Enjoying the Flowers!!

 Not many pictures were taken this weekend of the gardens. I cleaned up the front flower bed around the gladiolus and planted what tulip bulbs I had on hand in that area. My gladiolus is thinning out this year. I think this Spring I will need to add some fresh bulbs. I have a lot of small plants growing from the original one, but they are not producing flowers. I think adding at least one bag of bulbs will give it a good refresh.

I am still loving the small beds around the back patio. They are just so whimsical and magical with the sweet alyssum and showy baby's breath. I also just love how the violas peak through all the white and green.

This was early morning and the violas were still sleeping!!

I am just loving this little plant that packs a punch!!

I am looking forward to when these marigolds bloom!!

Another plant that is giving me joy each day is the succulents I planted in the white hanging planters for the arch. They have grown so well!! I do fear that they are receiving too much water from all the rain we have received these past couple of weeks.

Other than watering and maintaining the gardens, not much has gone on. I have been figuring out layouts for the beds for next year. I did get a couple of galvanized raised beds. Keith put them together this weekend. I have to figure out the best and cheapest ways to fill them. I think I will do the no-dig method of filling the bottom with trimmed limbs and then laying cardboard over that. We shall see how it goes. We need to trim the front yard tree that is right by the drive. It has a lot of hanging limbs that need to be cut back. They will definitely fill up the beds. I just have to be mindful not to plant any perennials in the raised beds because the soil level will change when the bottom decomposes.

Speaking of decomposing, Darren and Stacey have either uncovered something dead on their property or had some very stinky compost dropped off behind our place. I cannot even sit outside without wanting to puke from the putrid smell. I will be discussing with her the horrible smell this week!!

Lets talk about sunflowers!!

 I am so enjoying watching my sunflowers grow and begin to bloom. I  have never planted sunflowers. I don't know why I have waited so long to do this!! Just watching them first sprout from the ground to where they are now is just phenomenal!!

Just look at those little guys reaching for the sun!!
This picture was taken July 6th. I believe we had
planted the seeds around June 7th.

When they started growing, they really started growing!! My staking was so
underestimated to how tall these guys were going to get.
This picture was taken on July 14th. Such a huge difference in less than 10 days!!

The first one to begin blooming. Love this color!!
Two months from first being planted!! 
This picture was taken on August 5th.

Still my only bloomer at this point. But just
one day later it is fully open and loving the sunshine!!

Same day, but a better angle of the full bloom!
As you can see, there are lots of buds on this one stem.

Next plant over and we have a gorgeous yellow one!
This picture was taken on August 14th.

And there they are in a row. This was early morning
The sun was just beginning to peak over the ridge.

I am going to try my best to harvest the seeds and resow them in the spring. I have a few other locations throughout the yard I want to plant sunflowers. The box they currently are in is great, but the plants closer to the house get a lot of shade mid-day and on. So I will not plant any sunflowers in this box next year but instead move them down closer to the shed where they will get full sun all day.

I am working on cleaning up and planning how the corner garden in the front yard will be laid out. I think I will plant the sunflowers in color blocks and stake them with this year's stems. I saw where you saw off the roots at the end of the season and allow the stalks to fully dry out. They say to leave a little bit of the leaf knob so you have a way to thatch twine to them. You can find a tutorial here.

Corner Garden Update!!

 It is mid-August!! We have had a lot of rain these past couple of weeks. My only complaint is that it rains on the weekend. If it would just rain Mon-Wed, I would be a very happy gardener!!

I was able to work on the corner garden some this weekend. I am trying to add some containers and planter stands to really give it that cottage garden vibe. I think it is getting there but it is still a work in progress. Since it is mid-August, you cannot find many vibrant colored plants except for mums in our area. I did buy a couple of yarrow plants that had some variated colors and a chocolate cone flower along with a couple of small mums to place in some clay pot and galvanized planters. I also dug up one of the lime colored sweet potato plants that I had planted in a flower bed to see if it would live. I thought the bright green would add some dimension to the area.

