorgeous plants and blooms;-)

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  35. The border looks lovely all the diffwerent shades of green and textures and heights work well. It will be lovely when it all flowers I love the peony look forard to seeing it's flowers.

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  36. Your front garden is beautiful and lush. And so many different kinds of plants. I love it - when I think of my gardens this is what I want!

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  37. Catherine, What a wonderful post! Your gardens are just beautiful. :-) It's hard not to be outdoors right now, isn't it??

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  38. Just beautiful! We share many of the same plantings, must be because we're in the same neck of the woods!

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