DEBORAH CROMBIE: We started our summer with a bang on Memorial Day. A huge storm in the early hours of the morning brought down two limbs on our old elm, one on the power lines, one on our very old and decrepit fence. We spent the day without power, ugh. The humidity was close to 100%!
If we had been on the fence (sorry, couldn't help myself there) about replacing our old fence, that certainly decided us. We now have 206 linear feet of brand new cedar fence, and it's a good thing I wasn't planning a trip to London because I wouldn't have been able to afford it!
You'd better believe I admire that fence every time I step out the back door! In spite of the heat, the garden is a little oasis, a tiny bastion against the ills of the world, and I do my best to remind myself of it daily.
Every day there is something beautiful. This morning I went out to find a lovely surprise, the first bloom on our perennial star hibiscus.
So pretty!
Things are in full bloom in the front as well, although I'm sad that the coneflowers will be finished soon. The nice thing about a perennial garden, however, is that that means something else will be coming along to add some brightness--in this case, black-eyed Susans, flame acanthus, and Turk's cap, all the things the hummingbirds adore, and all those will last until autumn, when the native asters will bloom.
That's my David Austin Heathcliff rose adding a splash of red in the center!
Photos never convey how pretty this is.
We've had more things going on in the back, too. We have struggled mightily with grass here over the years, mostly due to the roots of the big trees, but last year we replaced some of it with zoysia and it did really well, so this year we've put down more in a couple of bare spots. (This means I am out watering sod twice a day.)
This is the grass we put in last year (photo bombed by dog.)
Here's one new section. Fingers crossed it does well, too. That's the big elm with a gap now in its center, and you can admire part of the new fence!
It's been too windy to put up the patio umbrella, but the pots on the patio are so cheerful.
We have tomatoes. too.
And our fig tree is covered with baby green figs. I check it every day, hoping to beat the birds and squirrels to them when they begin to ripen.
I love our outdoor mantel.
And I love this view of one of the front perennial beds through the gate.
Thank you, dear Reds, for indulging me, but it's cheered me up just to write about the garden and share the photos.
Where do you find little bits of joy in your day?
Flower gardens are always filled with joy and yours are so lovely . . . .
ReplyDeleteRight now, my days are filled with bits of joy from the grandbabies . . . .
Joan, that's a different sort of garden! How lovely, to get to spend time with your grands.
DeleteWhat fun, Joan! Are they staying with you?
DeleteYou have a beautiful garden, Debs.
ReplyDeleteDEBS: Seeing yoir garden soothes me, and puts a smile on my face this morning. I am envious of your fig tree and your gorgeous plants!
ReplyDeleteI am just starting to harvest yummy eats frim my bslcony garden. Thanks to the prolonged cool spring, I have harvested lots of leafy greens such as arugula, Swiss chard, kale + herbs ( parsley, basil, mint) for my recent meals. It is the first year without insects ravaging these greens. And SATAN and his kids have dug holes & only smashed one pot, so it's a winning garden battle for me.
Grace, did the skewers you put in the plant pots help?
DeleteGRACE: Your balcony garden sounds lovely.
DeleteWe have got all the herbs, but I've planted salad greens before and not had much luck, so I buy my butter leaf lettuce and arugula at the farmer's market.
DeleteKAREN: Yes, the wooden BBQ skewers have stopped SATAN from.digging up & killing the seedlings. He/the kids still.dig a few holes but no dead/dying plants this year.
DeleteArugula is my fave green so I grow a bunch each time
DeleteDid not grow lettuce or pak choy this spring
It's too hot now to try, the plants would bolt right away.
I want to know more about those skewers!
DeleteI love your garden so much Did your new fence come pre-painted?
ReplyDeleteI just went out to my garden to replenish the bluebird feeder. I then surveyed the tomato and garlic garden. Damn woodchuck ate most of my smallest tomato plant overnight - grr! And I need a better solution to cover my waist-high lettuce box - Chuck is getting in under the netting on hoops. My son the creative builder said he'd help.
But then I just stood a few yards away from the feeder, which is next to the nesting box, and watched Dad and Mom bluebird eat, transfer (dried) meal worms into the box, and chase away intruders who try to steal their food. Total joy. I have to get to the bird store tomorrow for another bag of food. It's expensive and worth it for the joy it brings me. This is the first year the blues have deigned to nest with us.
