What's happening in the garden now...

We have been enjoying some beautiful weather here still.  Since it was so late in coming I've been sure to be outside with my family as much as possible, playing in the yard, going to parks and the beach.  I hate to miss a minute of these nice sunny days.  I've started paying close attention to the plants that seem to have handled the crazy weather we've had and plan to do a post soon of my top performers for this summer.  Anything that can handle lots of rain and cool weather and then keep on going once it gets warm and dries out is my type of plant. 
For now I'll share some of what is happening in the front, it was hard limiting it since there is just so much going on.

 Gladiolas and Agastache blooming.  I love the saying on this little sign I found.

 Geranium 'Rozanne'

 The entry garden where the Geranium above is growing.  This is where the Japanese Maple that died last year was growing.  The upside of the tree being gone is that the Hydrangea 'Nikko' has gotten huge and even more full of flowers than usual.  All of the plants in fact seem to be doing really well here right now.  The Rose 'Harlow Carr' in front of the birdbath is between flushes now.

 It was a bit bright here, but there are Asters, Caryopteris, Hollyhocks and Echinacea blooming.

 One of my top favorite bloomers this year is Agastache 'Apricot Sunrise'.  It has been blooming like this for months.

 The water garden in the old washtub.

 Oriental Lilies are blooming now.  I sure wish they lasted longer, but since they don't I try to go out and smell them at least once a day (and make everyone else too).  The tall one has to be about 6 feet tall.  I wish I knew what one it was so I could buy more.

 Up close and personal.

 A dahlia growing in a raised vegetable bed.

 For some reason I always plant red and yellow flowers in this part of the garden.  Coreopsis blooms by Sedum and Monarda 'Jacob Cline' is right behind.

 A new favorite is the Spanish Poppy (Papaver rupifragum), it has been blooming for months and has a nice scent.

 Daylily 'Strawberry Candy' was a new one last summer.  It seems to be a popular one on blogs right now.

 A couple of new containers from this summer.  The one on the left is full of Sedums and I love how it looks.  The other is a mix of all sorts of plants in an old washtub.

 Yeah for the Butterfly Bush finally blooming.  This is the latest it's ever bloomed.

 Phlox 'David' and a mallow.

 I just love how pure white the flowers are.

 A container my husband put together is so pretty right now.  It's hard to see the golden colored lamium that is also growing in the planter.

 A couple of months ago we bought a new potting bench to put on the front porch.  It just didn't look right to me here, too new or something.  So we traded it with the one from the back porch and they both are perfect in their new spots.  This one is old and it will probably last longer than in the rain while the new one will weather a bit on the back deck.

So, that's just a little of what's happening in the front garden right now.  I'm so happy with how it's looking and how much we've been able to enjoy it lately. 

All words and photos in this post are property of A Gardener in Progress.

Weekend flowers.

What a great weekend in the garden we had.  The weather was pretty good, the sun came out and it was dry.  Lots of new flowers seem to be appearing everyday.  I love this time of year when there are so many daily surprises.  I finally worked on the entry garden and it's looking pretty good so far.  Most of the rest of the time was spent doing some weeding and just enjoying the garden and my family.

There is so much color right now, and there is still so much to bloom.  This is the view from the front porch looking to the right.

I've always walked along the sidewalk of our front yard to see what it looks like to people walking by.  The only thing I wish was different was that we had more vegetables growing.  It's just not gotten warm enough consistently for much to happen yet.

An Iris I bought two years ago finally has it's first two blooms.  This is 'Loop de Loop', it smells almost like lemons.

Penstemon 'Catherine de la Mar' is huge and full of flowers.  Its' the first Penstemon to bloom so far.

Yellow Daylilies that came with the yard.  I'm not sure what they are, but they smell really good.  They are blooming with white Columbines.

The Spanish Poppy has a really nice scent, I love this new plant.

In an earlier post I said I'd post a picture of this new Clematis fully open and give it's name.  I have somehow already lost the tag, so if anyone knows what it is I'd love to know what it's called.  When it first opened it was more red that purple.

Nigella with a little visitor flying by.

Peony 'Sorbet' is having it's best year yet.  These huge flowers were worth waiting for.  Peonies have taught me patience in the garden.  It takes a year or two for the first bloom and then as years pass you will get more and more flowers each year.

A new Dianthus by the picket fence.

This is the entry garden I've been working on.  I dug almost everything up and tried to plant them in a more thought out way.  I put evergreen perennials like Hellebores and Heucheras in front of Hostas and Astillbes so that in the winter there would be something to look at.  In the sunny part I planted a new rose and transplanted a Geranium 'Rozanne'.  I feel like it still needs something tall in the center, but a tree is out.  Maybe some type of trellis?

We have cotton fluffs floating everywhere from the Cottonwood trees, it looks like it's snowing.  I've also noticed there seem to be no honeybees around.  I saw a few a couple of months ago, but none in my yard recently.  Lots of Bumblebees and Carpenter bees though.
All photos and words property of A Gardener in Progress.

Perfect gardening weather.

Yesterday felt warm in the 40's compared to the 20's we had been in most of the week.  The coldest it got down to one night was 12 degrees!  Sadly the cold weather killed off any last blooms or buds that may have been trying to flower.  So rather than be too disappointed about the state of the garden I convinced my family to come outside while it wasn't raining and help clean up a bit.  I loved every minute of being outside even if it was spent pulling up slimy dead annuals and raking up wet leaves.

 Believe me these Hydrangeas look 100 percent better than they did before the pruning.  Sadly I realize that there is no way the Japanese Maple will be coming back to life.  I pushed against the trunk only to see that the ground all around it moves as if the roots have all rotted.  My husband offered to take it out for me, but I secretly want to do it myself, so I told him we'd wait to do it.  It's not that large of a tree that it would cause damage or injury if it decides to fall over on its own.  Besides knowing me I'll be taking it out before Christmas is here, maybe even before the end of the week.  As I mentioned in previous posts this is our second maple to die here, the clay ground is just too wet here during the winter and spring and the roots just don't have a chance.  The other plants seem to thrive in the soil, so once this tree is out no more trees will go in its place.

I think this garden will be the first place to get worked on in the spring since it's the garden that is right in front the front door. The window that is seen in this picture is where the computer is so I look out at this area often.  I'm already excited to get out there and start digging but for now I'll keep working on the plan.  And lets see how long it takes before I'm showing pictures of the area after I take the tree down.

I know that if I don't get out and work in the garden on days that it's not too cold and not raining that this winter will feel very long.  I enjoy having an excuse to get outside and see what's happening up close and personal.