Garden Photos

[EndOfFashion]

So I guess I'm an old soul, because I loooove to garden! For the last 3 years I've spent every summer gardening, and I must say it's looking very nice this year Thought I would post some photos of my latest achievements. Hope you like them!

The first three are of my Bachelor Button plants (a.k.a. cornflower). The one in the middle is a cultivar called "Amethyst in Snow"...I adore these plants!

[EndOfFashion]

This is my iris (not 100% sure what variety because it came from my grandmother's garden, but I believe it's Siberian Iris). I love the colour

The last photo is of perennial pansy (with some stonecrop in the lower left-hand corner). It's a relatively slow-spreading groundcover. I work strictly with perennials because I'm trying to increase the value of our home and I can't be bothered to keep replacing the plants!

[EndOfFashion]

This last one is an overall view of part of my front garden. I like English cottage-style gardens...lots of plants mixed in and nothing too structured or organized. This is mostly various forms of groundcover (I have about 3 or 4 different varieties of moss phlox!). I'm not 100% sure of all of the plants because some of them came from my grandmother a few years ago, but the majority were planted within the last 3 years. I'll get more photos of the overall garden (I want to show you guys my Japanese maple!) today - my batteries in my camera died yesterday :sad:

[allfurlove]

Love the first set, I have some of those darker purple ones too. More garden pics please
Now you guys have given me something to do, I am off to take some pics of my garden.

[EndOfFashion]

Go for it, AFL! I looove looking at pretty garden pics. I'm pretty sure my neighbours think I'm crazy since every time a flower blooms, I'm out there with my camera...

[Lukka'sma]

Your garden is beautiful, I especially love your Irises. Gorgeous.

[Winston]

Here is a pic of my Tree Peony...it opend this morning ! I love it! it smells heavenly!

Also I cant get over the size of my clematis on the fence! WOW! there must be at least a few hundred blooms on it ..no kidding!

[Winston]

some more........

[Winston]

and a few more

oh and the date is off on the camera in case anyone is wondering??

[glasslass]

Your garden is beautiful! Are you going for a monochromatic color scheme? Love the blue tones!

[chico2]

Winston,beautiful garden
Are you sure those big white/yellow flowers are Clematis??
I have 3 different kind of Clematis,none which look like that??
They are beautiful though,looks more like a Peone(sp?)
Ooops,I think I misunderstood,the Clematis is not in bloom yet,right.
It's not uncommon to have hundreds of blooms on the Clematis,they are very pretty.

[EndOfFashion]

Originally Posted by glasslass

Your garden is beautiful! Are you going for a monochromatic color scheme? Love the blue tones!

Thanks! The monochromatic colour scheme wasn't intentional, but it certainly ended up that way! Everything is mostly purple or pink, with some blue as well - at least in spring. I'm trying to plan my garden out so there are warmer tones in late summer (July-August). I planted some torch lily last year but it hasn't bloomed yet :sad: that it blooms this year!

[hazelrunpack]

Beautiful gardens!!

[EndOfFashion]

Hey, I have an update! My dwarf Asiatic lily has started to bloom. It's sooo pretty! And the second one is (I believe) a variety of Pinks. We have 3 or 4 different kinds...Cheddar Pinks, Arctic Pinks, etc, etc. Cute little flowers

I want to take a few more photos, but refuse to do it unless someone comes with me. I can NOT be that weirdo who spends time in her garden by herself taking photos

The sad-looking grassy thing behind the lily is a Torch Lily (or Red Hot Poker). I planted it last year but it didn't bloom. Here's hoping it blooms this year, because they are such interesting-looking plants!

[CearaQC]

AhhhH! You guys already have Lilies blooming. I'm so jealous. lol

I have one type of Asiatic lily that comes up with a striking almost-maroon foliage. It really stands out among the sea of green.

EndofFashion, that wall behind your cottagey garden is just crying out for some climbers! Or if that wall gets pretty warm, it would be ideal for espalier fruit trees. You can train cherries, peaches, apricots in a fan shape and secure to the wall, usually with wire that's been attached to the brick and stretched tight across. Just find a fruit tree that's been grafted onto dwarfing root stock so the tree never gets very large and stays manageable along a wall. It's a super space saver, plus the fruit trees really love this arrangement and percentage wise you really end up with more fruit than with a conventional style tree. I don't have any brick walls so I can't do this project. :sad:

http://www.demesne.info/Garden-Help/...s/Espalier.htm

That's how the old cottage gardens and British walled kitchen gardens on the huge country estates in Britain used to do it. The ornamental flowers only came around out of necessity, to attract pollinators for the food plants.