Yay for those bluebirds. Woodchucks are the worst!
DeleteGRRR to the woodchuck! We all have our garden foes.
DeleteBluebirds will do somersaults for those mealworms! Steve has bluebird boxes along the 1/2-mile drive from the road to the trailer at the farm, and there are power lines that run parallel to it. The bluebirds will follow his car, flying from perch to perch, when he gets down there. They know he's going to replenish the feeders--and they recognize his car. Gobsmacks me every time.
DeleteMay this be the first of many years that bluebirds are at home with you, Edith. Elisabeth
DeleteEdith, they painted the fence after it was up. Two coats, brushed and rolled. They did a good job.
DeleteWe don't have bluebirds here so I'm very envious! I think you might see them in East Texas--I'd have to look at the territory map. We did see a painted bunting in our back garden once. That was terribly exciting! We keep safflower seed in our feeder because it is the one thing the squirrels don't like. And, sadly, we can't put out suet because it attracts rats.
it's gorgeous Debs! I too am dying for your figs. John's doing more of the gardening lately and I prepare the produce and enjoy the flowers:)
ReplyDeleteThat would work for me, Lucy! I'd like to just sit and enjoy the garden but gardening is not Rick's thing at all. I have to say, though, that last year when I was having such a bad time with my back, he did all the watering and with great dedication.
DeleteThanks for sharing your flower garden today. We‘ll be having our landscape beds redone in September. The builder just plops in whatever they want and we have no input. No one likes it. It’s mostly all just green grassy things and way too many plants that are going to quickly be overgrown snake havens. We are replacing with half as many plants that will all be flowering things to attract and feed the hummingbirds. In the meantime I am enjoying the deep red hibiscus in a big pot on the patio as are the hummingbirds. I enjoy listening to the other birds and trying to identify them with the Merlin app and I want to get a good look at the bald eagles nesting nearby.
ReplyDeleteWe have zoysia grass for the front lawns and that is coming along nicely. The sides and back are bahia and not irrigated. It is not a nice grass and my husband is obsessed with improving those parts of the lawn. He is having some success and neighbors have started coming to him for advice.
You're going to have so much fun planning and putting in those bird-friendly beds, Brenda. You'll have to tell us what you plant.
DeleteYour gardens are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteRight now, my joy is coming from the fauna rather than the flora in my yard. We have an abundance of birds nesting around and ON our house. We live in a log cabin, and robins have selected the upper corners where the logs crisscross as superb locations for building their homes and raising their young. As a result, we have baby birds entertaining us (and Kensi Kitty) endlessly. We also have a surplus of bunnies (and baby bunnies!) this year. Deer and their fawns graze in the field outside my kitchen window.
This coming week, we should start to harvest squash and cucumbers from our garden, which will provide a joyful feast as well.
You must have a sturdy fence around the garden to keep the deer out!
DeleteAnnette, this is a banner year for bunnies here, too. Sounds like you're living in a Disney movie!
DeleteKaren your comment made me smile :)
DeleteEdith, we have several strands of electric fence. Low ones for bunnies and groundhogs. Higher ones for deer. Later in the season, we unplug it, but the critters still won't go near it!
DeleteHow fun to watch the birds nesting. Maybe next season you couldl rig a camera to see inside the nest. We have hanging birdbox outside our kitchen window a few days ago a wren was busy bringing in nesting material but I haven't seen her again. Maybe she found a better spot.
DeleteDebs, what a fabulous oasis you've created! It's just breathtaking, especially all those coneflowers! Masses of flowers make such an impact. And I LOVE your outdoor mantel, it's thoroughly charming and whimsical.
ReplyDeleteI have one fig tree in the ground, and last year got just over a dozen figs. I was really worried that it hadn't survived the very brief but harsh winter we had, despite my tender care in covering it up, and it did take a long time to leaf out. But I watched it, held my breath, and got ruthless about pruning off the parts that died back and now it is resplendent, much better than it was last year. Phwew. But lesson learned: it's better to have healthy branches than leggy and unproductive trees. I have two others in pots, and one has a fig that I am also watching every day. I knew figs would live in this climate, if they were the right variety, because a classmate from my hometown told me about fig trees her Italian grandparents had planted in the 1940's still producing figs today, in SW Ohio. They just need winter protection, and a sunny spot. Who knew?
