The Yard

Warning:  Long Post Ahead!

We've lived in our house for over 5 years now and our yard has been a constant work in progress.  Even though we have done what feels like a TON of work to make it better, there is still so much to do.  However, I want to make note of some of the progress we have made. I took a bunch of pictures of my flower beds earlier in the month so that I could show my mom and also to help me remember where I've got things planted.  Some of my perennials die back all the way in the winter and I don't want to forget what I've got where.

This pic is of the little spot next to our front stairs.  I think it is finally what I want it to be.  The barrel has some sedge in the middle that will be permanent (I think) but is otherwise filled with annuals.  I love how it turned out this year!  Behind the barrel are some gladiolus and an oriental lily that have since bloomed.  They are so pretty.  But really, I liked the visual interest of the leaves of the glads even before they bloomed.  In front of the basket is more sedge (it is my new favorite plant), then some emerald and gold euonymous surrounded by ajuga.  I was so happy with the blue flowers on the ajuga this spring.  They were beautiful!  On either side are a couple of pansies that are from last September.  I can't believe how long they've lasted.  I am planning to plant a lot of pansies this fall/winter!

This is a close up of the barrel.  Love it!

This is what is on the other side of our stairs.  The small green shrub on the left was still in its pot, but has finally been planted in the new bed at the top of the driveway.  (Post on that coming once I've got it finished.)  The hydrangea now has a couple of pink blooms on it.  Last year it was in a different spot and the blooms were a beautiful lavender since they were starting to change from their original pink to our WA blue.  I was so happy to have them go back to pink this year.  I did like the lavender though, and think the blues are also pretty, so I don't know if I'll add lime to the soil or not.  Probably not, cause I'm lazy like that.  My goal is for mainly low maintenance perenials in the yard.  Anyway, towards the bottom is some caramel heuchera.  The left one is doing so much better than the one on the right.  Weird.  Also surrounding the post is some new groundcover I put in this year.  It is filling in nicely.  I love how bright it is.

The front bed just to the right of the stairs/previous pic.  It is coming along.  Once I pulled out the dying pansies this summer though, I realized that it is lacking in some spark.  I need some more yellow, orange and pink in this bed.  For now, I'll probably do it by just planting more pansies in a month.  I do love what is there.  Some PJM rhodies in the back.  Their leaves turn reddish purple in the winter and flowers with bright pink blooms in March.  The middle shrub with tiny white flowers on it is a daphne.  It gets pretty orange berries too.  The other two middle plants are quince.  They get apricot colored flowers.  I wish I'd picked a different color, but they are still pretty.  The dwarf Japanese maple on the right is new this year too.  (You can't beat Costco's prices for trees!)  I how it balances out the gigantic shrub on the left.  I keep cutting it back every year.  It really is too big for what I would ideally want in the space, but it came with the house and I couldn't bring myself to rip out everything that was fully grown.

This is the front strip that separates our yard from the road.  It got its first major overhaul about 4 years ago.  The boxwood shrubs were there when we first bought the home. 

Here is the front strip in increments.  There is a new daylily on the right that was too small to bloom this year, but I'm excited for it to bloom next year.  I also really like the golden moneywort groundcover.  It is such a bright and cheerful yellow.

I planted a potentilla (shrub with yellow flowers on the left) last year.  I thought I would like it, but I kind of don't.  I can't decide if I should move it or just put up with it though.  I love the coreopsis on the left.  It just keeps on blooming with beautiful yellow flowers.

I planted some more sedge next to this boxwood.  I love the white that is in it and also that it will look good all year long.

This lavender has grown a bit mishapen.  Oh well.  I still like it.

More sedge on the left.  On the right, next to the lavender, is a huge patch of iceplant that is really happy in that spot.  It gets bright pink flowers on it.

One of the daylilies I planted a few years ago.  I like the flowers, but I think I like it better for its leaves.  They are just so pretty and flowy in the breeze.

I'm blanking on the name of the greyish plant.  Artemesia?  Anyway, I like it and wish I had room to plant more.  It is very soft and feathery.  More golden moneywort next to the stepping stone.  I can't wait until it's filled in more.  I think it accents the stone nicely.

I planted some alyssum seeds this year around the stone.  Actually, I planted alyssum seeds in several spots, but then planted more stuff before they had germinated and ruined several of the spots.  Oops.  On the right you can also see some of the nasturtiums that I planted from seed this year.  They were totally worth it and I will be planting those again next year.

Another boxwood.  Nasturtiums and some gallardia are the pretty orange on the left.  The greyish plant is dianthus.

Pretty!

This is the other daylily, pink garden phlox, and lavender.  The slugs really attacked the phlox this year.  I was impressed with how well it grew and bloomed despite its sad lower half.

The end corner!  The dwarf fir tree is new this year and I love it.  I also really like the emerald and gold euonymous too.  They really brighten up the corner.

View of the end corner from the street.  The lavender is a newer plant and it is growing nicely.  The nastutiums went crazy here.  The golden moneywort has browned a bit.  I think it gets too much heat from the asphalt.  Oh well.  I think it will perk up again in the fall.  If not, then I'll figure something else out.  The spikey leaves are more gladiolus.  Again, the blooms are gorgeous, but I am just as happy with the leaves.

This is one of the vegetable gardens.  This was a new spot I made this year.  I had been studying the backyard from the kitchen window all winter and spring and realized this spot gets full sun all day long.  Perfect for veggies!  I'm trying to decide if I should make the plot bigger for next year.  Several factors will play into that decision.  Anyway, I planted pumpkins (for jack o'lanterns), butternut squash and two tomatoes.  Everything is growing pretty well.  I over planted and need to do mind my space better next year.  The tomatoes have a bit of black spot on them.  Totally my fault though, for watering in the evening and not the morning.  I wonder if next year I can become more of a morning person for the sake of the garden?  Hmmmm...

I asked Kyle to stand by the pumpkin leaves to show how big they are.  They are crazy huge!

My smallest garden spot.  It is next to the playground.  You can see the remnants of the pea plants on the left.  All of the marigolds are in bloom and I'm hoping that I can transplant them to the front yard without killing them.  The other plants are sunflowers and tiny decorative pumpkins. 

This is our sad, sad tree.  It has nasty long thorns on it, but it had such a pretty shape.  It gets fire red leaves in the fall, grows red berries, flowers in the spring.  A complete package.  Until one of the main branches got a split in it this year.  With each wind storm the crack on the trunk got longer and longer.  We had to take off the branch before it fell on the fence.  Sadly, that meant taking out nearly half of the tree.  It looks so pathetic now.  I think we're going to get rid of it all together.

The last garden spot that's up on the terrace.  I WAY overplanted this space too.  I've got 3 tomato plants that are all huge.  Several sunflowers along the back.  A short season variety of corn in the middle. Yellow/summer squash and zucchini plants make up the rest.  I've had several batches of summer squash already.    Yum!

Here's my poser again.  This time to show how tall the corn is.  It's getting silks now, so we may get corn.  We'll see.  If nothing else, I'll have some cornstalks for autumn decor!

On the to-do list:  the back lawn/dandelion patch.  Putting rock along the back of the house where we don't want anything growing.  Fixing up the retaining walls on the east side of our front yard.  Maybe putting some steps in to make it easier to go down to the playground.  There is another spot back there that would be a good potential garden plot.  If only we weren't limited by time, money, and muscle!