July 25, 2011

Mid-Summer Wide Views of the Front Gardens



Now that it's been just over a year since our front yard relandscaping project, here are some wide views of the recently pared-down gardens. For photos from summer 2010, see here. For photos of the new beds in spring 2010, see here.
The perennials are filling in well, but the shrubs and trees are still very small. I expected the English roses (which just finished up their first flush of blooms and are all leaves in these photos) would be 4-5 feet tall this year, but the harsh winter cut them back so much that they're in the 2 feet range.



I was hoping the backlighting would make pretty pictures, but many of the plants look washed out in these photos, sorry. In this view you can see a couple of the giant lavender 'Walker's Low' catmint (Nepeta). The flower spikes are starting to look rough and will soon need to be cut back, but they've given a couple of months of beautiful color so far. They'll start blooming again a few weeks after they're cut back and continue until frost.



The main color this month has come from the catmint, 'Pink Double Delight' coneflowers (Echinacea - in the background of this photo), 'Rozanne' hardy geraniums, and various daylilies. Above is peach 'Frances Joiner'. The daylilies didn't give many blooms last year after being divided up and transplanted. This year is better but still not overwhelming. Next year they should give a great show of both flowers and foliage.



This photo shows a short, flowerless rosebush in the center with 'Big Blue' lilyturf (Liriope) along the bottom right corner. At the center bottom is an 'Emerald Gaeity' Euonymus shrub. Lavender geraniums and catmint are in the background along with some pink coneflowers. To increase unity through repetition, the front gardens have 7 catmints, 6 geraniums, and 4 groupings of 3 catmints in each scattered around the area.



This view shows the bed next to the front patio and steps. In front of the rock is a 'Unicorn' corkscrew rush (Juncus), which visitors always notice and ask about. To the left of the rock is a sadly short rosebush, and to the right is a little 'Green Tower' boxwood (Buxus). Eventually the boxwood should get 7-9 feet tall and up to 2 feet wide, though I might keep it pruned narrower than that. I think of it as my welcome sentry as visitors pass by it on the way from the driveway to the front door.



This photo shows a different view of the same area, with a couple of 'Big Smile' daylilies in bloom next to a 'Rozanne' geranium. Like everyone else, I can't say enough good about the long season of color from vigorous 'Rozanne' - and no deadheading required, hallelujah!



Here is another pairing of coneflowers and catmint, located on the far west corner of the front yard. On the left of the photo, if you look hard, you can see a little 'Coral Supreme' peony. I added two of these to the front yard last fall, but neither bloomed this spring. I guess that gives me something to look forward to for next June!



Here are more coneflowers and catmint on the far east side of the front yard. In the background you can see a good display of pink blooms from the 'Jolyene Nichole' daylilies. At the upper left is one of the 6 baby 'Blue Star' juniper shrubs. It's hard to wait for these slow growers to fill in their space. Eventually they can get up to 5 feet wide, but they're all around 1 foot wide right now. They provide year-round steel blue color for the garden.



I'll finish with a close shot of those elegant 'Jolyene Nichole' daylilies. Overall I'm pleased with the growth the front yard is making, but it has a ways to go before it looks like the picture in my head. Grow, shrubs and roses! Be patient, gardener!

19 comments:

  1. Everything looks beautiful. Love what all you've done there.
    Cher Sunray Gardens

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  2. Looks wonderful!

    My 'walkers low' catmint never stays in bloom as long as 'six hills giant' -- the humidity and hot sun cooks the walkers. Here, geranium 'Rozanne' needs afternoon shade.

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  3. I love all of it, VW! It is looking lovely;-) I know what you mean about 'the picture in our heads' though...we all want lots of big, full and lush flowering plants and a garden has a way of 'doing it's own thing', whenever it pleases. I am almost ready to re-do some of my front area gardens because they are not 'living up to my expectations'. Patience is a virtue!(But this gardener doesn't seem to have it)!

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  4. I remember last year when your redid your entryway and front beds. They have filled in so pretty. I love the Catmint in the beds.They are doing so well.

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  5. Hard to be patient sometimes isn't it? I finally found some blooms on my newly planted Catmint ---now for it to flourish!

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  6. Its all looking so lovely VW! Your combinations are breathtaking and look like they were just meant to be together! You have the garden I hope to have one day. Can I ask, do you draw up a plan before you buy or do you just know what you want when you get to the nursery? I am learning I need to be somewhat of a planner or my combo's just look to random and not so beautifully put together like yours. Any tips would be great...thanks! Cheers Julia

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  7. I remember reading about your relandscaping project last year. It's really looking great. I love the pink daylily and that echinacea! My English Roses had a rough winter too. I lost 'Tamora' and 'Abraham Darby' came up from the graft and is kind of a floppy mess now.

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  8. It all looks so beautiful. My favorite thing about perennial gardens is how they are forever changing. And I know exactly how you feel about being patient... always my challenge.

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  9. Hi VW, haven't visited for a while - in my absence the garden beds have really filled out and look lovely! So glad you've included catmint (lol)

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  10. Świetnie to sobie wymyśliłaś i zrealizowałaś. Pozdrawiam

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  11. I think it's looking impressively filled in for the second year (in a couple of years, you'll be wondering how those plants got so crowded!), and the color combinations are beautiful. You've got that pink-blue-peach combination I was so taken with at the Pineland Farms garden. Jolyene Nichole is a lovely daylily. -Jean

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  12. Lovely. I bet your neighbors just love you! Thanks for showing us the wide views. Your plant combinations are wonderful.

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  13. Thanks for the info on the catmint, look forward to next year!

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  14. Your front garden looks fabulous. If I were driving by I'd definitely slow down and have a look-see!

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  15. I am sorry about your roses, but your perennials more than make up for them! Your front garden is so beautiful, delicate and elegant. I bought "Birch Hybrid" this year too, along with the white Serbian bellflower ("Alba"). I hope they do well...

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  16. Jean, the peach 'Frances Joiner' daylily with 'Pink Double Delight' coneflower and lavender 'Rozanne' geranium or 'Walker's Low' catmint is totally capturing my imagination right now. I love, love that color combo! Some of the other daylilies might be moved elsewhere so I can have more of that strong peach in the front. 'Autumn Wood' and 'Elizabeth Salter' are similarly colored daylilies that look great with the pink and lavender, out there, too.

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  17. On the catmint front you can do worse than to grow Nepeta 'transcaucasia'.

    I bought a pack of seeds from T and M and I'm really pleased with it. It seems a deeper blue to me than say walkers low, it comes into flower later but goes on and on, it doesn't look scruffy as the blooms go over and it gets big. It's branched out at about four feet for me.

    I don't know if 'Rozanne' is the same as 'Jolly Bee' but that blooms all summer for me and, yeah hallelujah no deadheading.

    All looks wonderful. Looking at that weather widget you've got some nice weather at the moment.

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  18. You did a great job!! You definitely have curb appeal. Pretty color choices, too.
    I would love to redo our front landscaping. Maybe I will get to it one day and get rid of more lawn.

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  19. Wonderful! I love the color scheme you have chosen. I love purples too... especially with the pinky-peach and yellow.

    Thanks for sharing!
    Julie

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