Work in progress for sure, but I am loving how it is beginning to flow.
The petunias were from the whiskey barrel in the side front garden.
They were eaten up with earwicks. Luckily I was able to douse them
in Neem oil and they seem to be thriving once again. My Zinnias
are just busting with color and lots of buds. There is a wild rose
that I will be moving closer to the fence next month. It is right
next to the seating area and it doesn't ever bloom. 

Next season I hope to have a lot more color popping
throughout this corner garden. I probably won't
plant sunflowers again in this area due to the inconsistent
full sun they need and how hard it is to really water the area.

I do have pops of color throughout the flower beds now. I am just enjoying every minute of the gardens. Next year should be awesome especially if all the seeds sprout and develop the way I want them to.

Garden Update

 My alyssum is still blooming so vibrantly right now. It is also in a couple of other flower beds around the back patio. I had not realized that the last wildflower mix I bought this year had sweet alyssum, baby's breath, and violas as part of the mixture. I am really thrilled with this combination!!

This is the small bed between the patio and greenhouse.

The zinnias I had purchased on June 20th were part of the many plants hit by the June 20th cold snap. I had planted them in the new front corner bed next to the garage. They were not receiving enough sun throughout the day. So I moved them to the patio flower bed. Because of the new sod, they were receiving too much water. I finally found them a place in the corner flower bed in the backyard. They were so pitiful by the time I had moved them. They like the corner flowerbed. I will plant more in that area next spring because it receives the right amount of sunlight and water. I am just thankful they snapped back and finally bloomed, and are loaded down with buds!!

This variety of zinnias are the small ones and produce a lot of tiny blossoms.
Next season I will have some tall and large bloom varieties.

Speaking of sod, my side yard is looking fantastic!! It is full of grass and I have had to mow it three times so far. I am just amazed with my side yard flowers and sod.

This is my happy place. I sit out on the patio and sometimes in the grass
admiring the view and all my flowers!!

I did some work on the entry area of the corner garden a couple of weekends ago. It was very difficult stepping over the ditch of rocks especially carrying a watering jug!! I added some soil to the entry ditch area and leveled out a few of the flatter rocks. Now it is so easy to walk right into the corner garden. I also placed my bench seat from the front porch into the garden. Once the heavy watering in the morning is over, I will be able to enjoy morning coffee in the corner garden.

My goal is to add an arch over the entry and then have a pebble walking path
to the bench and a side path to the right side of the garden.
Next season I am hoping this corner garden has a cottage garden vibe!!

I have been enjoying the backyard so much this summer that I haven't really sat out on the front porch much. This past weekend I did sit out on the front porch because I was heavily watering the back patio area. I had to take a few pictures of the planters and how they are doing. The planter next to the garage has just blown up!! There are actually a few lily plants in the center of all those petunias. The lilies just could not keep up with the petunias. I don't even think they will bloom this year.

I just love the view through the grass!!
Plus the dianthus that I planted in the
planter between the two ornamental grasses
has really thrived!! Loving the pop of pink!!

Every year since I have been doing up the blue planter on the front porch, there has been a plant that just dominates the container. This year it is the lime color sweet potato vine. This guy has gotten huge!!

Disregard Dixie's back end. There was
no way I was sitting on the front porch
without my porch pup!!

I am still tweaking different items throughout the yard. I worked on weeding and cleaning up a flower bed in the front corner of the front yard this weekend. I plan on planting some of the many tulip bulbs I have ordered that should arrive in mid-October. I also have some yarrow and a wildflower mixture that attracts hummingbirds and butterflies that I will plant around the old washing machine yard ornament in that area. Other than that it is just keeping everything watered during the hot part of summer. We will start cooling down soon and then it will be time to cut back some of the annuals. I did place a few mums out in some of the planters. I had a bunch of petunias that were eaten up with aphids. I removed them and sprayed the whole plant down with Neem oil. I planted them in the corner garden and placed a few mums in their place.