From Drab to Fab

My first project other than my own garden this summer was for my amazing SIL Sarah.  She wanted a garden with lots of color and different heights.  Her husband wants something he doesn't have to do much work to take care of.

The solutions is: A Cottage Garden of course.  They already had a pink bleeding heart and lots of Lamium.  We added Impatiens, Johnson's Blue Hardy Geraniums and Coneflowers in the shadier spot next to the porch.  We talked about a pot of annuals to cover the sprinkler box, stepping stones to the faucet and Lamb's ear in front.  We softened the edge of the house with a Clematis on a trellis fronted with a peony to keep the roots cool.  Another Pink Coneflower and Black Eyed Susans fill in color in later summer.  Then in the curve she picked a Cherry Pink Knockout Rose which is hardy and reblooming.  We surrounded that with De'Oro  Daylilies which rebloom and mixed up our purples with Salvia and Catmint.  A wall of tall Phlox and Shasta Daisies will help hide the gas meter from the view of the road.  They have been happily planting away and I will go back for an update picture soon.

My next project was a surprise for my dear RS Pres SueAnn. She just had this flowerbed rebuilt and wanted something really low maintenance but pretty.  We have hot sun on this western exposure for most of the day with the narrow strip being in full shade most of the day.

 As it was a surprise I didn't get to talk with her about preferences and colors before drawing up a plan and just went on what I knew about her and from snooping about her house.  I saw lots of dark blues and light pinks so I started with a shrub rose and peony and filled in daisy hosta, delphinium, salvia and pinks.  Pink bleeding heart on the corner and hostas down the side will do well in the deep shade.

When we went shopping our plan changed a little as we walked around and looked at things she liked.  We swapped out the rose for Double Play Spirea, a pink bloom, and the peony for Emerald and Gold Euonymous.  She loved the delphiniums and daisy as well as salvia so we kept those.  Swapped out pinks for De'Oro Daylilies, one pink and two yellow.  Then Sue Ann loves alyssum so we bought a six pack and spread them around in there.  We kept the hostas, picking three different varieties and the pink bleeding heart.  We opted for a soaker hose that she can designated that front faucet for.  A once a week deep watering should keep everything growing well.So excited to go back and take pictures as it blooms and fills in. 

The lovely RS presidency that I get to work with.  What a fun project!

A New Canvas

My dear family and I spent most of 2014 in upheaval.  We sold our home in town in March and moved out in May.  We were in the midst of building a new home in a rural subdivision but the planned six weeks staying with my patient mother in law stretched into four months.  I had divided several of my favorite perennials and summered them over in pots.  By the time we moved into our home it was the last weekend of September.  Moving and organizing our new home took all of my time so I had no time to plan or prep a garden before winter.  I tilled a holding bed and plunked my beloved plants into the ground out back to over winter.  

Last summer without a garden to tend and love left me feel off-kilter.  I spent most of the winter dreaming about and planning my gardens as I waited for the seasons to change.  In January I set 2 "gardening goals" for myself: to complete a mixed border along the front of the house and to get my veggie garden going.  My over ambitious dreams involved fruit trees and landscaping the back yard but time and money made me scale back to the original goals. The last month dear Hubby assisted me in tilling gardens, hauling in dirt and building the chicken run for our little ladies.  Then it was my turn to plant.  

Ta-Da!!! Mixed front border.  I made a few small changes from the original plan and of course it has to grow and fill in but I am so excited to see plants in front of my house again.  One of my favorite things is that old loved and storied plants are mingling with my new additions.

 Here I have Iris that originally came from my aunt Patsi, a new Spreading Yew, a dwarf Barberry, white bleeding heart (from Debbie who I visit taught), Karl Rosenthal peonies ( children of the ones that grew along my Grandma Rock's fence), Bluebells of Scotland ( nod to my Fife ancestry), Nicotania, White Petunias and some little Pansies that my Eva won at our local nursery.  She was so proud to plant "her flowers" in our garden.

 I swapped out Annebelle hydrangeas for Pinky Winky Paniculata Hydrangeas that will hopefully hold up well on the south side.  Hoping to add roses in front next year but this year I just moved some blue Bachelor's Buttons in.

 I started with purchased Dwarf Alberta Spruce, Burning Bush, and Lavendar.  Then I filled in with 3 tall Phlox and 3 sets of 3 varieties of daylilies that I brought with me.  I tossed in a few annual Dianthus/ Pinks that I have had with great success overwintering at my former home.  In the fall, I am looking forward to planting swaths of bulbs.  Next year I also hope to fill in with some lower front border plants.

 And since my border is pretty small and green yet, I potted up a few pots for an instant pop of color.  I LOVE geraniums so I popped a white one in with pink petunias and yellow Calibrocha.  Doesn't it just exude happiness?

 My original vision for my garden is a raised bed Potager garden.  But the expense of everything else crept up on us and I settled for a standard row garden this year.  In the back are two beds of raspberries, one traditional 2 year canes from my mom and one Heritage variety than fruit on first year wood from my SIL.  Behind the chicken run is a bed of strawberries, unnamed variety of starts I got from my former neighbor who got them from Kris's grandma Hayes.  Can you tell I love plants with stories? Then of course the veggies.  More on those varieties in another post. I am saving the spot up front for Tal to grow sunflowers and pumpkins.

 Our garden spot was full of rocks.  As we picked out buckets and buckets of them I decided to put some of them to use as a dry creekbed from the downspout.  Thank you Pinterest!

 This is the beginning of my Pollinator Garden.  Most of these came from our former home.  It is starting to take shape and I will talk about these varieties in another post.  Until then - happy gardening!

