Garden Picspam
Apr. 9th, 2008 01:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stoney321Remember how last fall I ripped my entire front yard so iI could grow flowers? (Here are the pics from that, if you're interested.)
Aww, I just realized our Scrappy cat was in last year's post. :(
Okay, this is the driveway bed that's been there, but I widened it (it's all the way to our property line now) and put in more veggies and herbs, since it's non-stop sun. I had to move a bunch of things because they were getting crushed/I didn't like them any more.
Here's the view from the base, looking up. It only stretched from the driveway to a few inches past the electrical box. (There's goldenrod in front of that which should hide it nicely in a few more weeks, and a gulf mulhy grass to the right, and a yellow rose behind it. Bye bye electrical box!)
Let's shift to the right. (The bricks are waiting for me to not be gimpy so I can finish the retaining wall on the far right. You'll see that in a bit.) The death rose is growing up the wall by the garage. It extends another 10 feet beyond what you see. I'm waiting for approval from the HOA to put a garage arbor up and have the rose grow along that.
This used to be crappy lawn and a crappy Bradford pear. You can't see the Mexican Plum in the background, but it's all leafed out in a lovely eggplant color. (All the little blue/white flowers are bluebonnets. If I knew how to take a damn picture that turned out well, I'd do a closeup. I <3 them.)
Again, this used to be crappy Bermuda (and hidden treasure like bricks and soda cans and plastic bags!) and that's the retaining wall. It's actually a good grade there, but you can't tell (can you?) from this picture. I'm shoring up the side wall so it's level and stepped. Also, ignore the crappy grass and dandelions. The Mr. fails utterly at keeping up with the lawn. I have a service coming Monday. :|
Here's the front window. My office is behind those bay windows. It's Darthanne's favorite resting place. She likes to hang out and monitor me while I garden, too. You know the movie "Cool Hand Luke?" Every time I dig a hole, etc. she pokes her head out and monitors, and I hear "Take off my shirt, Boss?" "A'ight Luke." "Put this dianthus in, Boss?" "A'ight, Stoney." Hahaha. It's a CARNIVAL in my head, wheee! There's a wee pond/fountain back there, I took better pics - they're coming up.
See? Aww, I like my weetiny water feature, and so do the birds. (I made it hard for Darthanne to get there - she's scared of the rocks and can only get so close. She's... not smart enough to walk on the flat rock. The buns like that place, though. :D And even though it looks like that fish pot is puking up horsetails, I like it. Hahaha.
Here's a closer close up. There's (clockwise from above the wee latern) stonecrop Autumn Joy, daisies, Russian sage, pot of horsetails, phlox, alyssum, and crocosmias that will really deter Ms Kitnit.
This is my new bench for relaxing! I was thiiiiiisclose to buying a daybed, but it was just out of my budget. I mean... daybed! But. This won out because a daybed would dominate the porch and it would be the only sitting place. When it's upper 60s every night, my orchids will come out on a shelf to the left, uh... where I wrote "orchids." Derp.
When you sit in the bench, this is your view. (I want a cool something to mount on the brick wall over the little chair. But nothing cheesy like a star or cross. Which is why there's nothing there. :D)
Behind the bench - my shade garden. (When the trees grow, I'll have more shade. Let's hope.) The blue stones are a way to help divert water, and I like that they look like a dry river. I'm going to rip oout the Powis Castle Artemsia growing in the fork of the "river" and put something else there. Maybe the saucer/lily magnolia from the back - it won't get huge. (And see how I need to fix the retaining wall of stone? Eventually...) There's a plant I innocently put in two years ago that is TAKING OVER. It smells like orange rind, which, okay, but it chokes out all the things I want. Ir's a Korean gingko, but I don't recall the exact name. Ugh, I hate it. It'll take me forever to pull out.
