Friday, July 9, 2010

WARNING! This blog comes with a warning.

 

WARNING!  This blog comes with a warning......if you are a very neat and tidy gardener.....you are going to want to STOP here!

You are about to enter.....my garden and she's kind of a "wild girl".  I'm not certain of true definition of an English garden but, I think, that's where we're headed.  Did I mention I love plants!  I would love to have one of each but I'm trying to constrain myself AND develop some sort of landscape design.

Over the past three years I and my helper son and hubby have removed a large messy tree that was located in the middle of the front yard, done away with the lawn and replaced it all with plant material and paths.

Yard and Emma 055

This is from April 2009, we laid out a mound in the center with a stone and gravel path on one side and very wide flower beds to the left and right of photo.  In the background, where you see the blue shutter is a narrow area for growing veggies (best sun exposure).

yard 2037

 

 

Right hand side of same general area June this year, shows the blueberries, blue oat grass (planted last fall) and sedum "Angelica".

 

 

 

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This is the mound and you can see how much the ground covers have spread in a year, I used Wooly Thyme and a sedum "Baby Tears".  The rose is "Happy Chappy", it looks pink here but it is more salmon with a yellow center.

yard 2028

You get the idea, stuff is growing.  We had such a wet spring but it wasn't that cold, so it has become jungle- like around here.

On the left of the path the yellow is Bayberry, the burgundy and pinkish-coral leaves are Heuchera or Coral Bells with more Blue Oat Grass and Hydrangeas.

 

front 020 One of my favorite plant color combos is Sedum  "Angelica", which changes color in the fall and winter to copper, right now it is bright yellow green combined with the blue of Blue Oat Grass and a hardy geranium called "Roxanne".  I'm in loooove with Roxanne.  She blooms non-stop from May to October, requires little water and no other care.

yard 2044 

Another favorite includes Sedum "Angelica" and heather in a dark mauve.  You can tell I like sedums, but especially "Angelica", easy care and lot of color bang!

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White Oriental Lily grows in the wide bed between the

mound and the street, shown below.front 027

From left to right above is the white lily, white Verbascum (the tall white spikes), yellow daylily and a gold one, in the background a rose named "Abraham Darby".  On the right side, with the silver leaves, is a Pineapple Guava.

front 034

 

 

This beauty is called Verbascum, it is related to a roadside weed, that tells you how easy care this baby is.

 

 

front 026 A little different view of the bed closest to the street, here you can see the lavender, Blazing Star (Liatris), the green flat looking flowers on the right are another sedum called "Autumn Joy".

front 032

Clematis "Nellie Mosier" growing on a trellis by the front door.

front 033A yummy coppery-orange Coneflower/Echinacea called "Sunset", along with more yellow "Angelica", blue catmint and miniature blueberry bushes.

front 056

Curb appeal, or just too darn many plants, you decide!

For me, I am so enjoying the low maintenance.  I tried to select plants that didn't require a lot of care, I do have four roses but two of those are landscape roses and easy care.  A few plants require cutting back and dead heading and some will need to be divided but pretty easy over all. 

I like color, most of the color comes from the plant leaves, although, I do have several perennials for cutting and for seasonal color.  Hope you enjoyed this rather lengthy blog and feel free to ask questions and leave comments!

Not everyone wants, or could live with this much organized chaos and that's O.K., it is your garden....just enjoy your beautiful version!

I am linking up to Oregon Cottage Garden Shop, Tatertots & Jello's Weekend Wrap Up Party and Rednesday, for the first time you'll find me at Smiling Sally's Blue Monday,Outdoor Wednesday and Bloomin Tuesday !

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think your yard looks wonderful!! So much variety of plants!! I had a peach verbascum plant that was so pretty when I lived in NM. Not sure they will live here in CO

Unknown said...

I love your garden... I can see you enjoy many plants.. and why not have them all? That's the joy in being a gardner! I see we are growing some of the same flowers too! Sunset Coneflower, white lillies, lavender, and Autumn Joy! ...We are in Plymouth, MA. just this side of the Sagamore Bridge over the Cape Cod Canal so I am gardening in the same climate as Cape Cod Gardners..Thanks for popping over to see my garden and tipping me off to this post of yours!
Dandelion Wishes,
Deb

Lynn said...

Looks like a lot of fun color and texture, and ya gotta love "lower" maintenance-enjoy!

Pie said...

Your garden looks awesome!

My Blue Monday.

SmilingSally said...

I saw that pretty blue on your house peeking out from your plants. Your garden is a good bit of work, but it's so worth it.

Happy 1st Blue Monday, Jan.

Tracy said...

