November Snow Ends a Disappointing Garden Season

It's not really a day to sit on the garden bench and contemplate.  I did take a quick photo of the snow today which officially ended the garden season for me, at least.  It has been disappointing overall. The Knock-out Roses never performed well.  The groundhog in the spring kept the balloon flowers from growing, never mind blooming.  The Endless Summer hydrangea did put forth many large, blue globes of bloom until the hard frost.  The butterfly bush was filled with purple spikes through the early fall even though the butterflies were gone by October.  The azaleas turned a nice bronzy color, but the peony leaves just wilted away instead of turning bronze in the fall sun.
A couple weeks ago, I went out to cut the perennials back but the daylilies were still green--and still holding their sword-like leaves upright and verdant today, even covered in light snow.  I'll have to clip them again some day soon when the morning sun warms me and beckons me out to perform this final garden chore.
Perhaps next year, my garden will pop with red Knock-out roses, white balloon flowers and blue Nepeta on the Fourth of July. For now, I'll just need to celebrate patriotic Veteran's Day with the russets and browns of fall--and a few touches of green reminiscent of summer.

Late July Garden Inventory

The rainy, humid and hot weather has broken; the July full moon, called the Summer Moon, has passed.  I was able to get out into the garden last evening to clean out and take stock of what has gone past and what is still in its prime.  I took out three plastic bags of plant material including daisies, hollyhocks, daylilies, and the old-fashioned bleeding heart.  The daisies grew chest high this year but have passed their first and hardiest bloom.  The hollyhocks had gone to seed so I sprinkled the long stems and pods around the back of the garden after cutting them down and threw them over the fence for the birds to finish picking through for seed.  The daylilies look half way through their season as many stems still have buds but others are finished.  The bleeding heart goes yellow this time of year and can be cut back to the ground.

Here is a visual record of what I found this evening in the garden bed.

The Balloon flowers look great with regular deadheading.

They show a variety of stages of bloom per stem.

 

The stems of the Blazing Star or Liatris mimic the deck post which supports them,

their stems are not straight or strong, perhaps due to the rain.

 

 

I waited a long time, but I couldn't get this busy bee to look at me.

 

 

The frog rain gauge recorded 2 and a half inches this week, but it seemed like much more.

 

There were a variety of lilies for Lily to experience her namesake flower.

 

The Cleome or Spider Flower successfully self-seeded, but not the Cosmos in the same area.

Maybe the sparrows which feed on the ground there were too thorough this year?

 

The Black Eyed Susans or Rudbeckia are in their glory now.

 

As are the Kopper Kong hardy hibiscus!

 

The Sneezeweed or Helenium is just blooming.

It remind us that pollen season is ahead!

 

The direction vane was almost lost in the overgrowth of daisies, but

clearing out the area allowed the other flowers to show their high summer colors.

 

I haven't seen many butterflies on the Buddleia or Butterfly Bush this summer,

but my days in the garden have been few due to extreme heat and rain.

Maybe I'll catch some butterflies to photograph in August?

 

A few daisies, some Black Eyed Susans, and a hydrangea

make a bouquet in situ in the later afternoon sun.

The best kind of bouquet--no cutting, no vase, no arranging.

 

So the garden looks as fresh as the few daisies that are left

after a good "space clearing" in the late July flower beds.

 

With some good fortune--and weather,

the rain gauge frog could exchange his umbrella

for a yellow yarrow bloom

as August approaches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Bouquiet of the Season

 

After 3 official heat waves, 4 tornadoes in the past week, record rain in the past few weeks, and thousands of garden pests including bugs, bunnies, deer and a groundhog--

I finally had enough blooms to cut for a bouquet.

First of the 2013 gardening season!

Renewing the Front Bed for the 4th of July

It's hard to believe that it's been five years since we moved to South Hollow. The front walk plantings have struggled for years with construction debris and rocks prohibiting their growth, blizzards that caused all the snow of the driveway to be dumped upon the adjacent shrubs, and a lack of rain during drought (despite my waterings) and a surfeit of rain during the several hurricanes we have weathered.  The "final straw" was the landscaper taking a hedge trimmer to the small-leaved ivy that I have cared for when it was broken by piles of snow and ice and pruned carefully when it was actually growing to preserve a natural look.  When the landscaper was done with his trim, it looked like a topiary mushroom top--and I had endured enough. 