Last pic, same area. I usually fill this in with impatiens and coleus (the bright yellow and red leafed plants) to brighten it up. Come September, those ginger plants will thickly fill in that whole corner and it smells SO GOOD. I moved all the ajuga (the faintly blue plants at the edge) last fall, so I didn't get my normal show of bright indigo, but they'll come in nice and thick next Spring. There's a good shot on the post I linked above.
And the whole thing will look completely different when all the summer plants come in. \o/ I'm such an addict. I want all the plants. ALL OF THEM!! now if only we can get started on the pool construction so I can finish out the side yards and back yards...
Aww, I just realized our Scrappy cat was in last year's post. :(
Okay, this is the driveway bed that's been there, but I widened it (it's all the way to our property line now) and put in more veggies and herbs, since it's non-stop sun. I had to move a bunch of things because they were getting crushed/I didn't like them any more.
Here's the view from the base, looking up. It only stretched from the driveway to a few inches past the electrical box. (There's goldenrod in front of that which should hide it nicely in a few more weeks, and a gulf mulhy grass to the right, and a yellow rose behind it. Bye bye electrical box!)
Let's shift to the right. (The bricks are waiting for me to not be gimpy so I can finish the retaining wall on the far right. You'll see that in a bit.) The death rose is growing up the wall by the garage. It extends another 10 feet beyond what you see. I'm waiting for approval from the HOA to put a garage arbor up and have the rose grow along that.
This used to be crappy lawn and a crappy Bradford pear. You can't see the Mexican Plum in the background, but it's all leafed out in a lovely eggplant color. (All the little blue/white flowers are bluebonnets. If I knew how to take a damn picture that turned out well, I'd do a closeup. I <3 them.)
Again, this used to be crappy Bermuda (and hidden treasure like bricks and soda cans and plastic bags!) and that's the retaining wall. It's actually a good grade there, but you can't tell (can you?) from this picture. I'm shoring up the side wall so it's level and stepped. Also, ignore the crappy grass and dandelions. The Mr. fails utterly at keeping up with the lawn. I have a service coming Monday. :|
Here's the front window. My office is behind those bay windows. It's Darthanne's favorite resting place. She likes to hang out and monitor me while I garden, too. You know the movie "Cool Hand Luke?" Every time I dig a hole, etc. she pokes her head out and monitors, and I hear "Take off my shirt, Boss?" "A'ight Luke." "Put this dianthus in, Boss?" "A'ight, Stoney." Hahaha. It's a CARNIVAL in my head, wheee! There's a wee pond/fountain back there, I took better pics - they're coming up.
See? Aww, I like my weetiny water feature, and so do the birds. (I made it hard for Darthanne to get there - she's scared of the rocks and can only get so close. She's... not smart enough to walk on the flat rock. The buns like that place, though. :D And even though it looks like that fish pot is puking up horsetails, I like it. Hahaha.
Here's a closer close up. There's (clockwise from above the wee latern) stonecrop Autumn Joy, daisies, Russian sage, pot of horsetails, phlox, alyssum, and crocosmias that will really deter Ms Kitnit.
This is my new bench for relaxing! I was thiiiiiisclose to buying a daybed, but it was just out of my budget. I mean... daybed! But. This won out because a daybed would dominate the porch and it would be the only sitting place. When it's upper 60s every night, my orchids will come out on a shelf to the left, uh... where I wrote "orchids." Derp.
When you sit in the bench, this is your view. (I want a cool something to mount on the brick wall over the little chair. But nothing cheesy like a star or cross. Which is why there's nothing there. :D)
Behind the bench - my shade garden. (When the trees grow, I'll have more shade. Let's hope.) The blue stones are a way to help divert water, and I like that they look like a dry river. I'm going to rip oout the Powis Castle Artemsia growing in the fork of the "river" and put something else there. Maybe the saucer/lily magnolia from the back - it won't get huge. (And see how I need to fix the retaining wall of stone? Eventually...) There's a plant I innocently put in two years ago that is TAKING OVER. It smells like orange rind, which, okay, but it chokes out all the things I want. Ir's a Korean gingko, but I don't recall the exact name. Ugh, I hate it. It'll take me forever to pull out.