You don't have deer, do you? Last year I planted, inside the deer fence, a dozen raspberry canes, and four black raspberries, in one corner, next to several blueberry bushes in both a raised bed and two giant pots. This spring Steve helped me create a big cage over all of it, large enough for me to walk into, to keep the birds off the fruit, but allow pollinators (and ticks, oh, well) to get in. It wasn't as complicated as it sounds. The fence is 7.5' high, so I used the two walls of the corner as my anchor, then stretched bird netting up and over some PVC piping we had leftover from another project. Steve put in a 4x4 post anchored to the corner of a raised bed to make it stable. It was working really well, and then yesterday I spotted a squirrel (GRACE, it's Satan's American cousin!) run across the yard, up the fence and over, quick as a flash. I went out to investigate, and it was INSIDE the berry enclosure! Which meant I had to do some reinforcement. Now I'll be watching to see if that works.
That patch has been wildly successful this year, too. I've been harvesting over a pint of mixed berries every day for weeks.
Wish we could all visit one another's gardens, for real. Including Grace's mini balcony farm!
Karen, what zone are you? We are 5/6 (more 5 now it seems), and were told that a magnolia would never survive the winter here, but it has done wonderfully. I wonder if I could plant my fig outside - it would solve the bugs in the winter issue.
DeleteI wish we could, too! Although I'd have to spruce up the neglected back border first.
DeleteMargo, we are in 6B now. It used to be 5, about 40 years ago. My friend's grandparents' figs are on the south side of a garage, protected from wind, and getting full sun. You must get some climate amelioration from the coast, yes?
DeleteAnother friend has two huge figs that are in big pots that he takes into an unheated barn in the winter. Last year they produced so much fruit that his wife was begging for recipes to use up the bounty! When we were in Portland last month I saw lots of huge fig trees heavy with fruit, including in the yard where my daughter lives. She didn't even know!
Karen, our cold wind is from the south - right off the ocean. That means the best growing area is on the north where the wind is a softer land wind, and also the house blocks the south. That is where we planted the magnolia, and it did so well even 25 years ago when the winters were more harsh. We also have a huge kiwi vine on the west side - watch yourself as you go by, as it is reminiscent of that crazy flower movie! My biggest worry would be more the very slow spring that we get - doesn't warm up until June, but I think I will pot this one up, and hope for the best. Maybe I will see if I can get another and do a double blind experiment - one in and one out. It was less than 20$ so reasonable outlay. Thanks for the ideas.
DeleteKaren, I would probably eat that pint of blueberries a day all by myself. Our blueberry season is almost done and I'll be crushed when I can't buy them at the market.
DeleteNow, the fig tree. We used to be zone 7b here, but are now 8a and 8b. You would think fine for figs. But in the winter of 2020 we had an extended spell of 0 F weather and in the spring the fig tree was DEAD. We cut it down to the ground. I thought we were also going to lose the Japanese maple next to it, so I planted a David Austin climbing yellow rose called Crown Princess Margareta. Then lo the next year, the fig started to come back, and the half dead Japanese maple suddenly took off. The fig didn't produce for a couple of years, but last year we started seeing figs, and this year it's covered.
The poor rose is smothered, however, so in the fall we're going to move it to another spot on the new fence.
Margo, figs need sun, so figure that into your calculations, as well.
DeleteDebs, my friend said her husband cuts their figs back every year, and they do fine. It astonishes me how resilient they are. I really want a Japanese maple or two. They add so much to the landscape, don't they? I so envy your roses. The deer would chomp them down, too.
Ottawa is in zone 4B. I am envious of you gardeners further south that can overwinter perennials & grow fruit like FIGS!
DeleteDeborah, my day has been cheered by this early morning stroll through your yard and gardens.Thank you. Elisabeth
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Elizabeth! And you don't even have to get out and water things!