When my son visited recently, he dug it out--easily. It was still in its root ball after five years.  I bought a Gold Thread Cypress Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Filifera Aurea'--approved by the Landscape Committee as a shrub that will grow here.  We shall see.  Its advantages are a golden color all year and a soft, threadlike foliage texture.  I added some daylilies Hemerocallis 'Stella de Oro' which reflect the yellow and green of the cypress.

 

The Creeping Jenny Lysimachia nummularia 'Goldilocks' and the Euphorbia graminea 'Diamond Frost' in the planter mimic the color and texture of the cypress.  The Tango Pink Splash Bravo geraniums and the Diascia hybrid Flying Colors 'Trailing Antique Rose' add a splash of complementary color to the scene.  The 'Rhythm and Blues' petunias on the other side of the planter add contrast.  All in all, it's a much more pleasing welcome to the front porch.

 

On the front step another planter holds Fidelity Dark Red 'Samba' geraniums and a hummingbird whirligig which my granddaughter loves to touch. She also likes to watch the wind blow the American flag which has been there since Memorial Day, through Flag Day on June 14th, and now salutes the Fourth of July this week.

 

 

 

Fairy Gardens Remix

Well, I can't get them out of my mind. And a quick trip to Paul and Sandy's Too garden center this morning did me in completely. They have a display of fairy garden plants and accessories that was too enticing!  I purchased some miniature thyme, some small animal figurines--and a tiny fairy!

 

I was stopping by the garden center to get some fresh potting soil to replant my terrarium. I've had troubles with snails in the terrarium and wanted to refresh it with new soil--and perhaps, elinimate the snail eggs.

 

Why not make it a fairy-rum?

 

 

I took cuttings off the plants in the old terrarium

 and added some moss and a bit of the new miniature thyme plant.

 

 

I found a small terra cotta saucer to use as a pool and arranged the objects among the plants.

 

Turtle is searching for water and comes upon a fairy at the pool.

 

I placed the cover over and put the fairy-rum on the glass table surrounded by orchids.

 

I also had larger saucer and enough soil to make an dish fairy garden for the patio.

 

No fairies yet. Or accessories.  Let's see if the plants take hold first:  creeping Jenny, lamium, thyme, moss, and some indoor terrarium cuttings. It's the start of some magical additions to my indoor and outdoor gardens.  Let's see if we can get the fairies to sing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strawberry Full Moon tonight

Summer solstice and Strawberry full moon in the past few days have turned the garden into deeper shades of yellow and orange and burgundy rather than pale pink and white and lavender.

 

Blanket flower or Gaillardia

 

Yarrow and burgundy Sedum in a soon to be dry area

 

The pale colors can still be found in the sunny areas and the shade.

 

 

Astilbe bloom in the wild ginger

 

Bee in the wild geranium

 

Hollyhocks just unfolding

 

I've been thinking about a fairy garden. They are very popular now with many accessories and specialized plants available.  My daughter and granddaughter and I saw one yesterday that was a collection of found objects arranged by little "fairies" at Jessica's Garden. I think that's the best kind, so I'll wait until Lily is older and can help find décor and decide what goes where in the garden--or how to rearrange it when the fairies come.

 

 

 

Summer Solstice Tonight June 20-21

What incredible summer-like days we've had as we near the summer solstice, occurring overnight at 1 a.m. here in the Northeast but before midnight in Colorado and California.  These days are distinguished from other recent days by cool mornings with clear skies and abundant sunshine that warms up the air by afternoon and then cools it again in the evening.  The birds are loving it!

As I snapped photos of the goldfinches at the feeder above the mountain laurels in the meadow, a hummingbird kept coming to the feeder right beside me.  I was wearing a raspberry hued t-shirt and didn't seem to deter him, although I was only 3 feet away from the feeder.  Of course, when I turned to take a photo--he was gone!

