My “bamboo” makes pretty flowers

Tags

perennials, postaday2016

Normally I welcome blooms of all kinds, except these, all these tiny flowers means more Japanese knotweed or American bamboo, in my head this invasive species will always be bamboo and a bane of my existence. However the bees are loving the flowers, I wonder what this particular flavor of honey tastes like, I’ve never seen it anywhere. I’d be curious to see what it tastes like, it would be nice to see something positive come out from my many battles trying to contain this mighty rival.

Now these blooms are what I look forward to, these make me happy, I love their color, bright and cheerful. These perennials are welcome to spread their joyous color wherever they like because they don’t squeeze the life of their compadres, unlike my foe the American “bamboo”. Ironically, the dark green at the bottom of the picture is another one of my foes, Bishop’s weed, next year I have some serious work to do, I have to dig the Bishop’s weed out of that flower bed before my upright phlox gets choked out.

Determined to keep my spirits up

Tags

perennials, postaday2016, trampling

As of right now, I haven’t heard anything about my biopsy, so I am distracting myself by picking pretty pictures to write about, I forget the name of the fuzzy purple spikes in the picture above, but I love their uniqueness. They have unfortunately been trampled upon by the galumphagus Stanley, they are just half as grand as last year. On the step right above these pretty purple spikes, you’ll see my white upright Phlox, another victim of Stanley’s stomping, following his big brother Jack as Jack sniffs out imaginary prey. Ugh 😦

On the brighter side, not everything has been trampled over or stomped on, there are some who have managed to escape all of the mayhem that a 100+ lb puppy can inflict.

Surveying the front yard

Tags

perennials, postaday2016

In the past, I have worked so much in the back, I sometimes forgot about the front. I forget how comfortable it is in the front yard, we have the sun where the sand filtration unit is located and just a few inches to the side, we have two huge maple trees that give us a large area of cooling shade. Our wall of stone protects our perennials from the sand and snow in the winter and the extra car pollution in the summer.

It might not be much, but it is home.

My attempts at landscaping

Tags

bamboo, perennials, postaday2016

I have been trying to transform this walkway down to the pool for a very long time. I keep the “bamboo” in check, I have planted a variety of perennials, some successfully, others not so much. At the moment I have lilies, daisies, Russian sage, tiger lilies and the old fashioned roses on either side of the walkway. I just pruned back the old fashioned roses away from the walkway to the pool and the walkway around the pool, if you don’t keep them pruned, these roses like to run amok. My perennials struggle for their right to life against the invasive nature of the “bamboo” and more often then not, the “bamboo” has been winning the fight, thank goodness I’m stubborn and I try to even out the odds, my perennials need all the help they can get.

The little pansy that could

Tags

gardens, perennials, postaday2016

Mother Nature never ceases to amaze me, last year I had planted pansies galore, knowing fully well that by virtue of being annuals they weren’t coming back, yet here is one in last year’s planter, defying the odds just like the pansies that are in the pond garden, they decided to prove me wrong as well, apparently pansies can come back when they feel like it.

Last year’s dianthus are surprising me every week as well, I find them peeking out from under the lilies and even from the stone urns I have surrounding the raised sand filter unit in front. Dianthus are perennials but sometimes even in the best of conditions they don’t come back, mine I guess were laying low and finally decided to bloom in mid June, I’m sure the almost constant shade from the neighboring lilies wasn’t helpful either, however I do love surprises so I’m not complaining.

June is the month of the lily or so I decided, I can’t believe we are already the 26th of June, time is flying by, I’m hanging on by the seat of my pants, at least that’s what it feels like and I’m not crazy about the feeling.

The purple sage and tick weed have come back, last year I made a point of adding more perennials to the front bed especially perennials that were mid to end of summer blooms in order to keep the front bed in color throughout the season. Professional landscapers make it look easy, but it’s not, not when you have an army of chipmunks living on your property and Northeast winters to deal with, what with their temperamental nature as such, for the five new perennials you buy, you are lucky if you get four to come back the following year. But no matter, I still try.

Found three more beauties

Tags

perennials, postaday2016

So far it seems that I have planted my perennials in areas that have spaced out their blooms, kind of what landscapers aim to do, provide color throughout the spring, summer and fall season, though the way I did it resides mostly in luck and Mother Nature’s mood, lol. 

