Over at My House

A review of the blogging year thus far indicates that I have rarely posted about my own garden in 2012. This seems logical to me, as I started out the spring removing several mature shrubs (or more accurately I hired out the removal ) and while I enjoyed my garden this summer it seemed somewhat barren, with little worth sharing.

 It's enervating to start over in a garden; there's nothing that has as much promise for a gardener as a nice patch of emptiness. My spring demolition was only the beginning, I have since removed several dayliles, 4 rosebushes, a very mature 'dwarf' muhgo pine, and a couple miles worth of Geranium sanguineum. Attempts are ongoing to hoik Pennisetum 'Bunny Tails' but I fear this may have to be penciled on to  the expanding 'hired-hand' list. In addition, I have tree issues that need to be addressed -these invariably strain the budget , but less so than having an old deteriorating tree fall on the roof.

 No frost yet , so all is a bit blowsy as it waits for the inevitable.  These chairs sit on a concrete patio that once was the pad for a gazebo.



This was a 'dig area' last weekend, the foreground was a sea of sanguineum, and a 15 year old Graham Thomas rose was in front of the birdbath. G. 'Johnsons Blue' is to the left of the birdbath--I have a sentimental attachment to this plant -it really should go but I can't bring myself to apply the shovel.





This Stipa gigantea is one of my favorite grasses, it spent the summer with an artichoke, Verbena bonariensis, and a Cotinus that I coppice every winter and seems to display increasingly octopus like tendencies in summer.




The Euphobias are volunteers, the guy on the right is on the hit list --the only plant I have ever known to completely engulf and emasculate a PeeGee Hydrangea.  Note the pathetic Pee Gee  flowers sticking out on the bottom.

 The Salvia 'Mystic Spires' here is at the end of it's run. This is a great plant but I want shorter stuff here..pondering my options.



Another angle of the area in photo 2. I will be moving this birdbath and will install a fountain here in it's place, since this bed has electrical access near by. The Rudbeckia will be moved too- it was a volunteer and is flush against the concrete of the walkway. Hope it survives the move, it has easily been blooming for 6 months.


 Some of the succulents are hardy here, the rest spend the winter inside or in the pop-up greenhouse.

 

Comments

  1. So nice to see some pictures from your garden, and on a sunny day no less (remarkable to me since we've had so few of those lately). You certainly have been busy!

    Every time you write the words "pop-up greenhouse" I picture an entire greenhouse unfolding just like the windshield sun shades I keep in my car. A twist of the wrist and bam! They pop open. I doubt it's really that easy to put up your greenhouse eh?

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    1. Loree, that has been the nicest fall I can remember in years..we've had rain but it lasts a day or so and then it's gone.No frost yet and temps in the 70's . As far as the pop-up greenhouse is concerned, it is frighteningly similar to those windshield shades, and I feel exactly like Lucy Ricardo when I put the thing up..becoming engulfed in a bouncy house of plastic. Perhaps a blog post is required !

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  2. My kind of post! I so enjoy REAL gardens and the gardener's thought processes. Of course this will require many follow up posts, sharing the progress!
    It all looks so warm and sunny! The Euphorbia is certainly handsome, but what it was able to do to the Pee Gee is astonishing!

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  3. The garden is looking lovely as it is now, and looking forward to the changes you'll be making for next year :)

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    1. So am I ; the punch list seems to expand daily !

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  4. If your Euphorbias volunteer more than you want them to, you are welcome to march some my way.

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    1. My problem is 'edit aversion' Les--I should have dug these seedling up from the get-go, but could not bring myself to do so. hey were magnificent in bloom this year.

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  5. You should post about your own garden more often. Lots to ponder but that's what keeps the gardener on his or her toes. Love the first shot with the chairs. Hope to have some sitting in my future.

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    1. My intent is to document the changes I have planned Sue. And there are a boatload !

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  6. I love that stipa too and just moved it from the front to the back garden. Your euphorbs certainly look fat and happy. I'm hoping you had help removing the 15-year-old Graham Thomas rose, which must have been gargantuan. Exciting changes, onward and upward!

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    1. I was so worried that the Stipa G. would overwhelm all in it's path..the term 'gigantea' is daunting. But what a polite plant this has turned out to be..nice tuft of foliage and airy wands. No help with that rose-I was surprised at how easily it came out . Digging up plants develops good upper body strength!

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  7. Change in the garden is always exciting. How boring it would become if nothing ever changed. Your garden is looking quite lovely for November.

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  8. Love this Kathy!!! So much going on. It really is lovely and change is good for our creative souls

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    1. Spot on Deanne. There is no way I could create a garden and then walk away satisfied. Fickle !

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