The garden season is in full swing now so I thought I'd share some pictures from my current garden. I have been pretty busy getting the new garden to be ready and even have some gardens out there now. It has been fun but very time consuming and slow going. In the meantime I will enjoy this garden that I have come to love so very much.
Hollyhocks are not a favorite plant of mine but I allow a few of them to grow. They look nice right up until the point they get rust and flea beetles. Fortunately they self seed themselves and grow on their own with little help for me or I would not have any here.
This garden is a very happy garden. The area slopes down so I planted taller plants in the low area. The effect is undulating and pleasing when looking at it from above and even from below since you look up at the plants. In another month or so the garden will be filled with the blooms of 'Limelgiht'. Right now it sports some rose campion, daylilies, astilbe, 'Annabelles', oakleafs, the wine bottles, and Asiatic lilies.
The Sunny Perennial Border is strutting its stuff in the form of knockout roses, grasses, and other various perennials like daylilies, crinums, phlox, and coneflowers.
June also means it is hydrangea time! The one pictured above is 'Bluebird' and I am really liking the bloom because it is quite large. I grow a lot of hydrangeas but have been busy moving them to the new garden. This one will leave after our house is built. So far I have moved about a dozen PG hydrangeas and about eight oakleaf hydrangeas. The PGs are doing wonderfully and I suspect they will bloom this year. They line our long driveway on the edge of the field. I'll post a picture if they bloom. The oakleafs are struggling. I had to raise up their garden bed so Mr. Fix-it helped by using his tractor to scoop soil to surround the oakleaf hedge. I then edged the garden with rocks I moved from here. Oakleafs are one of those hydrangeas that simply will not do well if they are left to grow in standing water. My soil out there does drain well but it is rather heavy so I decided to raise their bed. Moving any shrubs in the spring is iffy business since I have no way to water them in the summer but so far this year has been awesome for rain. The plants will have to hold their own and I'll help as much as I can. I did move several large crepe myrtles. I find it vital to move crepe myrtles in the spring because it seems that if they are planted in the fall they will get lots of cold injury. The crepe myrtles are doing well-four out of the five are anyhow.
This is My Mother's Hydrangea. I got cuttings from Maine in the winter and was able to propagate this one hydrangea. It is getting quite large now after ten years. It will for sure be moving with me after the house is built. I find these kinds of hydrangeas (H. macrophylla) do much better when planted near the house and not out in the garden on their own.
Do you want a tip to help keep your hydrangeas looking blue? My husband loves pickles and can sometimes eat a lot of them. Being a recycler I hate to just throw away the leftover pickle juice so I decided to pour the leftover juice on this hydrangea. I only poured it on the hydrangea when rain was imminent in order to dilute the vinegar (the base for most pickle juices) a bit. You all do know that blue hydrangeas come from an acid soil right? And vinegar is an acid so it helps to make the hydrangeas blue. Well, there's my secret to blue hydrangeas--pickle juice--it really helps! You heard it here first!
You are actually looking at four gardens in this view. It looks kind of like one large one doesn't it? The Asiatic lilies grace a small garden next to an arbor, behind it is my Sidewalk garden with all sorts of frilly things, then the Front Center Garden shows its stuff with the tall bearded irises, and finally the Roadside Garden brings up the rear with its backbone of shrubs. Directly on the other side of the Roadside Garden is the road. The trick to making gardens look so full and front and center is to layer them. Between each of these gardens are wide grass pathways. If I were to post a winter picture you'd understand better but I just wanted you to know this is not one large garden.This is the view visitors get as they approach my front sidewalk. I never tire of it when I park my car either.
These hydrangeas are of two different varieties. In the front with the round fluffly balls are the 'Annabelle' (Hydrangeas arborescens) and behind the Annabelles are the oakleaf hydrangeas (Hydrangeas quercifolia). Some Hydrangea paniculatas are blooming but the big show with the paniculatas (PG and Limelight and a few others) will be in another month or so.
'Raspberry Profusion' abelia is a bee magnet. I like the abelias because they are native, easy to grow, and bloom for a very long time....
in the June garden....
Your June garden is gorgeous. I love all the layers. Hydrangeas do well here too but the blue isn't blue unfortunately. Most years I don't mess with coaxing them to the blue hue and take whatever they give me. I have never had luck transplanting any parts of my oakleaf hydrangea. Happy June.
ReplyDeleteYour gardens in June are just lovely. It must be kind of hard thinking of leaving behind something that gave you so much joy. I look forward to seeing your new gardens at your new place. I love the color of those Asiatic lilies.
ReplyDeleteHappy Gardening ~ FlowerLady
just lovely
ReplyDeleteI am still amazed at how much you are accomplishing in such a short period of time. You really have a lot of beuatiful hydrangeas. I am just starting with them because I use dot have deer.
ReplyDeleteI like the pickle juice tip. My husband also eats a lot of pickles. You really do have a lot of plants in this garden. Moving them seems to be going well though. You have made so much progress.
ReplyDeleteYour garden looks so beautiful, Tina. It must be hard to think of leaving it behind, but I guess it's actually moving with you! Moving all those hydrangeas sounds like quite a job, but so worth it--I love all the different types you have. Pickle juice is a new one to me; I'll have to try this for sure. My husband is a pickle-lover, too:)
ReplyDeleteI have seen my Mother-in-law pour pickle juice into her gardens in the past as well. I have lots of pine trees in my yard which drop their acidy needles so my hydrangeas are happy in blue! I cannot imagine moving a large established plant as you plan to move but know you will have luck with your determination :-) I was wondering why my moms Red Rooster Crepe Myrtles that I planted for her last fall did not do well over winter. Now I know. They are still alive but lost some main stems. Lesson learned on that one. I love that lily!
ReplyDeleteEverything looks great especially those blue hydrangeas...mine stay pink....I also let my hollyhocks grow a bit but soon with J beetles and rust they look haggard...
ReplyDeleteYou know I'm a fan of your garden and photos, don't you? :-)
ReplyDeleteGreetings from London.
Your garden is so gorgeous, I can't imagine leaving it! I know you'll love your new garden, applying what you've learned to create another fabulous space.
ReplyDeleteBlue Bird is one of my favorite hydranges, and likely my most vigorous.
ReplyDeleteHi
ReplyDeleteYour hydrangeas are really beautiful. I love blue hydrangea blooms too. I hope they'll do wonderfully in your new garden as well. Your blue bird is fascinating!!