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| August 20, 2010 |
This garden is a strip between the walk, where it curves around to the backyard, and the north wall of the house. In spring and in fall it is in shade from the house all day, but in summer the sun comes in from either side and the garden is in full sun most of the day.
It is directly below the bedroom window, and very nice to look at close up from inside the bedroom. A sweetbay magnolia right outside the window is supposed to offer lemon scented blooms in June, but I haven't noticed any scent.
A big baptisia offers a full form, and when it fills in it shades the tirarellas in the hottest and sunniest part of summer. Around the corner are amsonias that stand over a curved patch of hardy geraniums.
As of 2015 this garden has been edited down an needs some work. There were pretty roses that got too big and were taken out a few years ago, but nothing satisfactory has been found to fill the open spot in the front where they had been.
And as of late 2015 I edited down the sweetbay magnolia, lopping off an awkward major branch, and leaving a tall skinny trunk.
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| 10/26/15 |
So this garden is in transition, needing some work to make it a nice surprise as you round the walk toward the patio.
Here is the history of the development of this garden:
2009
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| May 31, 2009 |
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| June 27, 2009 |
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| August 7, 2009 |
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| September 6, 2009 |
2010
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| June 24, 2010 |
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| August 11, 2010 |
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| August 26, 2010 |
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| October 17, 2010 |
2011
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| June 20, 2011 |
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| August 10, 2011 |
2012
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| June 16, 2012 |
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| July 2, 2012 |
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| August 2, 2012 |
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| August 2, 2012 |
2013
2013 was a very wet spring, and the tiarella loved it, filling in with a big sweep of long-lasting pink blooms.
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| May 16, 2013 |
After several years this garden has changed. The pretty red carpet roses that made the front curve pop, got way too tall and big for the front edge. In late 2013 I moved them.
Here they were in June, after much trimming back to keep them smaller. Paired with the off-color 'Twilite Praireblues' baptisia and the odd pink-white-green weigela 'My Monet', it's all a bit strange.
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| June 16, 2013 |
This garden is very muted -- all subtle soft pinks, and the pale amsonia's bluish blooms are subtle in spring. Later the ground level geraniums are a clear lavender, small and cute. Foliage is all small-leaved (the amsonia the dwarf pieris, the baptisia) or subtly pink-veined ('Green Spice' huechera, the tiarella and the weigela). Even the now taller sweetbay magnolia has small oval leaves.
The fall foliage of the geraniums at the curve did not color well in 2013 (second year in a row; 2012 was not colorful either.) No brilliant jewel red tones.
The red rose was the only contrast in this garden, and now that it is gone, I have an open space in the front that needs some drama. A deep color or bold leaves is needed for 2014!
2014
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| May 31, 2014 |
After removing the red carpet roses from this garden, I also took out the small pink and green leaved 'My Monet' weigela from this area -- it was overtopped by the baptisia and needed more space and sun. So the front of this bed just after the curve was empty in 2014.
I put in some 'Black Beauty' dahlias and silvery Dusty Miller, and that was nice enough, but I'm looking for something else here I think. I might try another bright red rose, but one that stays very small, like the 'Drift' rose I have elsewhere.
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| July 19, 2014 |
The geraniums were lovely in 2014, and filled the curve. I do need to trim them back quite a bit in summer, as they take over the walk.
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| August 7, 2014 |
I was really pleased to see there was color this year -- the fall geraniums were nice.
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| September 24, 2014 |
How the sweetbay magnolia has grown! It is still open and lacy looking. I love seeing it outside the bedroom window when I wake -- it lights up with the morning sun and is so pretty. The one around the corner on the right is still smaller.
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| September 26, 2014 |
The amsonias turned a lovely golden color in fall. This was after I had cut back the spent geraniums to the ground. It would be nice if the yellow amsonias and the jewel toned geraniums colored up at the same time. But the geraniums were brown and gone by when the amsonias were ready to get showy.
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| October 25, 2014 |
