Daylilies & daffodils

The daylilies were blooming in the window boxes and temporary pots. They had to be planted. And planted they were. But first I dug holes for the 100 or so daffodils that survived the spring in the basement.

The daylilies are spread over the top of the daffodils. With room for some more plants here and there. The daylilies will need to be rearranged when I see what colors they are and how big they get. I have some more astilbe and iris I can move to that bed too. And maybe some hosta too. Yikes, I'm running out of room again.

Roses

The two roses by the front door are Angel Face and Iceberg - I think. Both have a wonderful scent. Iceberg seems much more disease and bug resistant. Angel Face is looking might sad at the moment. A bit of tlc is needed.

I wonder where

red daylily,
originally uploaded by pollyalida.

this daylily got moved to? I'm sure I moved it out of the path of construction, but where did I put it?


Aug 4: I think I found it in the back garden. It should be safe till next year.

Salvia "Purple Rain"

Look for plants or seeds next year. Salvia verticillata Purple Rain. pic in july 2006 horticulture.

Pine Bush Plants

Pine Bush Lupine Festival was held today. A bit gray and dreary, with spitting rain, but still they seemed to have good turnout. And all the lupine plants were gone by the time I got there at 1:30. I should have realized that. Next year, earlier.

I did buy some "Great Blue Lobelia" or Lobelia Siphilitica. North Creek Nurseries has some nice pictures and cultural info. Odd, it's not really a sunny, dry, sandy soil kind of plant. Oh well, it's pretty, attracts hummingbirds and butterflies. Hopefully it will grow in the back garden.

Too many daylilies!

The Crescendo Daylily collection I ordered from White Flower Farm arrived last week. There were supposed to be 24 bare root daylilies. More like 30+!! And then there are the 300 daffodil bulbs that were on sale at Park Seed over the winter. They're all awaiting planting. But when????

Hydrangeas

Wayside garden has some nice hydrangeas. They white would look great against the red brick. Also in the back, it would glow from the partial shade.

Also Limelight hydrangea from Proven Winners looks like a good option.

Daffodils

Daffodils in bloom in North Carolina. Park Seed had a great special on daffodil bulbs this winter - $25 for 300 bulbs - plus one of those big lightweight pots that look like stone. Of course, I couldn't plant the 3oo bulbs in upstate NY in the dead of winter (though it was warm enough in January for about a week!) So they're stored in a box full of styrofoam packing peanuts. They'll go out as soon as the ground thaws and the garden will be awash with them next spring.

Blue Mountains View

Image10,
originally uploaded by pollyalida.

A lovely view in the Blue Mountains of Austalia. This was taken in July 2005, near Wentworth Falls. What a stunning spot and wonderful hiking.

Azaleas

azaleas,
originally uploaded by pollyalida.

This is a test of Flickr's blogging interface.

It's also a very pretty picture of Pop's azaleas.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Fall color

Pretty yellow tree

Angelonia Snapdragon

Pretty blue flower that I had in small pots this summer. Angel Mist. More info at the Proven Winners page

A shrub to try?

Buckthorn Fine Line - wayside, http://www.pottedliners.com/fine_line.htm

Ferns

Some of the ferns survived the heat of the summer quite nicely without any attention from me. Others didn't do as well, though they seem to be recovering now that I'm giving them a bit of water every other day. But I don't want to waste that much water, so I guess I'll move them to a shadier area and see if they perk up.

The Lady Ferns and Ghost Ferns are the ones doing well. They're in a dry spot - not ideal, but the whole garden is dry. The Ursula's Red and the Silver Falls (Japanese Painted Red) are the ones I'll try to move.

Similarly the astilbe aren't very happy campers either. Oh well, dry sandy soil under pine trees - gotta be happy with anything!

New Grass Seed

The crabgrass is taking over! We didn't spread much of the corn gluten weed killer in the spring and haven't been very diligent about mowing this summer. So, loads of crabgrass. We have lots of corn gluten week killer to spread in a few weeks. In the meantime, I put down some Scotts Premium Sun/Shade grass seed on Sunday. A 20 lb bag?. It's a hot, damp, drizzly week, so should be perfect for grass sprouting.

It's winter

And the plants are covered with snow!!!

Iris and verbena?

There were irises scatterd throughout my garden and they were getting buried by other plants. I moved them all to a bare patch at the front of the garden. Maybe they'll bloom there since there won't be any competition.

And I've scattered lots of Verbena Bonariensis seed around the iris. They're tall, but are very late starters. Lots of nice tall plants and blossoms still in bloom now. Maybe they'll be a good companion to the iris? The iris blooms will be long gone by the time the verbena starts growing.

planting combo ideas

Artemisia around the bottom of a clematis - to shade the clematis roots and keep them cool. And to protect the stems from being crushed by snow.

Achillea over tulip bulbs - will deer really avoid eating the tulips if they're surrounded by furry plants?

Daylilies and daffodils. Daylily leaves disguise the fading daffodil leaves.

A new garden

Oct 3 - dug out loads of compost and moved it to an area of lawn that will become a new garden. Much of the compost is still 'composting', so it will need to sit through the winter and maybe next summer too. We estimated that it was 4 cubic yards of compost. Still some left to dig out and spread. Should be a good 6 inches of compost across the whole area. Would be better a bit deeper, but I'm running out of compost!

Lots of hostas, ferns, daylilies and others to move to the new garden - perhaps next fall. I've already moved many of these over from my apt. to another bed that I started this way over a year ago. Both beds are in a very dry area under the pine trees. A gardening challenge. Dry, a bit shady, acid from the pines and sand. Will need lots and lots of compost every year.

Some of the astilbe in that area have already died. And the columbine plants must have tasted good to some passing deer. It's a waiting game and survival of the fittest!