Last year I purchased four new perennials and this year only two came back, I can’t say why two didn’t make it, they were supposedly hardy perennials, fox glove and holly hock, whereas my lupine and columbine came back hale and happy. Needless to say, I was disappointed because I have two glaring empty spots in my garden, not obvious to others, but a red flag to me because I know they should be there alive, not dead. Oh well, back to the drawing board, what to plant, what to plant.?

Dianthus, a dependable perennial

Tags

perennials, postaday2016

When I first started gardening, I didn’t appreciate the difference between annuals and perennials, my interest centered around the beauty of the flower without considering whether it would come back the next year or not, what changed my perspective was the dianthus. I stumbled upon dianthus accidently, I saw beautiful color and a lot of it so I bought a few and lo and behold the following year, they came back, I quickly saw the economic benefits of perennials.

The pictures above are of two dianthus that have been giving me blooms for close to six years, the one that is battling for dominance with my out of control vinca minor and still in the bud stage, I planted to give my poolside a constant splash of color, the other dianthus in full bloom was gift from the birds (I think) because it emerged from in between the paving stones and I would never plant something in between the paving stones, thank you birds!

I went back to the drawing board

Tags

garden, perennials, postaday2015

   
    
   
I had hoped the pansies might have recovered from the hard rain, but after a week, there wasn’t any hope left. When I touched them to see about digging them up, they fell away from the roots, they were way passed life, so I replaced all of them with these lovely zinnias, a steal at Ray’s nursery in Southwick, buy 1 get one free.

The plant sale was hard to walk through, I wanted to buy every plant I saw and bring them home, it took a lot of discipline and focus to buy just what I wrote on my list at home. I knew that I wanted to fill one of the rectangular containers with herbs and the rest with annuals, but walking along the rows of perennials and other annuals was so very tempting. I did get some more vegetable plants, I added brussel sprouts and regular bell peppers to my vegetable patch.

I have to confess that I broke down at the last second before leaving Ray’s and got a few perennials that I am excited about, a white balloon flower plant, russian sage and the orange and yellow self-seeding plant, I forgot its name but I love its colors. I couldn’t help myself, they were calling me; “psst Miss Laurie take us home, save us!”

60 days from now

Tags

garden, perennials, postaday2015, vegetables

I now feel a little anti-climatic, I was busy, busy today, I planted and planted to my heart’s content. Now I have to wait and wait, water of course and weed, but for the most part, I have to be patient and wait.

   
     

Now it wasn’t all vegetables and lettuces, I did give in to my love of perennials and picked up a few for the poolside area and I grabbed several flats of pansies because they were on sale. I think that I spent at least 9 hours working the dirt and wow am I moving slow right now. I don’t look forward to tomorrow morning, getting out of bed, I may very well be limited to a crawl for a bit. lol.

   
     

   
     

I may be tired and achy, but I feel great with everything that I accomplished, working the dirt is good for the soul.

Mountain Bluet the non fussy self-seeding perennial

Tags

gardens, perennials, postaday2015

    

I don’t remember if I bought my Mountain Bluet just because I loved its distinctive look or if I also liked the fact that it was a self-seeder; either way, I started with one and now I have four, not all laid out in a clump, but parsed here and there which is fine. I like surprises from the plant world as long as they are manageable, I should say.

  
This perennial has been with me for at least five years now if not longer. I worry that it may be getting choked by the Vinca, I am going to have to rein the Vinca somehow, it is way too happy in this spot. I have forgotten this plant’s name, next week when I go perennial shopping, I will be on the lookout for another one because I simply love its delicate petals and the color is too precious.

  
This is the first bloom from the newest batch of rhododendron that I bought two years ago, they are tiny rhodies and to see one of them produce a blossom is very exciting, I had forgotten the color, thank goodness I love purple. Do you see all of the tiny wild strawberries all around the rhododendron? I have an explosion of wild strawberry plants all along the side of the fence next to the pool, the birds are going to have a feast when they ripen.

  
I think that these are called starbursts, if I remember correctly I got these bulbs from one of my niece’s fundraising drives a few years back. I remember planting them, just not when exactly. It is extraordinary how memories get so fuzzy over time, but every now and again I can get a flash that is so clear and sharp, it feels as if it had happened just yesterday. Memories are weird that way.

  
Finally my last remaining Jack in the Pulpit; I had dozens of them just three years ago, not just black ones, but white ones as well and this is the only surviving one. I think that our new winters have done them in, just like so many of my hostas, it is sad. I hope that this one hangs on, I love its unique look.

So far things are progressing slowly in the garden which is fine by me, I am not in any hurry.