Tuesday, May 18, 2010

A Quick WALK Around My LOST & Found GARDEN in May

I decided to take you for a walk through my garden to show you some progress in the last month. We are starting from my back deck , I like to stand here and figure out  if I like what I see.
Or want I want to see instead.

Down we go.


Shade garden in front is doing fine, ferns are green again, all kinds of plants that I have no idea what the names are, are also coming up.

 I am going to plot out my garden on paper, I read that in someone's blog about when you plant a plant to go to your layout and write what you planted when and where. I have so many little plastic name tags , I washed off a bunch yesterday and dried them by my kitchen sink. You know they get all dirty when you are planting. 
I have years of plastic tags in a ziploc bag, so at least I kept those.
When I do that ( make a layout ), I will be proud of myself, as organization is a weak area for me.
Looking better. trumpet vine is blooming for me again .

I also FINALLY put newspaper under my mulch to ward off weeds, I had completely forgotten to do that but I have a good excuse. Wanna hear it ? 
I did not put it underneath because I forgot No. 1 , and most importantly I was waiting for all those perennials I planted to show their little heads out of the ground and did not want to cover up too soon. Now if I had my layout I would have known, but my memory is on vacation most days.
I think that was 2 excuses, but they sort of blend together .

In the distance here is the old birdbath bubbling fountain that I put a lot of old seashells in, I do not like it as the contrast is too start with the black. I will plant some flowers in it soon. Ignore it back there.


That is red salvia I bought at our local zoo garden sale a few years back to the left.


It has been raining cats and dogs here as you can see. I picked up my son from school yesterday in torrential rain, and as we drove up....I saw down the street about two houses down, our big trash can ( Herbie-Curbie ), floating in a bout a foot of water, plus all kinds of things. I got my son in the house, put on my husband's large raincoat he never wears, had flip flops and cropped running pants on...walked down through a foot or so of water, and a mini-flood pouring into a neighbor's backyard. I then waded out, my pants were soaked , luckily kept my flip flops on...rushing water all in that area ( cars were turning around and not driving through it in front of me ), grabbed our big trashcan up and out of there and dragged it back in the thunderstorm. Why I was such a she-woman about this is I was worried our trashcan was blocking some drainage in the road and was causing the flooding there.
Also, it is OUR trashcan-Herbie-Curbie, it needed to be rescued.
My son was impressed how wet my pants ( up to my knees ) were when I got back, and at least he saw me take care of a problem .
Back to the garden,

Delphiniums, pink verbena, Shasta daises, and some plumbago and calla lilies are in here, plus more.

Sideview



I have lots of blue salvia coming up to the back left of the garden, in front of them are orange cannas I found at my neighbor's house.
My trusty blue plumbago getting bigger. I have three plumbago , and this is the first one I planted about 5 years ago. I cut it back after the first freeze, and it comes back every year.
Love this plant.
Keep ignoring the back fountain w/ white seashells.
Ok, since you keep looking at the glowing object in the distance , here is the up-close look at what I do not like and will change. Too stark with the black. But we always need to try out our bright ideas to see how they look.
This was definitely a BRIGHT idea that is going bye-bye.
Cute little birdbath I made into a planter so my husband could see it when he walks in and out of his palace-workshop. I do not know if he ever sees it, I do know he has almost tripped over it a few times.
View from the back. See that itsy-bitsy middle green something in the dark mulch ? That is my third plumbago coming back. I got so happy when I saw that ,as I have planted plumbago three times here, and it died. This one lived over the winter !

I stepped up in my son's fort to take these last shots.

A fort with a view ( a fort he never plays in, and may get taken down and have a small new garden bed here soon ).
I threaten that and he says he'll start playing in it.

Ok, that was a walk around the garden, I did not show you a side back left bed that is in dire straits with deep thatch that I have to fix.
That's what's neat about this tour online. I can blindfold you like this and only show you the parts that look good.
Hey, I think that's what internet dating sites do right ?

It is a cloudy overcast day here, gotta run and get busy with the day,
hope yours is very productive, 
Gina

" Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD ! " Psalms 150:6

21 comments:

  1. Gina your garden is so lush and beautiful with so many different hues of green with a little splash of colour here and there and so many different textured leaves. No wonder you find such solace out there - it seems so private aswell.

