September 2, 2010

Front Landscaping Project: End of Summer Views



After our major landscaping project this spring, I was excited to see how the plants would fill in by the end of the summer. Here's an update on the progress with some wide view pictures. Sharing wide view shots is a Big Deal for me with such a young garden! Above is an 'Autumn Wood' daylily with daisy-form rose mums and 'Rozanne' geranium. I like how this color combo turned out. The five 'Rozanne' geraniums I planted this spring have grown quite large and have bloomed all summer long. I'm very pleased with them.



Here is a 'Giggles' dahlia with 'Walker's Low' catmint in the background. I planted a dozen of these dahlia tubers in the front yard and have been disappointed with their flowering. Half of them aren't blooming yet, and the first frost is coming up fast. I think dahlias aren't a good investment for my cold climate unless I buy them already in bloom. The tall, narrow form of the dahlias doesn't work well in my flower beds, either. Of course the catmint is growing by leaps and bounds and already needs to be divided. The bees love both of these plants. They busily buzz around the catmint and appear to take naps on the dahlias.



This is another shot of the dahlia, mums, 'Autumn Wood' daylily, 'Rozanne' geranium and some lavender lobelia in the background. I planted the lobelia to fill in some blank spots around the beds, but the little clumps just make the beds look cluttered.



My vigorous 'Abraham Darby' rose is in the middle of its second heavy flush of blooms. Unlike my experience with this rose in California, I haven't seen any rust on the leaves since planting.



Here is The Wide View shot for the post. I like the color scheme - warm peachy pinks, rosey pink and lavender. The foliage is a nice mix of glossy dark green (Otto Luyken Laurels, dahlias, creeping phlox), steely blue (Blue Star junipers), warm mid green (daylilies, lilyturf and Sagina subulata groundcover), and light blue-green (bearded iris).



Speaking of greenery, I am especially pleased with how my 'Green Tower' boxwood is growing (you can see it on the right of the shot). I was nervous that it would get crispy with all the sun and heat reflecting from the south side of the house, but it still looks perfectly fresh and green. Monrovia states that it will stay this color all winter instead of turning 'bronze'. That's great news since my winter lasts six months. This boxwood stays very narrow and can grow up to nine feet tall. It stands as a welcoming sentinel by the entrance to front veranda.



In the above shot you can see three types of filler annuals (they're the really short ones): double pink petunias, warm lavender lobelia and cool lavender fanflower (Scaveola). Like I said, it's colorful but cluttered. When the 'Blue Star' juniper reaches full size there won't be room for annuals anyway. Too bad it's a slow grower.



Although I'm not pleased with their contribution to the overall scheme, the double pink petunias are really pretty up close. You can see a touch of lime green at the base of the petals.



I'll end with this shot of 'Pink Double Delight' coneflower and 'Evolution' salvia (which grows as an annual in my climate). So what do you think of the end of season product? I think it turned out pretty well overall, though I'm planning a few tweaks here and there. Next year I'm not planting annuals, so no dahlias, petunias, fanflower, lobelia or salvia. But everything else should get bigger and fill in better. Eventually you won't see any bark. This fall I am adding a couple of 'Coral Supreme' peonies and six 'Just Because' lavender siberian iris to replace the ones I killed. But the overall color scheme and design will stay the same. It's nice to have one part of the yard mostly settled.

14 comments:

  1. Hi VW,

    Very nice to see things growing, I love looking at other's gardens, especially watching them mature. It always amazes me how different things can look in such a short space of time.

    I do love your rocks, they're gorgeous!

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  2. It looks beautiful, young or not it's quite a wonderful garden.

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  3. I think it's fabulous! The perennials will continue to grow and fill in so quickly next year. Love the color scheme and textures.

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  4. It is beautiful, I am not disappointed.

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  5. Very nice VW~I know you're pleased!

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  6. I think what I like most, VW, is the stones you've chosen and how they're placed. Of course the plantings are beautiful.

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  7. Hi VW, I haven't got round to visiting for a while, and am so pleased to be back. Your garden is really coming on and looks beautiful - of course there will be tweaking, and us passionate gardeners wouldn't have it any other way! I love it all but especially the old fashioned rose and the rocks. cheers, cm

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  8. Just found your gardening blogspot and think it's fantastic. Your gardens are beautiful! We live in a gated, Sr. Citizens community where we can only have foundation type flowerbeds(straight and boring)I tried wintersowing for the first time and when everything was ready to be put out, I just planted them anywhere there was a bare spot of soil..so it looked like a hodgepodge. I will spend Sept. thinking about what I want to keep and what to get rid of. My wish list for 2011 keeps getting longer and longer. I definately want to add Pink double delight echinacea, May Night salvia, and some double pink knock out roses, rozanne hardy geraniums, and the list goes on and on.

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  9. I like the way your blogspot list your garden additions for the year. I see you have a wish list too! Do you save any of your seeds from your plants for next year or to trade or share with others? Do you have pictures of all your 2009 garden additions somewhere on your blog that I might have missed? I like the way you have listed where you purchased each plant. Keep up the good work! Pat yourself on the back!

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  10. Betty, so nice to hear from you. I tried to click on your name to find your blog but couldn't, so I'm answering here.
    Your wish list sounds very wise - I favor the award-winners like May Night, Rozanne, and the knockout roses. You'll do have good success with those.
    I saved some seeds last year and gave them to a friend locally. I haven't been collecting seeds this year and somehow misplaced my stash from last year! I'm sorry. Remind me next year and I could save some for you.

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  11. Oh, and if you click on the 'landscaping projects' topic on the sidebar, you could see pictures of the yard from early spring this year and I think there's one or two from when we moved in 3 years ago.

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  12. I do enjoy seeing the wider shots of the garden - and it is looking lovely. The colours that you have put together are delightful and the rose 'Abraham Darby' looks so healthy.
    K

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  13. VW, Your garden is looking lovely; I really love all those peachy-pink and blue/violet combinations you have. (And congratulations your your impending addition.) -Jean

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  14. Your garden is so beautiful and thanks for the gardening ideas.

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