Giving Up The Garden

Many years ago in my earlier gardening days I would be complaining about the heat and my garden that seemed to be giving up.  I have come to find out in subsequent years that it was not the garden it was me!  I very rarely took into account the various blooming times of each plant, if I liked it I planted it.

My extra early, early and some mid-season daylilies are all blooming at the same time like a musical concerto leading up to a crescendo.

Eileen Clymer is an extra early daylily that has been blooming for over a month.  I have never had a first year daylily like this with scape after scape arising from the soil with multiple blooms.

Happy Returns an extra early bloomer is in two areas of my garden, reblooms very little for me and is not as floriferous as my other daylilies.

Mary Todd is early, heavily scaped and very showy in the garden.  You might have to divide it every three or four years but the display is worth it.

Hyperion is an older variety that I brought from my last home.  I have moved it a few times but I think it has found a home on the south side of my home.  It is classified as early to mid-season.

Red Magic Daylily also came with me from my last home and blooms the same time as Hyperion.  They are together again and hope they will like that hot side of the house.

Miss Amelia is my see through daylily as you can actually plant shorter plants behind it and they peek through.  This is an early to mid-season daylily.


I love huge flowered daylilies but have to remember that the large flowers go with large scapes and leaves which can become unsightly in the garden bed.  I try to pull out the leaves that yellow before bloom and always cut them down to the ground after the entire plant has finished blooming.

Daylily Chicago Weathermaster is rainproof, blooms early to mid-season.

Arnie's Choice early to mid-season

Named after Arnie Morton Chicago Restauranteur

Red Rum is a shorter early to mid-season daylily, larger flower.  What's great about this daylily is that when you cut it down other plants in the border take over.

Dark Ruby early to mid-season has always been a problem for me as far as color and where to place it.

I am trying it with the white Becky Shasta this year.

Maybe I will try it with yellow or lime green!

I don't know what I was thinking that July was the end of my garden!  I now know that it is just the beginning for daylilies alone.  They have become the backbone of my garden from May through September!

The Ultimate Train Garden

While over at my brother's and sister-in-law's garden, she brought me across the street to see her neighbor's train garden.  Little did I know that this was not just your average backyard railroad engineer!

This is a big time railroad with the initials of the owners done in black iron and mounted over the railroad grounds.

His name is Brad Bennett watercolor artist and professional photographer www.chicagogifts.com/bio.htm

December on  Michigan Avenue

The building of the railroad is a hobby that has become a passion and put him in place as an expert among his colleagues.

Brad has built all of the trestles, track and buildings.

There is full landscaping throughout the railroad areas with evergreens and flowering plants.

The houses he builds look so lifelike with attention to to every detail.

Even the automobiles are to scale and vintage!

You are probably wondering where are the trains?  They are all stacked neatly in Brad's office, shelf after shelf of colorful and shiny trains.

Enjoy Brad's website his diversity as a watercolor artist and photographer, producing wonderful sports posters and beautifully framed artwork for homes and offices. 

A Collectors Garden Revisited

I was back at my brother's and sister-in-law's garden to document some of the changes that have been made since last year.  The pond is still beautiful in this 1930's home, not a plastic pre-formed pond but poured concrete.  Their children when young used to try to skate on this pond, must have been very tricky!

The Persicaria is in the background and being held up with a vintage headboard.

My sister-in-law is always out in front regarding what is going on in regard to garden art.  Take a look at some of the ideas that can be incorporated into the garden.

This old faucet is not going to spill into this cup.  Plates collected from the antique store with vintage cup attached.  Note the crystal as a drop of water under the spout.

A vintage crystal bowl with a vase and plate attached at the top, bird added to make an unusual birdbath.

Places to sit and then some places you can't sit!

A remembrance garden for Barb's mother, engraved stone and Addie Branch Smith Daylilies donated by me.

A couple of her mother's birdhouses

Another remembrance garden for my mother with her favorite saying on the fence.

The car is now part of its own garden.  These were placed throughout the downtown area where they lived and then auctioned off for charity.  Various communities have done this through the years with cows, penguins, snowmen, etc.  Large glass blocks are holding up the planters.

Everything you can think of using in a home is used in Barb's garden.

Everywhere I looked there was Autumn Joy Sedum like frames around the picture of the gardens.  Mine flops but Barb says hers do not and are like a sea of pink in the fall.

There is room in the back for the veggie garden.

The old wooden compost bins were dismantled and new resin ones put in their place.

We all have different ideas about how our gardens should look, but the most important thing is that the garden should be you!

Containers In The Front Garden

I went with the earth tones and tropical colors for the front garden this year.  I have a pretty neutral sand tone house with some weathered copper and rust tone accessories so really just about any color plantings will look good.

Hawkerii Impatiens, Bronze Moneywart, Pineapple Splash Coleus, Angelonia and Dracena with Autumnale Fuchsia in front.

The leaves on the hawkerii variety are as interesting as the flowers.

Pineapple Splash Coleus

I love Redhead Coleus in the turquoise pots!

The concrete planters in front have the bronze sweet potato, much more controlled than the original Marguerite.  Citrus Supertunia has filled in beautifully (no deadheading required) with orange New Guinea impatiens, heat resistant lobelia and Diamond Frost Euphorbia.

Orange and Saffron Yellow Calibrachoa (million bells) dominate this planter with orange and yellow Gerber daisies and bronze carex grass.

I wintered over the agave cactus and purchased new purslane and crotons for the south side containers.

Container plantings are tricky because you usually don't know until the middle of the season if they are going to work.  There are already some plants I would not use again but we'll talk about this later.

Gardening Goes Wild

I was getting my garden ready the past few weeks for a Garden Stroll, clipping, edging, mulching, everything to make it looks as perfect as possible.

Persicaria Polymorpha

Then everything wild broke lose, 100 mph winds, crashing trees, the whooshing of the generator starting up again and large trees blocking main streets and throughout the neighborhoods.

It has been determined that it was a tornado that touched down which is unusual for for our location, but what isn't unusual this year!

Persicaria took a hit with many broken stems, I am probably going to have to cut down the whole plant!

I have trimmed it as much as I can for the stroll , but it is falling all over everything.

We have tons of toppled trees, but this one was dramatic because it is at least one hundred years old and just ripped from the earth.  You can see some of its branches across the street.

I had taken some photos before the storm and would certainly see the difference when assessing the damage.

All The Rage

Toppled over in the storm, now propped up with a stake

Cinco de Mayo

Difficult to get a realistic photo, very smoky color

Pink Meidiland

Rainbow Knockout

(My favorite rose for its long blooming habit and great succession of colors)

The storm is over but many are still without power and the clean up will go on for several weeks.  My garden escaped severe damage so it will be an unusual frame around the garden stroll with fallen trees everywhere, kind of like a war zone with little respites in between.

Many of the clematis are now blooming and even though I took these photos before the tornado, they came through just fine.

Comtesse de Bouchard

This is one clematis that does not disappoint (type 3)

General Sikorski (type 2)

I always worry about the algae in the birdbath but I recently read that it not a problem, only aesthetic.

Dr. Rupple (type 2)
This a a new one purchased this spring.

Hagley Hybrid (type 3)

Rouge Cardinal (type 3)

The Veggie Garden

I am growing a miniature eggplant and they seem to be doing very well.  The cucumbers are just about to climb the trellis.