Category Archives: the Lot

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day – July 2019

alley bed, backyard bed, bloom day, front bed, native plants, perennials, pollinators, sidewalk bed, the Lot

Even though it has been horribly hot and humid on the Lot, we have had some overcast days. This allowed me to take pretty okay photos for a Bloom Day post! “What is Bloom Day,” you ask? It’s a day gardeners from around the world post pretty pictures of what is currently blooming in their gardens. Then we all swap links over at May Dreams Gardens. So let’s do this!

Gaillardia - Arizona Sun

The city removed the failing norway maple in the verge, so this spring I created a new bed. During the winter we have a lot of salt thrown up from the road by the snowplows. So this bed is a bit of an experiment as I’m testing salt-tolerant plants. One of these is now blooming, the blanket flower (Gaillardia ‘Arizona Sun’).

Echinacea

Also up front, the native coneflowers are beginning to open up in the south bed. These blooms attract oodles of pollinators before offering seed to the finches in the autumn. Behind the stand of coneflowers, the little shrubby cinquefoil (Potentilla) is producing its cheery, yellow blooms.

coreopsis

I often wonder if gardening is a gateway hobby to entomology because HOW COOL IS THIS LITTLE BEE? It is quite tiny, as the bloom belongs to the tickseed (Coreopsis) in the front bed. Tis the season for tickseed on the Lot as all cultivars are currently in bloom.

lilies

I have to admit, I wasn’t much of a daylily fan until I actually had some on the Lot. These lovely blooms, planted in the southeast corner of the house, are from a friend who was losing a battle with lily-loving deer.

masterwort in bloom

On the east side of the house a bed receiving morning sun and a slight blast of sun in the in early afternoon. Then the shadow of our home passes over the plants and gives them a break from the really hot mid to late afternoon sun. The white bloom is from the masterwort (Astrantia). The yellow blooms are the fading lady’s mantle (Alchemilla).

little hosta with hedgehog

In the back garden, there is a lot in bloom right now. Here’s Fini with a Hosta ‘Mouse Ears’ on the left and a dwarf bellflower (Campanula) on the right.

Blazing Star and Balloon Flower

I’m pretty excited about the white blazing star (Liatris) pictured above. I finally have arranged the planting in the bed correctly so the plant has enough sun to bloom. The purple blooms just now opening are balloon flower (Platycodon grandiflorus). I also learned balloon flower belong to the larger bellflower family.

Butterfly Kisses Coneflower

Also in the back garden, these little coneflowers (Echinacea purpea ‘Butterfly Kisses’) are blooming. They serve as a part of a ‘living mulch’ to help keep the roots of a clematis cool.

The main sun bed in the backyard garden has a whole lotta stuff happening. Both the yarrows (Achillea millefolium) are finishing their blooming. The butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) is in bloom and hoppin’ with pollinators.

Himalayan Cinquefoil

This is another plant I’ve had for awhile and it just didn’t receive enough sun to bloom. It’s now tucked behind the yellow yarrow in the main, backyard bed. Love the blood red bloom on the Himalayan cinquefoil (Potentilla atrosanguinea).

Rooguchi Clematis in Bloom

If plants were sorted into Hogwarts houses, this pretty purple clematis would be in Hufflepuff. The clematis ‘Rooguchi’ is a rambling clematis that doesn’t suffocate other plants and provides blooms from about May to late autumn on the Lot.

Threadleaf Coreopsis Blooming

As mentioned earlier, all tickseed is in boom right now. This is a threadleaf variety planted back by the water barrels and receiving a hot blast of afternoon sun.

hydrangea in bloom

Hydrangeas are another flower I wasn’t very keen on when first beginning to garden. However, they are beginning to grow on me. This one is a more compact variety, only growing to 4’x4′.

Bee Balm Blooming

Also blooming are all 3 varieties of bee balm (Mondarda). This one is from the pollinator bed I created last autumn. It is conveniently located on the south side of our 2 veggie beds. In addition to insects, I’m hoping to see a few hummingbirds this season.

Blooms of Rattlesnake Master

These final blooms are opposite the alley bed. They belong to the rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium). The plant belongs to the parsley family and is native to tallgrass prairies of eastern and central North America.

I planted the rattlesnake master with the idea of creating a larger bed catered to ground-nesting bees. The area is at the northwest corner of the Lot by the alley, where not many neighbors walk. It would have the sun it needs and also be more safe for the bees. However, the plant selection is dwindling as the maple on this corner matures and the bed gets more and more afternoon shade. I think we can still #makeithappen, it just won’t be as large as initially imagined.

Slowing Down to Smell the Flowers

Something I am trying to consciously do this year is to slow down during these warmer months. Heat makes me cranky, and then it is not so fun to be in the garden. I’m aiming to spend any time deadheading and weeding in the very early morning and the early evening. Otherwise, I am attempting to sit and be still to enjoy the Lot and all the creatures visiting it. I’m seeing insects I’ve never noticed before. With a cool drink in hand, it’s been pretty fabulous so far.

So that is all for July’s bloom day on the Lot! I’d love to hear what is blooming in your garden.