DeleteOh Debs, what beautiful gardens and patio! My garden beds bring me joy, even if the dastardly bunnies keep breeding and eating. The orange day lilies here are having a banner year, as are the Stella d’oros. This is the first year I’ve kept suet in the suet cages and we’ve been enjoying 3 types of woodpeckers, rose breasted grosbeaks, more nuthatches and blue jays. And always the cardinals, my favourites. I haven’t seen as many hummingbirds but they are here. And always more work, more bunny chasing.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds lovely, Suzette. I wish we could put out suet, but as I said above, we live in an old neighborhood that has had rats much longer than we have been here, and suet is a guaranteed rat treat. We do have woodpeckers and bluejays, and we used to have nuthatches but I haven't seen them recently. We have seen the songbird population change over the years.
DeleteWe are lucky we don’t have rats! As the summer progresses I may stop the diet feeding in the heat. There will be plenty of acorns, black oil sunflower seeds, berries and bugs for them. Also, Deb’s, I love your hibiscus!
DeleteDebs ~ Your garden is spectacular; no wonder you like hanging out on the hammock in your "little oasis, a tiny bastion against the ills of the world". So perfectly and beautifully stated! I especially love some of the hardscaping. Photos can sometimes be deceiving color-wise but I think your pavers near the tomato plants and market umbrella are sandstone...my favorite. I also love your choice of ornamentals; i.e., the fireplace mantel (very clever) and that beautiful iron gate. We used to purchase garden ornamentals at two of our favorite antique shops in Newport and North Kingston, Rhode Island when we had a large yard at our previous home. We hung an antique window on our fence, placed an iron gate in a corner section of our garden and our very first ornamental was bought at a funky antique store in Beacon Hill, Boston. Such wonderful memories accompany these items of which we, unfortunately, could not take with us when we located to a condo on the South Shore...well...except for the Beacon Hill dog which is currently in our garage because it's too fragile from age. I simply can't part with it. Although our large garden has now been reduced to a 16' x 16' private courtyard and a small front yard I have learned as I grow older that large container gardening is a blessing on the knees :-) and perennials in the form of colorful lime, yellow and silver blue junipers and cypress can be enjoyed year round. I can change out the seasons (and colors) with summer pollinator annuals, autumn pumpkins and spring pansies to fill in the gaps. I always add filler containers around the large ones so I can always stay active in the "yard" and keep my fingers in dirt. We found a way to display two garden statues in the courtyard...one being an antique stone cat holding a garden shovel and the other being a bronze rabbit sculpture that was made for a special birthday. I am also enjoying my very first Japanese Maple...a beautiful specimen...that was just added to our front yard during a landscaping project last week. No matter how large or small someone's garden may be you are correct when you call them an "oasis", Debs. They sooth the soul. I am reminded of a few garden quotes that I especially love ~ "Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the gardeners who make our souls blossom." (Marcel Proust) and "The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses." (Hanna Ron Verbeck) and finally my favorite "To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow." (Audrey Hepburn) Now more than ever we have to still believe in tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, I love those quotes so much. I also see our garden as an environmental oasis, as is our whole neighborhood. North Texas is the land of new construction, more every minute, and although I know that people need places to live, more environment is destroyed with every new development. Our garden with its old trees has been thirty years pesticide and insecticide free, with as many native plants as we can manage. But don't get me started on my soapbox!
DeleteAbout the hardscaping! Yes, the flagstones are sandstone--such lovely colors. And the reason we have such a big flagged patio is because nothing would grow over the roots of the pecan tree so we finally gave up trying!
When we first moved here, there were lots of funky little antique shops and malls where you could find things like our beautiful iron gate and all of our stained glass windows, but those places are mostly gone, replaced with upmarket design stores and cafes and restaurants. Not complaining, but you won't find those bargains now. The mantel came out of our living room when we had to rebuild our fireplace about fifteen years ago. The mirror is new this year, from World Market, and I love it. I have to remember to store it for the winter.