Oh Curb Appeal without a doubt! It makes me want to take a walk through your garden paths and check everything out. That is an incredible transformation - it is obvious how much hard work and care that you've put into your yard. I love the Sunset Echinacea. I have seen it on several blogs recently and love the color.

Diana LaMarre said...

What a beautiful garden. I am amazed at how fast it filled in! I am also loving all the wonderful color you have gotten just from foliage. I know you said it's very little maintenance, but it sure looks like you have put in a lot of hard work!

Darla said...

I love what you have done, it's beautiful...I have a sedum fetish myself!

Anonymous said...

Wow everything has really filled in over the past two years, what a remarkable transformation. You are so lucky to have had a good amount of moisture this year, the garden is lush & full. So jealous! :)

Jean said...

Welcome to Bloomin' Tuesday! I'm a total lover of controlled chaos and have lots of it myself! What you have done with your yard is amazing. I can't believe how mature it looks already. Beautiful! Jean

Debbie in MS said...

This is my first visit from your blog and I LOVE YOUR GARDEN!!! I would love to just stroll through it and take everything in. I have fallen in love with geraniums.

g.suzie said...

Wow, your plants have really grown in a couple of years. . .Thanks for the tour, I love all your plants, you must have a pretty 'green thumb' because they all look like they are thriving!

Meadowsweet Cottage said...

I'll take flowers over lawn any day! I think it looks wonderful--nicely done :)

Susan said...

Oh my goodness - your garden is just gorgeous!! Thanks so much for sharing it with us!

teresa said...

That is just how I like gardens,organized chaos. Mine isn't even very organized. Lots of colors and mixes of plants. In my opinion, they all go well together.

Cherry Chick said...

Oh wow! How interesting to see how your garden has filled in. I'm sure you get a lot of pleasure from seeing the then & now of your hard work.
Thanks for sharing with us on Rednesday.
´*•.¸(´*•.¸♥¸.•*´)¸.•*´
♥•.*.Thank you.*.•♥
♥•.*.from Vicki.*.•♥
¸.•*´(¸.•*´♥´*•.¸)´*•.¸

Unknown said...

wow that is amazing that it grew in so beautiful... I saw the first pic. and can't believe that transformed into what it is now, great job guy's! Mica

Angela said...

Now you got me thinking,,I must not be a 'neat' gardener either since I'm trying to get the same look as you,,lol. I LOVE it...I'm so like you..plant flowers that are low maintenance, plant an abundance of them..(helps keep the weeds down is my thinking)..than I end up transplanting them again each year to different spots that are sparse...Thanks so much for sharing.

Sandy said...

Your Garden is not 'wild' it's looking like an English Garden and so beautiful!
I can see you spend time in there!
Sandy
thewondersofdoing@blogspot.com

Unknown said...

It is just a stunning garden....and in just a year?!?!?! You can definatley never have tooo many plants.

Athena at Minerva's Garden said...

This is so beautiful--I favor a very lush and full landscape, so this appeals to me very much! I will now be on the lookout for 'Roxanne' hardy geranium as well. I grow three different ones, and like them all, but none bloom as long as that, so it's on my list! Such a lovely use of contrasting foliage color as well as dwarf conifers and shrubs to provide structure and color for the longest period of time--this is very nicely done in your garden! Your verbascum is lovely--I have killed more than one by being too "kind" and watering them too much. This is my first time to your blog, so if you don't mind saying, what part of the country are you in and gardening zone?

Heather said...

I think it looks wonderful... and I love the path~ so inviting. I hope your neighbors tour the garden when you are out working. I used to love that part about living in a neigborhood.

Alyssa said...

I love this post! I'm in the process of trying to convince my husband to do the same - rip out the grass and build beds/walkways!!

Thanks for sharing!

Alyssa @ Beholding the Beauty

Ott, A. said...

Just stoppin' by from TGP. Your garden/landscape looks great, I don't know what your talking about being concerned about weeds. (I could show you some weeds.) We just landscaped our house this spring, so I can appreciate all the time and labor that went into yours.

Shelley said...

Geez, I think your garden is fabulous! Love seeing all the pictures. Although, it makes me think I need to a little more in mine! "sigh"

Jami @ An Oregon Cottage said...

The before and after pics of your mound are great- it has filled in so nicely. I think it's much nicer than boring old lawn and looks much easier to car for, too. Thanks for sharing at the Tuesday Garden Party!

SueLovesCherries said...

Jan, all your hard work paid off! Your yard looks fabulous! I bet the passers-by enjoy viewing your yard more than a grass lawn!

Sally Annie Magundy said...

Your garden is so lovely! Thank you so much for sharing it with us!
Happy belated Rednesday,
Sally