Last pic, same area. I usually fill this in with impatiens and coleus (the bright yellow and red leafed plants) to brighten it up. Come September, those ginger plants will thickly fill in that whole corner and it smells SO GOOD. I moved all the ajuga (the faintly blue plants at the edge) last fall, so I didn't get my normal show of bright indigo, but they'll come in nice and thick next Spring. There's a good shot on the post I linked above.
And the whole thing will look completely different when all the summer plants come in. \o/ I'm such an addict. I want all the plants. ALL OF THEM!! now if only we can get started on the pool construction so I can finish out the side yards and back yards...
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Date: 2008-04-09 06:14 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2008-04-09 06:32 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2008-04-09 06:34 pm (UTC)Wow, what a wonderful garden. It must be something really special to sit on that bench and survey your domain. :D
Edited for fat-finger syndrome.
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Date: 2008-04-09 06:37 pm (UTC)In the fourth picture, the lavender is in the bed on the left, at the bend in the side walk. It's all bluebonnets in the lower bed at the top by the rocks. (It's their first year in my garden there, so they're looking a bit poorly. They'll be lush next year when I can bring them back from seed.)
Oh, I looooove sitting on my porch. My cat likes to curl up with me, and I have a great view of all the birds and butterflies. BLISS.
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Date: 2008-04-09 06:42 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2008-04-09 06:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-09 06:59 pm (UTC)Oh! Can you imagine having THIS on your front porch??? I would never, ever come in. (Pretty linens, cushy pillows, a manservant to bring me cocktails...)
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Date: 2008-04-09 07:01 pm (UTC)But, because it warms up so quickly, daffodils and tulips are such a short show - only two weeks of them before they melt.
I'm so happy to have cheered you!
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Date: 2008-04-09 07:01 pm (UTC)So, so nice, this all looks *lovely*.
:)
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Date: 2008-04-09 07:01 pm (UTC)Hello with the "stuff that was planted originally that has turned into weeds." which currently includes plum root suckers from trees planted by my great-great grandfather. Goes to show that there is something to be saidfor the parts of the old testiment which refer to the sins of the fathers being visited to the sons unto the seventh generation.
Julia, I suppose it could be worse; my BIL has to deal with a freighter-sized ships propeller and four burned out semi trailers.
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Date: 2008-04-09 07:08 pm (UTC)Thank you much. I'm such a nut, that wounded leg or no, I'm still out there puttering around.
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Date: 2008-04-09 07:10 pm (UTC)And seeing as we had hail just west of us by 20 miles the size of GRAPEFRUIT, yeah. I'd say not going out in that weather is a good idea. Yikes. Soon enough you and I will have more garden chores to do, then the roses will bloom and we'll forget for a minute. Then we'll bitch about having to prune the damn roses. :D
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Date: 2008-04-09 07:22 pm (UTC)Such is parenthood: raise up the kids to be all independent and responsible and they go off and get jobs on you.
Julia, suspecting that now is the moment I should go out and attack the creeping buttercup before it takes over the entire world
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Date: 2008-04-09 07:27 pm (UTC)Although 'extension agency' is not ringing any bells with me. What is that, exactly?
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Date: 2008-04-09 07:27 pm (UTC)I love all your different stone paths and rocks. Especially the ones leading away from the drain pipe. Brilliant idea, that. (Which I may have to steal from you.)
The littlest water feature is so pretty! Does it make lovely trickling noises? The ginger is so big already! Will you take pictures of it again later in the year?
Your photos make me long for summer so much!
PS: I just got an email back from the Botanical Gardens. First meeting/lesson in labeling and sorting is next week. I'll start with the mosses. Can. Not. Wait. :)