Debs...Soapboxes are always welcome! The human race has done so much damage to the environment that garden lectures are now heaped high with ideas of how to fill our outdoor spaces, large or small, with non-invasive plants, native shrubs and flowers that will attract our essential bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. I don't remember the last time I've seen an orange monarch butterfly and yet when I was young they were everywhere during the summer months. Our need for the perfect lawn made lush via synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are now being discouraged and replaced with perennial ground covers, ornamental grasses and flower gardens. Are we too late, however? Nearly 4 acres of woodland behind where we live has been replaced with three 4-story high apartment buildings squashing the original concept that for every acre developed two acres of woodlands were to be left alone. It bares no resemblance to what the rest of the town space looks like architecturally and completely dominates the remaining two-story New England style wood buildings that grace the village center. Like a giant this apartment complex also looms over our very small neighborhood but thankfully only on our garage/street side while our front porches are still looking out at our neighborhood common area filled with evergreens and trees and private walkways (no streets). (It's a great relief that our neighborhood common area was NOT designed with a pool in the center of it.) The only redeeming factor of the imposing monstrosity behind us is that it houses an independent book store on the lower level :-) which is always flowing with children's reading hours and activities, book lectures/signings and visiting authors and ideas of how to make the community more joyful. I have made friends with our resident bunny I call Thumper (after all we are imposing on their environment and not the other way around) and Thumps and I are still in negotiations as to why I would prefer he not nibble on our newly-planted blue star junipers.:-) The scary part of all this climate change is when I read about the rapid melting glaciers and rising sea levels...how long before we will all be underwater?! Our niece, who is an International Marathon Runner and Race Director, will be running in the North Pole Marathon in August. The only method of reaching the floating ice sheet used for the race is via an ice breaker ship and in the summer the floes can easily crack and separate under the runners feet. So the use of a life vest is a requirement in case one falls through the ice and into the Arctic Sea :-( In addition to needing protection from the polar bears it's not exactly the safest environment. Once again it's a reminder of how climate change and our environment has been affected by the human race. Oh lord, Debs, I think I have depressed myself plenty and may need hours of hammock therapy to recover. It's best I climb off my soapbox, too, before I depress all of us on this readers blog. Happy Sunday....I think. ;-)
DeleteDebs, I love your beautiful garden. Thanks for sharing! The star-shaped red hibiscus is a show stopper! I'm enjoying my mongo honeysuckle, which is so fragrant--the hummingbirds love it--and raspberries! For whatever reason, I have a bumper crop of raspberries this year and they are yummy.
ReplyDeleteLike the tropical hibiscus, the blooms on the star hibiscus only last a day, but they are such a treat. We have loads of other hummingbird friendly plants, though. When I came back from the bakery this morning I could see them darting in and out of the flowers in the front beds.
DeleteThank you for showing us your little oasis! It is truly lovely and I don't blame you for wanting to spend as much time as possible there, when the heat allows. Were the elm limbs dead? The remaining tree looks pretty good, but what do I know. I do know, however, that I love seeing elm trees, which are rather rare now in my part of the country but I can still see a few here and there at the edge of a field, as I drive around the countryside. There had been a huge one, the largest in the county it was said, in the middle of a field on a hillside. But several years ago it came down and last time I looked it was still lying there in the field.
ReplyDeleteThe limbs weren't dead. That wind was ferocious. I didn't put in any photos of our pergola as it is now leaning precariously due to the same storm. Another thing on the to-do list! Anyway, the elm was obviously much fuller before the wind took the center out, but it's a very old tree and we're lucky to have kept it going. I was heartbroken when our neighbors cut down the enormous elm that was just on the other side of the back fence. There aren't many elms and that might have been one of the largest in the whole city.
DeleteStill a very beautiful tree!
DeleteI will join in on the wish for those figs. I got a new plant this year as my old one got bugged, but the new one is only 6” tall, so doubt I will be eating any fruit in the fall. Do you bring the tree in in the fall or is it grounded? I also am envious of the coneflowers. People keep saying they are easy to grow, but my thumb is not that colour of green. I do have a lot of mint if anyone wants a mint julep!
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, the vegetable garden is now full of milkweed mixed in with other crops. We let it grow semi willy-nilly – just enough space for the vegetables and let the milkweed grow in the pathways. The monarchs should be coming back in the very near future, as they have been seen at the other end of the province. It is always a case of hold your breath in the hope that they are back this year, and then rejoicing when they arrive.
I checked the rain meter this morning as it is almost the end of the month. 44mm which is 1.7 inches – very little for a month. The rest of the province is complaining about too much rain, but every time it just skirts by us. It was promised yesterday – and then went out to sea. The hose and I will be best friends again today. Think I will start the day with a trip to my uncle’s next door. Noone is there, and I suspect their roses need pruning – just enough to bring inside!
Margo, I'm so envious of your milkweed. The deer apparently think I grow it for them!
DeleteI have milkweed blooming right now! Fingers crossed for Monarchs soon.