July - High Mountain Flowers

 This beautiful swallowtail and or her friends was a frequent visitor to my garden this summer.  They especially seem to love the dianthus but this one is alight my raspberry canes.  My kids are fascinated by our butterfly visitors and took this picture.

 Every July we head up north to Tendoy in Lemhi County at the base of the Continental Divide.  We spend a few days riding around the back roads and trails on 4-wheelers and motor bikes.  This year I was completely taken with all of the flowers blooming along the Lewis and Clark Adventure Byway Road up onto the Continental Divide.  I don't know all of their names but hope to someday.

 A favorite spot is the Sacajawea Memorial Trial and Park.  Here are my kids and a cousin posing at a little spring, the headwaters of the Missouri River.

 I think this is a kind of penstemon, or beard's tongue.

 This looked like a tall hardy geranium.

This one a shorter or maybe younger version of hardy or sticky geranium.

Early June: Late Spring Brings Burst of Color

I am still chasing away those winter blues by reminiscing over my gardens in the warm weather.  My little woodland garden cozied up to the front walk brings me joy every time I look out my front window.   

 The bleeding hearts are still in full bloom.  I collect an annual dianthus each year on Mother's Day from our church and add them to the garden.  Most of them have wintered over well and become perennials.  My primrose have faded but my new Bluebells of Scotland are taking off.  The hostas are unfolding and the columbine has started to bloom.  The liner on my well had a hole this year and I never did I get a new liner so I couldn't get my fountain going.  I added a container of Hens and Chicks as an homage to Handsome Hubby's many great grandmother Christiana Penn, an early settler of New England and avid gardener as her journal attests.

 Close-up on the colors of the woodland garden.  I love pink, maybe a little too much.

My Niobi Clematis and unknown Iris bloomed together this year providing such a nice complement to each other.  These iris are descendants of the ones I remember growing in the west side of my mother's house when I was a girl.  Back then we called them flags and I loved their intricate shape and colors.

 My transplanted columbine are taking off.  I just love these plants.

This is my Syringa or Mockorange, philedelphus lewisii, the state flower of Idaho.  I love the smell of the blossoms and the way the blue hardy geranium sets off the white.  I wish that it would bloom longer.

Happy Mother's Day to Me

During the warm weather I never seemed to find the time to sit down and share photos of my gardens.  Now that it is snow covered and frigid outside I find myself daydreaming of that warm weather.  Catching up on my garden blog seemed the perfect therapy for chasing away my winter blues.

This Mother's Day I said that I wanted to finally finish off my gardens in the front.  Handsome Husband laid 6 in steel strip edging along the front garden border while I picked out and laid this cute rock edge for my woodland garden.  Then we filled all of the front beds with this lovely dark bark mulch.  I love how the green of my plants brightens up against the dark wood.

 I also got to set out my cute garden ornaments that my kids bought me for Christmas.  My gnome is getting a little overshadowed by the iris, I'm pretty sure that I pulled him forward.  I also planted some Calico Jack Daylilies along that front.  They never bloomed in 2012 but I am hoping for a good showing in 2013.

 I picked up these cute butterflies at the Dollar store and attached them to little stakes.  Along with my fairy house they lend a whimsical touch to my woodland garden.  I love the contrast of the bright tulips against the white bleeding heart.

 These little primroses are pretty powerhouses.  Just as they are beginning to fade I clipped them off and added them to the Memorial Day bouquets that I make to decorate our loved ones graves.  I added 2 Bluebells of Scotland this year ( a little hat tip to my heritage), you can see one peeking behind the fairy house.  I was pleasantly surprised that they bloomed and re-bloomed nearly all season.

My lilac was an early bloomer this year.  This picture was taken May 15.  Most years I use them in the Memorial Day bouquets but they were almost all spent by then this year.

Welcome

Welcome to my garden.  I live in SE Idaho on a small city lot but my little gardens bring me both peace and a little piece of heaven.  Coming in a close second to my children and family my gardens are my favorite thing to talk about.  I love working in, admiring, and sharing my garden.  I hope this blog will detail my successes and I'm sure a few failures as well as provide ideas and inspiration for fellow gardeners. 

This winter I read a little about Fairy Gardens and decided to add one for my 3 year old daughter to my front woodland garden.  Leah loves Tinkerbell and all things fairy.  We had a lot of fun picking out and painting our fairy house together.

  

 Our fairy house has a new home at the base of our wishing well fountain.  I am looking forward to filling it in with a path, bluebells, violas and more.

Spring teased us with unseasonably warm weather last week.  The sunshine coaxed my daffodils into bloom.  This was the first and I had to snap a photo.  Following are a few other shots of my beloved plants springing to life around my yard.

These little purple aster came with the house, but were in the side yard in a little patch where we park our bicycles.  I have been transplanting them over the years to the front.   They are one of the first flowers to bloom in my yard and always give me hope that spring and warm weather are truly on their way.

Tulips rising above snow on the mountain.

When I planted this Carmine Jewel Cherry Bush 4 years ago it was barely a twig.  This is the first year it has had blossoms and I am really hoping for a few cherries this year.

The warm weather is tempting my lilac into bloom early this year.  Last year I didn't even have blooms for Memorial Day to decorate loved ones graves with and this year I fear they will be all spent by then.  You can see the size difference in my lilac and cherry.  We are ruminating about how to improve this spot especially to help my dear husband out with the mowing.

Please ignore the disarray on my deck but I wanted to capture these side plants.  My currant bush, a division of one that used to grow at my Great Grandmother Rock's house passed down to me from my Aunt Patsi Hinckley is really growing this year.  My rhubarb exploded and it looks like I need to make some Rhubarb Crunch soon.  Even my little strawberry patch that wraps around the deck has an early start and is starting to put out blooms.  I hope that you wander back soon.