Enjoy these perfect summer days while we they are here!

Laurels Blooming in CT and at Laurel Ridge

Mountain laurel or Kalmia latifolia is native to Connecticut and is also the Connecticut state flower.  Since we live at Laurel Ridge in the east central part of the state, we are surrounded by the native blooms at this time of year. 

 

Wild Mountain Laurels

The ridge on which our house was built was cleared of all vegetation for the development so we decided to add some mountain laurel cultivars that we purchased at Broken Arrow Nursery in Hamden. This nursery specializes in Kalmia latifolia and the owner has created many cultivars with unusual colors and patterning. We bought 2 year old stock inexpensively several years ago and it has grown steadily here at Laurel Ridge.

 

My husband (and garden man) has to weed whack the area several times during the summer as it is maintained as a meadow by the condominium homeowners association but the bushes someday will be bigger than the grass and wildflowers.

 

Yankee Doodle

 

Raspberry Glow

 

 

Snowdrift is white blossomed and is not doing well

since it was damaged in the blizzard two years ago.

No blooms in sight even this year!

 

 

Sarah is almost red in bud but blossoms lighter.

 

 

Keepsake is burgundy bloomed with white edges.

 

 

 

Peppermint has maroon striped white blossoms.

 

 

I finally got some good photos tonight about 7:30 p.m. We had a cool, bright Canadian air mass today between a rainy day yesterday and another predicted tomorrow. Ironically, my good friend and neighbor just left for Prince Edward Island in Canada yesterday between rainy fronts.  If she had stayed she would feel like she was already at her summer home here in Connecticut today. But wait until tomorrow and Friday and she'll be glad she left!

 

 

 

New Patio Furniture

Just ordered some new patio furniture to replace the teak round table and chairs. They were too big and bulky for the patio.

 

The new chairs rock and swivel.  I took my Lily bug down to the garden today. We swiveled in the chair while she viewed all the greenery, blooms, the flag, the fairy statue, the bird bath, and the frog rain gauge.  We were even close enough to the lavender for her to touch--and crush--it.  It was like being a human baby exersaucer with a garden theme. At home she has a jungle-themed exersaucer and upstairs at our house, she has a marine-themed exersaucer but today she experience nature first-hand while bouncing in my lap and swiveling around for all the views of the garden.

 

 

 

We sang this song:

 

White Coral Bells
Upon a slender stalk.
Lilies of the valley deck my garden walk.
Oh, don't you wish that you might hear them ring?
That will happen only when the fairies sing.

 

 

She loved it because her name is in it, but she is also going to be a future gardener since she reaches out to touch each bloom and leaf.  I have some coral bells but they are pink and surround the bird bath.  I have some lilies of the valley from my daughter's garden which I planted up the hill near the birch tree. I have a fairy reading a book in the garden. Now I have a little gardener to enjoy it all with me!

 

 

The coral bells upon a slender stalk don't look so good after the hurricane.

That's a daylily leaf with a row of rain drops still upon it.

Such marvels to discover every day, rain or shine!

 

 



 

After Hurricane Andrea, June 8, 2013

Yes, more wild and wonderful nature.  We knew this storm was moving up the coast so I cut some peonies that were ready to bloom and hoped that the netting I put over the poppy buds to deter the deer would also protect the buds and single bloom from the deluge.

Yes, froggy indicates almost 7 inches of rain--and yes, I did dump the tube just before the storm.

So, here is a quick rundown of how things fared:

The poppy bloom lost one leaf and the other buds are beginning to bloom.  Love that watermelon bubblegum color!

The peonies are opening and are actually upright since I got a cage around them before the storm.

A yellow iris survived (or bloomed just this morning) but many of the Siberian irises were drenched as well as the purple irises.

The Lamium ground cover at the downspout don't look too drenched although I'm sure they were!

 

The pink, yellow and red Knock Out roses look great both in my border and my neighbor's border (which I tend also).

 

So, there is still some color in the garden and many buds still hanging on their stalks--until Hurricane B...