It's been such a long process for me to buy this land, move my garden, move my house, prepare the old house for sale, and get settled in that blogging has taken a backseat to all I do. The good news is the process is pretty much over. We sold our other two houses within the last month so that burden of caring for more than one house is now over. Moving the garden is now over too. Moving things out of the old house when you have a lifetime of 'stuff' there is also over. What is not over is still sorting out and organizing the house and gardens in our new home we call Tiger Way Gardens. That chore continues. Nonetheless I still garden and work diligently to get these gardens up to snuff. It is a neverending chore and I am not as young as I used to be so things move a lot slower than in years past. Despite this I have made some progress in some areas and I thought I'd be okay sharing them with you all.
The above picture showcases carrot blooms in my frontyard vegetable garden. These blooms are a delight and look just like 'Annabelle' hydrangea blooms from the house. As a bonus the blooms and foliage attract beneficial insects such as bees and butterflies. I'll soon update you all on the vegetable garden. It is doing awesomely this year.
The front foundation gardens are filling in as well. These gardens have been a major struggle because of course most of the backfill of soil is next to the house. Think rocky clay subsoil. It is not a pretty picture. Ragweed and other grassy weeds have overrun the foundation gardens since we've lived here. I think I am finally getting a handle on the issue now. I've weeded, laid down cardboard, and mulched with hardwood chipped mulch to get these gardens on track. The foundation gardens are quite large and face west. I've used both evergreen and deciduous shrubs as well as a small tree or two and some perennials. Both the front and back foundation gardens are home to bird feeders and a multitude of hummers empty the hummingbird feeders daily. I enjoy sitting on my front porch and watching all of the action. This particular garden also sported a baby timber rattlesnake; which I found dead. Apparently one of the cats or dogs killed it and I was grateful for that! I am now careful when entering heavily planted garden areas to look for snakes. All of the plants you see above were moved from my old home.
The back foundation gardens are unique in that they face east and back up to the koi pond. The colorful shrub in front here is a Deutzia 'Chardonnay Pearls'. This is the very same shrub that was in my old garden and which was the Plant of the Month for May 2009! This deutzia is quite large and when I dug it up last summer I did not think it would survive but it has surprised me and come back quite well.
Right behind the above deutzia is a shrub I received from Proven Winners last spring. This is 'Little Quickfire' and it is an awesome shrub! This one and its twin came in small pots last spring. Despite being small it actually bloomed last year! This year there are more blooms and both this shrub and the twin are growing well. I love hydrangeas and this particular cultivar is smaller than the original Quickfire; which enables me the ability to plant it along my foundation without it overtaking the garden and the windows on the house. Hydrangeas are typically a multiseason interest shrub and Little Quickfire fits the bill. Once these blooms go by they'll turn a pinkish red and the dried blooms will stay on the shrub all winter even as the leaves fall off.
Next to the pond is a working table that holds some pots right now. These hypertufa pots I made are filled with Stepable sedums. If you haven't tried the Stepables give them a try. I received a few flats last spring and never got around to planting them. My original idea was to build a greenroof but I just never had the time where a green roof was a priority. Perhaps sometime in the future. So the Stepables lived in their flats all summer, winter, and spring and performed magnificently! I am most impressed with the combination of sedums and their toughness. To finally give them a home I put them in these hypertufa pots and am happy with the effect. Perhaps one day I'll get to that greenroof.
Some coneflowers in the 'Pink Garden' surrounding the koi pond. It is really easy to design a garden around color. Of course I also use textures and bloom times and forms to design a garden but goodness, the number of pink flowers that bloom throughout the year is vast. Once these coneflowers go by, the Surprise lilies, turtlehead, Joe Pye weed and asters will step in. There is always something going on in this garden.
You'll see this picture again just because I love it so much. These are lime green daylilies from my friend Angie of Angie's Gardens. They are a nice tall daylily that goes with anything.
The Red Garden is coming into its own as well. This particular garden is the one I use in my cover photo for my facebook page Coach in the Garden. That particular picture was taken last fall. I may need to update it soon. This garden is a corner raised garden in the frontyard and is visible from the house, driveway and actually the entire frontyard. It is a full sun garden and butterflies love it.
The corner of it is just waiting to burst into brilliant blooms. Here we have the textures of rudbeckia and tatarian asters along with a Japanese cedar and grasses and let's not forget the rounded heads of 'Annabelle' hydrangeas.
Another view of it shows the Red Drift roses and some 'Sunny Border Blue' veronica. Bumblebees love veronica! I took dozens of pictures of this plant trying to get a good one of a bumble or two with no luck. Just take my word for it that if you plant veronica the bees will come.
On the lower side of the raised Red Garden I moved five 'Limelight' hydrangeas here from my old garden. The blanket flowers are offspring from some plants I also received from Angie. Lamb's ear was a volunteer. The grass behind these plants is 'Adagio' and is actually located in the Red Garden raised above this lower garden. I'll have to showcase how this garden was made one day. It's a creative story of reuse of some things.
I'm going to finish with my little Pawpaw tree. You may remember I posted about them and tree shelters a few years ago. I kept the tree shelters on until last summer (about two years) then removed them. The pawpaw trees are doing so well! The three grafted varieties in the orchard must have grown a foot or more just this year. In fact, one of them actually bloomed! There are no fruit though. You'll see more of the orchard in Friday's walk around post....
in the garden.....
Great to see things growing so well in your new gardens. You two have been so busy since buying your new property. It must feel good to be settling into home and gardens, and having your other homes sold. Yay for you.
ReplyDeleteHappy Gardening and thanks for sharing ~ FlowerLady
Your Eden is complete with a serpent, yikes! I love your pollinator garden and stepping stones especially.
ReplyDeleteYour garden is HUGE and beautiful. It has come a long way, like I said beautifully.
ReplyDeleteSo good to see that YOU'RE BACK! Kind of hard to believe some of this is as new as it is....
ReplyDeleteWow! That's all I can say. Really nice photos. Your garden looks amazing as usual.
ReplyDeleteGreetings from London.
Your hard work has paid off. It's gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteEverything is coming along so nicely! Am sure you are happy the houses are sold and out of your life. Now you have all the time you need to create more beautiful gardens at Tiger Way.... Looking great....
ReplyDelete