Around The Garden

It has really been hot here with no rain so watering every day is a must.  Some of the container plants are showing stress as are some of the larger perennials and hydrangeas.

Endless Summer has never looked like this before!  It could be the mild winter, my experiment this year, very little low nitrogen fertilizer and no pruning whatsoever.

Hydrangea Starlight Let's Dance

This is a smaller hydrangea two to three feet, suffered some frostbite this spring but looks pretty good.

Astilbe Bridal Veil

Astilbe Chinesis Visions

Foxglove Grandiflora

This is a perennial foxglove not a biennial.

Hosta Patriot

Hosta Paul's Glory

Cordyalis

Reseeds everywhere but very easy to pull out and blooms until frost.

Persicaria Polymorpha

The supports are invisible and so far the plant seems pretty stable, but we have not had a big storm at this point.

Miscanthus Udine

The supports are invisible, really has helped keep it from flopping onto the pathway.

Daylily Arnie's Choice

Mid-Season but blooming early this year

Daylily Eileen Clymer

Early

Daylily Lullaby Baby

Early and very small

Campanula

I transplanted most of these to another location and this one unexpectedly remained.  It survived, the others didn't, they don't like to be moved!

Nepeta Six Hills Giant

Very wispy and anything but upright, am training it to cover the window wells on the south side.

Home Run Red

One of my 4" pots last year just about full grown this year, one of the differences between this and Knockout is the vibrancy of the red color.  These were sent to me by Proven Winners Choice.

As Allan Armitage said if he had one coneflower to choose it would be Kim's Knee High!  This is Kim's Knee High Red, beautiful deep magenta color a much stronger specimen than Pow Wow.

Mango is a strong Meadowbrite much more stable than Art's Pride Meadowbrite.

Graffiti

One of the first lilies to bloom and very striking

Rozanne Geranium

There is so much to see when you walk around the garden!

A Collector's Garden 2012

I am back at my sister-in-law's eclectic garden and there are always new (old) things to see.

The pond is the highlight for me since I would love a pond but just do not have the room.  It is a vintage cement pond.

Persicaria Polymorpha at the back of the pond is secured in place with an old wooden headboard.

The Coreopsis Zagreb does very well in this full sun area and with shearing back should produce another round of blooms.

An old piece of fencing and some garage sale faces will hold up the pole beans.

Some more little people peeking out of the sedum

The geese used to be dressed when they belonged to my sister-in-law's mother but now hosta will do!

Old tools hanging over the vegetable garden

Grass growing up through a small vintage bike

Old popcorn popper with colored eggs

An old stove with an angel watching

Supposedly it was used by my mother and aunt to make starch, hooked up to a gas line in the basement.

Fencing is a great way to identify different rooms and uses in your garden.

The arbor has Autumn Clematis growing on it which will bloom in August and September.

I just love those birds!

I have come to the realization that most of the containers we use are too small.  This is a new one on the front porch area, looks very large doesn't it?

However, when you back up, let's say to the middle of the street, the container is seen in a new perspective, not too big at all.

Blue is a favorite color in this garden.

A memorial garden for a treasured mother

The daylilies I bought for this garden are called Addie Branch Smith.

Seating is important in a garden whether it is real or imagined.

Handmade  garden decor abounds.

Cup and saucer on a garden stake

 

Terra Cotta Pottery with Mexican tiles applied all around

I leave you with some views of the pond and the borders.

Hopefully, this is not a plan but an inspiration!

Growing Up

Clematis are as great for a small garden as they are for an estate, take up a small amount of planting space and reward with beautiful blooms all reaching skyward.

Comtesse De Bouchard (Type III) rated as excellent by the clematis experts.

Miss Bateman (TypeII)

I thought Miss Bateman was gone, growing on the same trellis as Henryi, but it is back maybe not as prolific as I remember but it is still here!

I am really learning to appreciate all types of clematis because they each have their own attributes and rewards.

Rouge Cardinal is a wonderful Type III but I have too many of them and I need to branch out and replace them with some other more unusual varieties.

I love the super blooms of the Type II's and the ease of care of the Type III's.  I don't own a Type I but the care is similar to Type II.

Konigskind Clematis (Type II)

I think I had identified this previously as General Sikorski.  Konigskind is a shorter clematis and works well on a small trellis.

I have found that if you cut down a Type II after blooming in the spring it will produce lush new growth and bloom a little later the next spring with gorgeous new blooms and no dead bottom wood.

Fireworks and Bee's Jubilee

Fireworks On Other Side

Fireworks weaves through and covers both sides of the grid, some tying necessary to train in early spring.

I have also found that if I cut down my Type III's in the fall it does not affect the bloom the following year.  I have done this three years in a row on my front clematis because I do not like the way the dried vines look all winter.  I cut them down in late October or November so there is little chance of new growth.

Hagley Hybrid (Type III)

Hagley Hybrid is great for part shade as it keeps its color better than in full sun.

I also cut down my Autumn Clematis after it has bloomed because when dried the following spring it is full of pollen that flies everywhere.  Since I have two separate clematis growing on the pergola it is important to have it clean for the Type II that will bloom in the spring.

Some clematis can be treated as more than one type, like Ernest Markham.  It has produced many more blooms when I treated it as a Type II rather than the Type III it was marked.

Ernest Markham (Type II or III)

I am going to experiment with some new clematis for next year and give some of my duplicates to my daughter.

Clematis need to be fed, some are heavier feeders than others.  I work in a 5-3-3 granular organic in the early spring and this has made a huge difference in regard to blooms.