    I'm no big fan of plumbago as its too untidy in the house. When they come into bloom that will be your chance to convince me that I really should like them.

    You sound as if you have had dreadful weather - it doesn't look as if it has had a damaging affect on your plants. They probably relished the liquid around their roots.

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  2. Never heard of anyone bring plumbago inside ? Yes, it would be messy that way, but it is the best perfoming plant in my garden. Can't wait to show you how it sets off everything when it blooms. And yes, the water is always welcome after the drought of a few years. Thanks much Rosie, Gina

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  3. You have a beautiful garden, and a very creative shade area. I see we share a love of Jesus and of gardening so I signed up to follow you.

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  4. Thanks so much Terra, I will check your blog out as well, I really appreciate you being a follower ! Gina

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  5. I loved the tour. Your garden is so relaxing looking. It must be a nice peaceful place to sit or garden in. I really like seeing the types of plants you grow, so many of them are new to me.

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  6. It is relaxing when I can get the horrible mosquitoes away from me ! they ruin gardening fo me in the Summer here. I am a mosquito magnet, thanks ! Gina

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  7. Hello Gina~~ I'm a newbie here. What a delight it's been to view your beautiful gardens. I love your romantic, English hardscape. The antiquity of it all...just as charming as can be.

    Love your candid admission to the "Bright" idea. How well I can relate!!!!

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  8. Hi Gina! I like this part of your garden. You have several vertical elements here that serve as exclamation marks!

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  9. Thank you for leaving a comment on my blog. I always enjoy looking around other people's gardens and yours is delightful. I do love the brick pathways, they do look very old and how wonderful to think of all those who have walked them before you :-) It is always exciting to rediscover an old garden and you will be able to add your love of plants and personality to it.

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  10. Yes thanks, this garden is only about 7 years old now, I dug up the whole back yard and created it myself. I do use only old bricks that I find, I believe my first entry in April on my garden explains that, but I agree on making a garden your own. adding your own touches. Take care, Gina

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  11. HI Grace, Yes , I have many ' bright ' ideas that can be totally dumb ! We have to try though right ? Welcome ! Gina

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  12. Thanks Tatyana, I like that idea of the exclamation points, take care ! Gina

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  13. What a lovely garden (and blog)! I see you share it with a beautiful black Lab too ♥ Found you through my friend Chris @ notes from a somerset garden.

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  14. Beautiful Garden! It has an old sort of feel to it and a little English touch. Lovely.

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  15. Thanks much Deb for the nice words , glad you found my blog, and thanks Lisa...I wanted the garden to have a cottage look, and Charleston gardens are after English and French gardens...so I may get close one day ! Gina

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  16. Oh, with all the rain, your garden should be so happy. Isn't it wonderful that you don't need to know the name of a plant in order to appreciate it's beauty?

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  17. I had to smile about the plant tags in a ziploc. I just converted my ten years worth of plastic filled ziplocs to an Excel spreadsheet. And I say: hallelujah! It took awhile and I had to set the ziplocs by my computer to remind me to do it, but I am so glad to clear that rubbish out. Now when I'm writing a post about a plant I can just nip over to Excel to check my facts and stats.

    I can't believe how many "houseplants" (at least to me) you are growing outside.

    Christine in Alaska

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  18. THanks Noelle, but you are one of my inspirations ot be able to name all my plants correctly, I probably get about 70 -80 % named correctly just at a glance. ...most of the time !

    Hi Christine ! gardening in Alaska has to be the polar opposite of the deep , hot , humid, mosquito-crazy South of the US ! You are a further inspiration for me to get my garden down on paper, Gina

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  19. Wow Gina ~ What a lovely, peaceful, lush garden you have. I would love going out into that every morning myself.

    I know exactly what you mean about blindfolding us so we don't see what you'd rather us not to see. Selective photography for others to view is nice, I do it all the time.

    Taking pictures of our gardens does help us in seeing what is happening regularly and in changing things around.

    Enjoy your plumbago.

    Have a great weekend.

    FlowerLady

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  20. Your gardens are spectacular! Very lush and almost tropical looking. I enjoyed it, thanks for the tour.

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  21. Thanks so much, working on it ! Take care, Gina

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I love comments , please leave one if you like. I try to respond to comments,but if I'm running behind, please know that I read each one before they are published. Thanks much, Gina