DeleteWhat variety do you grow? I have common - large pouffy pink flowers, very scented. Not the swamp or the orange stuff that won't grow here. No deer ever touch it, even the stuff that we are migrating to the top field where it is unprotected by the dog. I found the common very hard to grow from seed, but pull and plant an underground runner and it takes off. It is invasive in the garden.
DeleteI can grow butterflyweed, but not the common milkweed. It gets chomped before it has a chance to bloom, every time. That's in my Cincinnati garden; the common milkweed thrives at the farm, where there are also deer. I have no idea why this is so.
DeleteI keep planting milkweed and then it disappears. I don't know what happens to it! Looking forward to reports on your monachs, Margo! These are native coneflowers. I've never had any luck with the cultivars.
DeleteMargo, I have about six three-foot high volunteer plants with pouffy pale pink scented flowers like yours. Until this year I tried to pull every plant to keep down the invasiveness, and I will again after the monarchs leave (if they arrive!).
DeleteLovely gardens! I lined my deck with railing boxes planted with annuals to attract hummingbirds and butterflies: lantana, black and blue salvia, zinnias, and verbena. So pretty and yes, we have daily visitors.
ReplyDeleteOh, I adore the black and blue salvia. I have a big patch in one of the front beds, and I've been looking for some to plant in the back but I haven't seen it in any of the nurseries. Maybe transplanting a couple in the fall is the plan.
DeleteDEBS: Gorgeous photos. I feel as if I am right there in person with you. I saw many beautiful reels of gardens on Instagram from our Jenn and other friends on IG. That brings me joy. I find joy in simple things like seeing a blue sky, walking outside while it is warm (not too hot), a cup of tea, seeing and chatting with friends. Knowing my strengths bring me joy. Writing stories bring me joy. I can still enjoy some culinary delights despite my newfound food allergies and menopause. We have beautiful flowers in our HOA common areas.
ReplyDeleteDiana, I need to learn to post reels on Instagram. And you are so wise with the things you enjoy.
DeleteIt looks lovely, Debs. I envy you all those glorious flowers. I have deer that eat anything not poisonous!
ReplyDeleteThen you have to enjoy the deer:-)
DeletePaula B. Here. I’m living in the southwest and we are entering our ugly “winter” phase only hotter. No snow to make it pretty just brown. My garden is over everything that was green and I’m cleaning the dead plants out similar to how the cold climates clean up in the late fall. My patio set, tables and pretty pots are the color added until cooler temps to start planting again. One surprise note, the Jasmine plant is still a lush green. No flowers till fall for this one. I love late fall to late spring. Full of flowers. Still is amazing to buy petunias and a Christmas tree at the same time.
ReplyDeletePaula, I’m curious. When you say southwest and winter, does it means you are in Australia areas ?
DeleteYes, where are you, Paula?
DeleteDebs, your gardens are beautiful and seem so peaceful.
ReplyDeleteMy land is not landscaped but I’m surrounded by nature and there’s always things giving me joy.
This last week , I was reading when I heard a big « bang » in one of my living room’s windows. I knew it was a bird and I was worried so I went to see. It was rather knocked out but conscious . It was the first time I saw one like this, it was so beautiful. After a search in my bird’s book, I discovered it was a Cedar Waxwing. I checked with people living in radius of thirty miles around home and no one had seen this kind of bird . Some were fairly jealous. Finally it was not seriously injured and flew out.
Two days later, I saw a baby fawn with all its spots just beside the road near me. Just writing this still brings me joy.
I’d like to add that on my daily walks on the road near home, I see lots of wild flowers alongside . I don’t know their names but they are colourful and beautiful.
DeleteThe waxwings are a bit of a plague when they visit here, always in flocks. (I wonder if yours was separated?) They strip the berries from everything and make an awful mess, but they are so pretty and cheerful that we don't really mind.
DeleteThis is so completely gorgeous! I wish there were a way to see the whole thing, like from a drone or something :-) so brilliant!
ReplyDeleteOur gardens are coming into their own right now too, and I go outside every day just to check on who’s coming and going and how everything looks. I try to keep it looking natural, and there is always a fine line between the wonderful “British country garden” and chaotic :-)
Our white roses in the front are glorious right now, and our backyard looks completely beautiful, everything is incredibly green and lush and blooming. And! The tomatoes are coming! But they are still the babiest right now.
