Update: Front Garden

Wow - This update is overdue!  The winter annuals have peaked and been torn out.  The summer annuals are already coming along.  This is what the garden looked like in March:

I loved the Double Petunias from Kenny's Place.



They almost looked like carnations.



Here is what the garden looks like today:

I can't believe how big the philodendron has gotten in just a few months.  I didn't realize it changed much at all until I looked at these pics.  In front are some rain lilies that have been sending up single blossoms one at a time.  I wish several would bloom at once.  Also in this bed are baby pentas, coleus and vinca.  In front are some lily-of-the-Nile. They didn't bloom last year, so here is hoping for blooms this year.

One of my favorite spots in the garden is under the philodendron.  I poke my head down there when I weed and it seems like such nice spot for creature much smaller than myself.  Kitty sleeps there all the time and I'm so jealous.  

On the other side the summer annuals are coming along.  I'm pretty proud that the only flowers I've had to buy were some vinca and the pink/green coleus up front, and their numbers have increased due to cuttings.  Everything else came back from last year.

 1. Pentas. Grew back nicely from last year.

2. Persian shield. 

Doing well in the back, but struggling in the foreground.

3. New coleus.  No name on the container.  Damn big box store . . .

4. Coleus "Stained Glass"
More on these in a later post.  Hope to have the garden filled with these soon!

5. Various Daylilies

Looks like this garden is also attracting visitors.  Check out this butterfly I found there.  I have no idea what it is, but today I found a cool website that might help me find out.  It is called Project Noah.  You can upload pictures of wildlife and the community there will help you identify it.  This little guy will be my first submission. 

Great Garden Day - Finally!

Above is my front garden today. I'm just loving having a bed with established plants at this time of year! I'm quite proud of myself for planning ahead. Next year I'll plant the snap dragons near the back and skip the pansies, which were disappointing. The petunias are doing well and are almost blindingly white. I might just add a bit of color, but I'm liking the all white too. I've got some vinca that intended to under-plant today. This seems to be the secret with the seasonal annuals. Didn't get to it today because I was preoccupied with other things. Today, at least in my yard, was the official start of spring. It was the first day I've had to enjoy the weather and get all dirty. I kept quite busy!

Finally, after planning for it for years, I've got a bamboo trellis! Okay, it is a bit "rustic," but it was free, collected from Freecycle member who had it growing in her yard. I replanted the shell ginger under it and added some pink impatiens. On the trellis I'll plant some passion vine and moonflowers.

In the corner, I took out the crinums, which I planted them in the sunnier bed by the shed. In the corner I put my butterfly gingers, ti plants I managed to over winter, and some lime green coleus. All of these should do well in the deep shade of this garden and is a huge pop of color. Most of my planting today was just moving one dead looking root from one hole to another, but in a few weeks the the effect should be very cool. I needed a great planting day.

Too Much Eggnog?

I'm on vacation this week, so after washing mountains of laundry, scrubbing the kitchen floor and wrapping a bazillion presents, I might have a little extra time to do some gardening and, hopefully, get back to some regular posting. My focus will mostly be on the front garden. I think the backyard is at least temporarily a lost cause. The petunias above were an experiment. I wasn't sure how they'd hold up to frost, so I didn't want to by a ton of them. But so far, so good. I know we really haven't had a very hard frost yet, so they could still get damaged, but I might get some more today, just to make the bed all spiffy for Christmas.

My oleander has a problem lately. Its been curving to the ground. Not falling over, as the trunk seems straight, but curving. Did it have too much to drink at the garden party? (They get crazy every year.) Oleander osteoporosis setting in early? I have no idea what is causing it or how to fix it. I was thinking about lopping off the top third to make it a bit less top heavy. That would stink because there are quite a few buds on the tree. Of course, these little bastards will probably get to the buds before I do:

Here I thought caterpillar season was over.

As I'm taking these pictures, I can literally see the vultures circling. Talk about a sense of doom.