The Larger View of the August Garden
Rarely do I show the 'big' picture of my gardens. I tend to focus on single blooms or vignettes. I don't find that I like the 'frame' of the big picture because my yard is narrow and the fencing is ugly. However, I am pretty proud of well my plants have weathered the heat all summer long, as well as showing their drought tolerance as I only water (deeply) 1x a week.
Above is the front yard where the tall grass in the center of the bed, 'Morning Light' miscanthus sinensis is surrounded by euphorbia 'Ascot Rainbow, nasturtiums, phygelius 'Devils Tears' 'Firefly' heather (calluna vulgaris 'Firefly'), winter thyme and euphoriba rigida, geranium 'Max Frei' and thuja occidentalis 'Golden Tuffet'. There is plenty more stuffed in there but those are prominent right now.
Here is a view of the front from the side, where you can see that I don't water my lawn in the summer. The simple white garden mums have been blooming since June. Pretty impressive. Behind the mums is panicum virgatum 'Shenandoah'.
Above is the dahlia nursery. I foolishly bought gorgeous dahlia bulbs when they went on sale at Swan Island Dahlia's this spring. The 'bed' I have planned for them..isn't quite built. In the meantime they mingle in pots with geum 'Totally Tangerine', phygelius 'Passionate' and carex comans 'Frosted Curls'.
Right behind the garage the flower beds curve around, for a view of neighbor Jerry's truck..err, I mean, these pretty flowers. More nasturtium with lavender, rudbeckia, coneflowers, verbena and lupines.
Here's a view of the back of the garage. It's nice to see so many blooms still going.
This is my favorite view...sans the old clothes line and the neighbors shabby outbuilding. Too many plants to name but I am pleased with how this bed is filling out, now in it's third year. I wanted to design a space where bees, butterflies and hummingbirds all came to visit.
I have succeeded.
Now the challenge is to complete the other spaces and build the layers of color, while keeping evergreen staples that I have come to love.
So, despite the brown grass, I have managed to keep this garden going while holding true to my principals of not using too much water in the summer. I'm not ready to move to a completely xeric garden and will continue to explore interesting and new (to me) plant options.
Have a plant to suggest for an 8b zone garden? Let me know!
Cheers, Jenni
Above is the front yard where the tall grass in the center of the bed, 'Morning Light' miscanthus sinensis is surrounded by euphorbia 'Ascot Rainbow, nasturtiums, phygelius 'Devils Tears' 'Firefly' heather (calluna vulgaris 'Firefly'), winter thyme and euphoriba rigida, geranium 'Max Frei' and thuja occidentalis 'Golden Tuffet'. There is plenty more stuffed in there but those are prominent right now.
Here is a view of the front from the side, where you can see that I don't water my lawn in the summer. The simple white garden mums have been blooming since June. Pretty impressive. Behind the mums is panicum virgatum 'Shenandoah'.
Above is the dahlia nursery. I foolishly bought gorgeous dahlia bulbs when they went on sale at Swan Island Dahlia's this spring. The 'bed' I have planned for them..isn't quite built. In the meantime they mingle in pots with geum 'Totally Tangerine', phygelius 'Passionate' and carex comans 'Frosted Curls'.
Right behind the garage the flower beds curve around, for a view of neighbor Jerry's truck..err, I mean, these pretty flowers. More nasturtium with lavender, rudbeckia, coneflowers, verbena and lupines.
Here's a view of the back of the garage. It's nice to see so many blooms still going.
This is my favorite view...sans the old clothes line and the neighbors shabby outbuilding. Too many plants to name but I am pleased with how this bed is filling out, now in it's third year. I wanted to design a space where bees, butterflies and hummingbirds all came to visit.
I have succeeded.
Now the challenge is to complete the other spaces and build the layers of color, while keeping evergreen staples that I have come to love.
So, despite the brown grass, I have managed to keep this garden going while holding true to my principals of not using too much water in the summer. I'm not ready to move to a completely xeric garden and will continue to explore interesting and new (to me) plant options.
Have a plant to suggest for an 8b zone garden? Let me know!
Cheers, Jenni
It's looking so great, Jenni...that last pic is especially nice, with the warm light. Of course, my only recommendation is "grasses, grasses, grasses" ;-)
ReplyDeleteAgreed! And I have you to thank for introducing the idea of grasses to me years ago!
ReplyDeleteIt all looks great, but I love that shot of the front bed especially. I just bought two Morning Light Miscanthus yesterday, for a renovation of the bed that the raccoons have destroyed this year. Euphorbia 'Ascot Raingow' and Euphorbia rigida are going into that bed as well, so I'm glad to hear that they've all weathered the summer well in your garden. I don't plan to water that area more than once a week.
ReplyDeleteIt's all looking fabulous Jenni! Only 3 years? That's impressive. Your house color is the perfect accent for your color palette.
ReplyDeleteWow, it all looks fantastic!
ReplyDeleteThe plants around your house look lovely. It all looks very bright, cheerful and interesting. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe I am saying this about a BLUE house, but it is the perfect background. I guess Loree already said that but one can never have too much positive reinforcement.
ReplyDeleteI love all your planting ! All the things I like to grow . I have to admit I've been watering ….lots. I started out doing deep watering , each area for almost an hour, once a week? Then I was told that sandy gardens needed more frequent , less time. So, I'm confused. I'm now watering every day for a very short time . The moisture seems to have penetrated deep down , so I'm happy !
ReplyDelete