Yes, Hank, I really wish I could find a way to show the entire garden, front and back! I wish we had a drone! I didn't show any of our roses because I fell down on treating for blackspot and they are all defoliated! I don't know why we have such a terrible problem with blackspot here, but I'm reminded that I'd better get out this evening and spray again!
DeleteThanks for the garden tour, Debs! I love a garden filled with color and scent and form--and whimsical additions like your mantel. Enticing for all senses! My projects are always in progress--grass threatens to overtake every planting--and this year the poison ivy is horrendous! I can't tell you how much I've pulled and pulled over the years, trying to get every rootlet (and obviously failing). The black raspberries are coming in faster than I can pick, my nephew's blueberry bush is full of berries (I need to devise netting so that he can get some before the birds eat them all this year), the lilies are just opening, everything is rapidly getting away from me--but I still love attempting to tame some of the wildness!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds gorgeous, Flora. We had terrible poison ivy when we first moved here. It's been mostly eradicated over the years, but it still pops up occasionally. I can just see those rootlets waiting underground, like something from a horror movie.
DeleteI like to pour vinegar on poison ivy. (It really dies back when you use gasoline, but that's not a recommended practice, LOL.)
DeleteBreathtaking and inspiring. No wonder Duncan and Gemma have such a love for gardens.
ReplyDeleteAlthough neither of them is much of a gardener, and they only have a patio to work with!
DeleteGood morning , wow, your gardens are Beautiful! Every morning I walk out to our backyard and our front yard to check and see how the flowers are doing and if there are new flowers out there, I really enjoy planting flowers and reaping the joys it gives me. My family brings me joy , our 12 yr old half Schnauzer brings me joy every day and he makes me smile and laugh every morning when my husband and I take him for his walk. Thank you for sharing your garden with us, it sure put a smile on my face, we too have a fig bush, it is not a true and yes we have to beat the birds to it but we also do share the figs with them as they enjoy the figs so much. Have a Great day and a great week. May you all have a Blessed Fourth of July. ALICIA HANEY aliciabhaney(at)sbcglobal(dot)net
ReplyDeleteThank you, Alicia, for the good thoughts! Our dog is eleven this year so we try to enjoy every day with her. I took her for a ride in the new Mazda this morning, which she enjoyed very much!
DeleteWhat a beautiful garden! We discovered when we replaced our shingle roof with a metal one, that the fall like for ice is right over the front gardens. I've been trying to nurture the plants that were damaged that first year, but although they green, they've never flowered again. This fall I plan to have someone dig out the beds and then plant bulbs for spring bloom and in the spring, add hostas, phlox, and maybe a peony or two. All plants that go to ground in winter and won't be harmed by the ice falls.
ReplyDeleteI always love seeing your garden, which is full of color and variety and yet all of a piece. In California, especially now that we and our towns are more water conscious, gardens can get pretty dry from June through October. There is no rain, period. My roses are gorgeous in April and May, and then bloom sporadically if watered, fed and treated like patients in plant ICUs. Salvia, on the other hand, seems to love the dry heat and bees and hummingbirds love salvia, so there's that!
ReplyDeleteWe are potting (and in some cases repotting) flowers and tomatoes this weekend. I usually have tomatoes in pots ready to go in April so this is very late for us. The tomatoes were already on the plants when we bought them so we should be able to enjoy them soon. Our plan is to eventually plant milkweed and other plants for pollinators on our hill in the backyard. We live in a basic suburban tract house so we don’t have much actual land but do have a slope that goes up to the back fence of our neighbors on the next street above ours. We want to plant things that will be self-sustaining as long as the sprinkler system works. Thank you, Debs, for the beautiful pictures of your yards. — Pat S
ReplyDeleteThank you, Deb, for sharing your gardens today. Mine are an ongoing challenge with the deer, rabbits, wood chucks, etc. not to mention getting a company out here to do the heavy work like spreading 9-10 cubic feet of mulch! We also found zoysia grass many years back and found just a small amount to be very invasive / aggressive! Can you please share with me where / how you purchased it as we too have areas that need to be filled in. By the way, your gate is beautiful! Joy comes with sharing. Thank You!
ReplyDelete