A Mini Makeover of a Blah Area

I struggled with what to do with this bed at the front of my house for some time. This is a photo from last year. All I could think of was that shutters would help and stalled on the garden end of it. You can see how blah it looked. The other side of the front is blah as well but there is a cement path that needs to come out before I can tackle that so back to the bed at hand. I decided I had to do something this year, even if it was minor. I had a hosta I could split so I brought the bed out a bit.

I realize it was a rather simple change but I feel I'm making progress and it's an improvement. Sometimes it's baby steps that get us there. I have color from the hostas when the bleeding hearts and phlox are done blooming. I added a baptisia there on the right side next to the steps. I got it at an end of year sale last fall but it's not very happy. I may give it another year and see what it does before moving it.

There are a few foxglove Apple gave me that should bloom next year. She gave me five starters that I put toward the back of the bed. I also found some toad-lilys on clearance that came back and will hopefully bloom this year.

I would like to line the bed with stones but I think I may make it bigger so I think I will wait and contemplate a bit. I can't wait to remove the walk on the right side in front of the porch area. We plan to put in a curved sidewalk in someday where two people can walk side by side and then have a garden area from the curve of the walk to the porch. When that happens, it may make sense to bring out this bed even more. If anyone has suggestions, I am always looking for advice from other gardeners. You can probably tell but the area gets shade most of the year.

Year Two ...

This is the second year of the first garden I started from scratch. I am pleased with how it's looking and filling out. The building was originally a chicken coop that was converted to a potting shed. First we fixed the building, then....time for a garden! There was a large rose bush where the pump is now that we just moved. I think I will mulch an oval area around the pump as I know we won't weed whack around it!







The right side will fill in more as the summer progresses. I tried marine bells last year and loved how they mounded so I planted them at the front edge of both sides again. The sun drops are huge this year and I love Apple's foxglove behind them. The fever few in the back by the windows should bloom soon. I have little white markers where I planted dahlia bulbs. They should look nice with the marine bells infront.





The left side has really filled out. I did lose one of my three delphiniums so there is a small replacement out front. Last year the pink daisies didn't bloom but they are putting on quite a show this year! I have no idea what the tall white flower to the left of the pink daisies are. It was a plant swap flower that was not marked. I have asked my gardening friends but no one is familiar with it. If none of you know, I will have to break out the gardening books to figure it out! The window boxes have water wells in the bottom which saves me some watering.



A few close ups....

Mass of Color

I love large clumps of one flower. The ox-eyed daisies started blooming a couple of days ago and are looking great right now. The trouble with them is that they won't look so great when they're done blooming. I had decided to rip them out and move them this year when they are done but now that they are blooming I can't imagine not having them here for their early blooms. I guess I just need to find a better way to screen the patch when they're done.

These iris are still giving me lots of joy. I will be moving the larger clump along the side of the house sometime in July but where ever they end up it will be as a large group. I love this passalong variety becase they multiply so quickly.

This group of pink foxglove should look great in a week or two. The ones County Girl has from this patch are already blooming. I have dozens of seedlings all over that I will use to create another large clump someplace. I'm waiting to plant the phlox in the background until the heat breaks since it seems happy where it is.

I love lupines! This grouping is not exciting me however. There were lots of seedlings this year and I have moved some into this area and several into the nightmare bed in hopes of having a spectacular display next year.

A Perfect Day To Be In The Garden

We're having a taste of summer here today. The sun is shining and the temperatures are in the mid 70's and I have to go back to work :(

I potted up or moved all of the foxglove seedlings that were scattered where I didn't want them. Some of the stargazer lilies that I planted last month are coming up and the pink azalea is blooming beautifully. I moved a few other plants and set out a few scarlet sage seedlings. Most things are well ahead of last year. We really could use some rain and hopefully we'll get some over night.

Heirloom Blooms

We always had peonies in the back yard while we were growing up. After they were done blooming Mom would mow right over them and every year they'd come back. Two years ago she was no longer interested in keeping the one remaining bush and let me dig it out. I divided it into three and last year got just one bloom. I'm thrilled that all three have bloomed this year.

This one is near the back door where I walk by several times daily.

This one is not as happy looking but still blooming.

The third one only has one bloom so far. The foxglove in front just started blooming yesterday. The foxglove I found growing at the edge of the woods and moved to the garden.

BJ and Angie decided they wanted to rip out everything the previous owner had planted along their front porch and start from scratch. So of course I helped myself. I was quite surprised by this bloom yesterday.

The columbine that Country Girl gave me last year is still full of blooms.

I'm loving this little patch of salvia, tickseed and dianthus right now.

Delphinium started from seed last year.

A huge patch of daisies. Another gift from Country Girl.

Blanket flower started from seed last year. I moved this to the new bed at the back of the house and now every bloom is facing towards the house.

St. John's wort shrub. I just bought this last weekend. It's supposed to get 5' tall and wide, covered with this little flowers.

Also blooming:
Iris
Bleeding heart
Pincushion flower
Fushia
Stella D'oro lilies
Lupine
other day lilies
chives

Tanks to Carol for hosting the Garden Bloggers Bloom Day!

Slow But Sure

We had round two of company last weekend. Ron's father and step-mother came for a visit. I should have been washing windows or baking but I was finishing up the new bed the morning of the day they arrived. It has been a slow project and is still in progress but I thought it would be fun to show you the before and after......

This is what the greenhouse looked like five years ago... It was a one time chicken coupe converted to a greenhouse in need of a lot of work!

When we first bought the place we had a lot of work to do (we still do for that matter but not like then.) Anyway, we knew the structure had potential and wanted to save it so we put a new roof on the first summer we were here and then let it sit. We figured the rest could wait. The next year, Ron scraped it, painted it and replaced the windows. The windows were rotted so he took the old ones from the the house and put them in the greenhouse. He had to build a frame for the windows so they would fit. I was quite impressed as this was one of his first "do it yourself" projects. I think he surprised himself as well!


This is what it looks like today with the new roof, windows and the bed we just put in. It doesn't match the vision I have in my mind yet but I am pleased to have the idea a reality.

The pictures didn't come out great but you may be able to see what's in there. Most are "passalong plants" but I did add a few new ones. My big purchase was the three blue delphiniums in the back left corner. I really hope they do well in this location, I love tall plants with shorter ones in front. I also planted three pink dahlias, some yellow daylilys, black eyed susans, a yellow iris, a painted daisy, hot pink thrift and marine bells in the front. I got "a tall white plant that is pretty" from the garden club plant exchange. I have no idea what it will look like or it's name but it's there in the back.

The iris' on the right side were there so I left them as is for now. I wanted something in the back so it wasn't just window and put in the line of fever few. Now that they are in there, I wish I had planted them in a clump but I will see how things look as the get more established. Apple gave me some scarlet sage she started from seed. They seem to be doing fine. You can't really see them but they are in front of the fever few. She also have me two datura. One doesn't look like it will make it but the other might. I hope that takes off; it will be the eye catcher of that part of the garden! She also gave me some foxglove. Two are from last year and two from this year so I am hoping for blooms this year from at least one. I had a few things that were in front of the windows that I just moved into the bed but I can't remember what they were, one has been nibbled on so I will have to wait and see. There is a columbine in the front, some sundrops and more marine bells. This is the fist year I have used the marine bells and I'm looking forward to seeing how they spread.


Now we just need to tackle the inside. I am also thinking of a stone entrance by the door....