For interesting year-round foliage color, I suggest Heuchera (Coral Bells). They make flowers in the spring but the foliage is what's interesting. Everything from almost black, red, pink, green, lime green, orange and yellow. All year long! They prefer shade and part shade and with the bright colors, they would look great among Hostas and can really brighten up a dark corner!

[EndOfFashion]

CearaQC, that wall does get VERY warm. We get full sun in the front yard. I looked up photos of espaliered trees...wow they look so strange! I've never heard of/seen trees like that before. It's especially unusual when they're free-standing. Very cool. I'll have to mention it to my mom - it's not technically my garden! We don't have one at my BF's place so I garden at my mom's Would fruit trees become a problem for squirrels, birds, etc? I know the neighbour chopped down a beautiful old cherry tree because the squirrels were getting out of control.

I would love fewer flowering plants. Alas, every time my mom goes to the garden centre she brings home flowers! EVERY time. Even groundcover. The only thing that keeps the garden from looking absolutely mad with flowers is the different blooming periods, thank goodness...and I managed to get a few non-flowering shrubs in too (burning bush, gold cypress, etc).

And I love, love, love coral bells! But we get waaaay too much sun. There is one corner that is shadier but it's pretty full right now :sad: when we get our own place with a yard, I am definitely planting coral bells (provided it's shady enough!). The foliage is what I love most about them. I love the variety with the purple-y foliage and pink flowers...

[Melinda]

are your clematis not peonnies??? (sp?), I have pink and white ones that look like that, my clematis flowers (4 kinds) are quite different, I notice you also have lady slippers.

[EndOfFashion]

Melinda, those are Winston's photos. That is definitely a peony, I think she was referring to a clematis plant that is not in the photos (I was confused, too!). I don't see any lady slippers, though...unless you mean the bleeding hearts? (I LOOOOVE bleeding hearts. Another pretty shade-loving plant!)

[Melinda]

*L* I'm getting photo's mixed up *L* yep, its winstons that I see the lady slippers in

[EndOfFashion]

I'm so confuzzled, I still don't see lady slippers! Winston's peonies sure are beautiful, though, aren't they Melinda?

[CearaQC]

Originally Posted by EndOfFashion

that wall does get VERY warm. We get full sun in the front yard. I looked up photos of espaliered trees...wow they look so strange! I've never heard of/seen trees like that before. It's especially unusual when they're free-standing. Very cool. I'll have to mention it to my mom - it's not technically my garden! We don't have one at my BF's place so I garden at my mom's Would fruit trees become a problem for squirrels, birds, etc? I know the neighbour chopped down a beautiful old cherry tree because the squirrels were getting out of control.

What a shame to cut down that tree. Even if they did not get any fruit, they could have still enjoyed the blossoms every spring.

Oh gosh - squirrels! Hmmm, I've not had a problem with them because they don't live here. And I rarely ever see a chipmunk even. Only hear them chatter once in a while in the woods but that's about it. Sorry but no help advising about squirrels.

If you like I can make an excerpt out of one of my gardening videos and put it on YouTube that shows a demonstration of how to train apple trees. It's so fascinating to me. I never knew about it until two years ago. Many funky shapes can be made with apple trees.

[Melinda]

Originally Posted by EndOfFashion

I'm so confuzzled, I still don't see lady slippers! Winston's peonies sure are beautiful, though, aren't they Melinda?

in winstons 5th picture you will see them, long stem, leaves coming out from both sides of the stem, slowing bending, you'll see the ladies slippers hanging below the leaves.....they are beside the plants with the purple balls

[Winston]

hey Melinda that plant is called Soloman Seal but maybe people call it Lady Slipper?

the purple balls are Alium from the garlic family!

[Melinda]

thanks Winston, here we call them lady slippers because they look like little ballet slippers *L* , I'll have to remember the name you said!!