Midsummer Garden Review

I took some time out from my busy schedule to review the status of my gardens.  I find it's a good idea to do this periodically, taking notes and photographs, so that in the fall or next spring I'll have an idea of what areas need work, what needs to be moved, and what just plain isn't working.  None of these pictures are going to win awards but they all tell me something about the state of my garden.

Here's my annual corner. I'm quite pleased with how this is working.  This is the area where the snow from our driveway gets piled up.  I put annuals there because sometimes the plow damages the near by plants.  It's nice to have a spot for annuals since they look good all summer and I can change them yearly, if I want to.  I like Zinnias so I put some here, and I'm very pleased with the snapdragons.  I doubt you can tell but I've also got Gomphrea fireworks in this corner.  Don't bother with this one.  The flowers are nice when viewed close up but they are small.  Even in clumps (I think I have a dozen plants in there) they aren't that exciting. 

I refer to this area as my Liatris Patch.  I've got Liatris Kobold, Coreposis Zagreb, Hyssop, Asclepias and some Spirea.  They're all doing well, if a bit crowded.

Here's the other side of the Liatris Patch.  Kobold doesn't need to be supported.  It's a great variety (Michelle, I'll get some seeds or seedlings to you this fall, Queen Bee, you'll have to get seeds.  You can try to start them in your greenhouse).

I don't just take pictures of the good spots.  Here's an empty area.  Need something to fit in there.  

Here's another empty area (I call this the Dead Zone because I've lost so many plants right in this one area).  Right by the walk leading to the front door is difficult because we have one street tree that partially shades this area and whose roots are very aggressive.  I like the dappled shade in the living room during the summer but this tree is starting to cause problems with the sidewalk and my plumber is worried about the water and sewer lines.  It's an American Basswood or American Linden (Tilia americana) and it's just too big for the spot.  If I can get the city to remove it (it's technically their tree) I'll replace it with something more size appropriate.  I'm fantasizing about a nice Kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa).

OK.  Come out of the dream and back to the reality of the garden.

I've never had great luck with Echinacea.  Not sure why.  My neighbor has a lot of them growing really well.  This is one of mine.  The one that is doing best.  I planted it last year and got some blooms (hence the seedlings).  The blooms this year lack petals (huh?).  I have a few other types of Echinacea scattered around the garden and we'll see  how they look next  year (this is the first year for them).  

This Heuchera is also failing.  I think this failure is due to the abnormally hot summer and maybe too much sun.  I might move these guys next year.

On the positive side I like this area of plantings by the corner of my property.  The height of the Buddleia, the Panicum virgatum and Aster oblongifolius October Skies help screen the view into the side yard and nicely frame the tall bloom stalks of the Gaura.  I really like this area.

I also like this Agastache Patch.  Although the Daisy will get moved next year so that the Nepenta behind it will get more light and fill in.  Most of the plants in this area have an open, airy look to them.  I like that in a plant.  

I'm a bit worried that this Garlic Chive will get crowded out by the Panicum behind it.  So I collect seeds and scatter them around.  Garlic Chives is a nice garden plant.

No.  I didn't make the fish.

No.  I didn't make the bird bath, either.  Pretty cool though, huh? 

So I now have a list of plants to move or replace, a list of areas that need plants and a list of plants that are doing well and plants that aren't doing so good.  Now I just have to keep track of that list till next Spring!

Last thought:  "If you're not killing plants you're not growing as a gardener" JC Raulston.  I guess I'm doing a lot of growing!  At least as a Gardener!

Thamnophis sirtalis in Stipa tenuissima

I'm glad the Garter Snakes weren't all scared off by the house painters

The Mexican Feather Grass is not supposed to be hardy in this zone.  These plants survived the winter in a microclimate by the garage. 

Looking at your Garden

I've been reading up on Garden Design, trying to go from a person obsessed with plants to a person obsessed with plants but with an aesthetically pleasing garden space.  There is a lot of great information out there.  The problem I'm having seems to be one of scale.  I look at these sweeping vistas of garden then I walk across the street and try to imagine a sweeping vista in my front yard and I just can't do it.

This is my front yard from across the street.  It's difficult to get far enough away to see a whole vista and even if I could get further away the size of the garden is definitely petite.  From the sidewalk to the house is only 15 feet, from the driveway to the corner of the lot is 60 (plus I have a 2 foot deep Hell Strip).  That's roughly 1000 square feet.  Not much room for a sweeping vista.

Ok. Well, how do I (and my neighbors) view the front?  Most of my neighbors view my front garden on foot from the sidewalk or the street.  I view my garden from foot or knee or flat out sitting on the ground (or, occasionally, from my new bench at one end of the front yard).

Oregano (Origanum vulgare).  This is how I view my garden, up close and personal, so I can smell the oregano.  I posted this in Scratch and Snif mode.  Lean close to your monitor and scratch the image.  Smell that?  Ahh.  What?  You don't have a Scratch and Snif monitor?  In that case go to your kitchen, grab a jar of oregano and inhale.  That what I was smelling when I took this photo.

How do I use this space?  How do I want to use it?  I use the garden to spend time outdoors, attracting and benefiting the local wildlife at small scales (bees and birds and earthworms and snakes), and interacting with the neighbors.  It seems like every nice day I'm out weeding someone comes along and I'm slowly getting to know the neighbors as they stop to comment on my garden.

 Thyme (Thymus vulgarus Archer's Gold(?)).  This one is planted in the hell strip and spreading onto the sidewalk.  Can you feel the slightly course texture of those leaves and the firmness of the stems that support them?  What?  Your monitor doesn't have Touch capabilities, either?  For this one you'll need to run out to a garden center with thyme plants and feel for yourself.  Don't worry, I'll be here when you come back.  I'll even wait for you to plant the new plants you couldn't resist buying while you were touching the Thyme.

This is beginning to sound like I need to think on a smaller scale.  If I'm on my knees (or butt or, honestly, sometimes stomach) my grand vistas should be smaller scale.  Like this mass of perennial Bachelor's Button (Centaurea montana Amethyst in Snow).  Do I really need to follow the rule of plant three of everything when this one plant nearly covers the width of my planting area?

Or this forest of newly emerging, finely textured Coreopsis verticalata Zagreb, also forming a spreading mass.  I could repeat this one elsewhere in the garden to get that magical number of three of each.  I don't think it's too aggressive.

With lot sizes continuing to get smaller the landscaping books that refer to a two acre property as a "small lot" just aren't working for me.  For example I'm not going to block any of my scarce and precious sunny garden area by planting trees (a small dogwood can have a spread of 15 feet, the entire width of my front yard!  I would have to plant it smack in the middle of that width in order to not scrape against the house or it would have to be pruned up to allow pedestrians on the sidewalk passage) no matter that the books all talk about how they are the backbone of the garden.   I have one tree in the front yard and it is plenty (and it's going to get way too big for the spot, it's already damaged the road and the sidewalk.  I mentioned to The Husband that if it wouldn't cost $1000 to remove I'd want to replace it with something a little more appropriate to the spot.  He said it wouldn't cost that much.  All he needed was a chainsaw and a case of beer.  I think the tree is staying for now).

So it looks like I'm going to continue to Garden in an Edgy manner - not following the landscaping rules and just doing my own thing.  If it doesn't look good I can always move plants around and try again.  That gives me another excuse to spend time in my garden, looking at everything up close and personal.

Buds on a white bleeding heart Dicentra alba