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day – May 2019

backyard bed, bloom day, bulbs, front bed, gate bed, loki bed, perennials, southwest bed, spring, the Lot

It has been awhile since I participated in Bloom Day over at May Dreams Gardens. But the weather was slightly overcast the other morning, so I brought the camera out into the garden with that goal in mind. This Spring on the Lot seems to be running behind previous years. When I attended a bare roots class the other weekend, our instructor commented we are about 2 weeks behind last year. Looking back at the blog at previous Spring blooms for May, that does indeed seem to be the case.

Out front in the south bed of the Lot, those classic red tulips are blooming. These bulbs were in the bed when we moved into the home. There are many not blooming beside and behind the overgrown yew which also was there on move-in day. I’m determined this year to mark area with popsicle sticks and dig them up in the fall and relocate them. The bi-color tulips are newer.

In this southwest bed are new tulips as well. The creeping phlox (Phlox subulata) is also blooming. I’d like to divide it after it is done blooming and distribute it more evenly through the south and southwest bed.

Pro Tip: To get a discount on creeping phlox for your garden, visit the nursery after the phlox’s bloom time. The nursery will have sheered off the spent blooms, so it is harder for them to sell to the public. If you know what you’re looking for, you often get a bargain!

And then I got momentarily distracted by these less-than-perfect looking tulip blooms. I do enjoy a good quirky, bug nibbled flower.

It also had rained the night before, so there were droplets of rainwater still on the plants. Okay, onward!

Here the barrenwort (Epimedium) is in bloom in the east bed. I LOVE, love, love this plant. It is so magical…like foam flower (Tiarella) magical. Those little flowers look like they are floating, and check out the foliage! This is a rockstar for dry shade or morning sun areas in the garden.

In the back garden of the Lot, the bleeding heart (Lamprocapnos spectabilis) is displaying its stalks of suspended blooms. I have a lot of seedlings from this plant to give away in a neighborhood plant exchange this year!

Here is a service berry shrub in bloom. This shrub is a favorite of any robins nesting nearby. They absolutely love the fruit.

A closeup of the shrub. I really enjoy white blooms in the spring. Whenever we have rainy days and overcast skies, the white blooms of this shrub seem to glow. It’s a nice reminder when looking out the kitchen window that spring is indeed in progress.

This Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum odoratum ‘Variegatum’) colony, pictured to the left of St. Francis, began with transplants from Loki’s bed thanks to my gardening buddy Ms. A. I feel it’s filled in rather nice.

In the very back of the backyard garden, this barren strawberry (Waldsteinia fragarioides) is nestled between the rain barrels. Again, the lighter color bloom brightens up this area on cloudy days. It’s often grown as a groundcover, though it has been slow to spread in this spot. I think I’m going to grab a few more of these during this year’s nursery crawl.

Gah, I love this plant SO much!!! It’s prairie smoke geum (Geum triflorum). There are geum cultivars available, but I’ve never found any of them as interesting as this native gem. I feel this could be one of those magical plants as well. That’s a scientific classification, right?

A closeup shot of the flowers. So fuzzy!!!

And finally in Loki’s bed, the very first lenten rose (Helleborus) to grace the Lot is in full bloom with new grow on the way. It gets larger and more beautiful every season.

But Wait, There’s More

There are more plants blooming on the Lot I haven’t pictured above. A whole bunch of grape hyacinth bulbs (Muscari) and violets are adding purple dots of color. Cranesbill (Geranium) and more lenten rose (Helleborus) are also in bloom. A few primrose (Primula vulgaris) are still blooming. The brunnera (Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’), lungwort (Pulmonaria), and rock cress ((Arabis sturii) are all beginning to bloom.

Migrating Party

backyard bed, birds, spring, the Lot

I’m not sure how to explain what was happening today at the bird feeder in the back garden. On the Lot, we have a site line from our kitchen window into the middle of the back garden. The Other Half and myself enjoy watching for birds visiting throughout the seasons. We enjoy it enough our friend Ms. A purchased us a backyard bird ID guide.

Across the backyard near the garage we have a tray feeder for sunflower seeds, a hanging feeder for jams and fruit, and a suet cage. Right outside the kitchen window we’ve hung a thistle seed feeder on one side and a suet feeder on the other. The thistle seed feeder is often crammed full of American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis), both to our delight and the four-footed management’s frustration. The little roof at the top of the horizontally hung suet feeder ensures the suet is reserved for woodpeckers, nuthatches, and any other bird willing to cling upside down to enjoy the feed. We usually find the downy woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens ) grabbing a meal.

Anyway, back to today. I had left my office and walked downstairs to refill my coffee mug. I always like to look out our window into the garden to see who is at the feeders. A normal day will bring the goldfinches, house finches (Haemorhous mexicanus), woodpeckers, northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis ), recently a pair of black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) , mourning doves (Zenaida macroura ), and a whole load of house sparrows (Passer domesticus).

But today was different. Hopping around on the ground below the feeder was a rose-breasted grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus)! I have NEVER seen this bird in the back garden since we moved here just over ten years ago. Mom G has loads of them in her garden 2 hours north of the Lot. It was a juvenile male, but still quite pretty.

I excitedly texted the Other Half to tell him the news. When I looked up again, there was yet another bird I had never seen at our feeder! It was a block of the prettiest gray, with a slightly darker gray cap and narrow, pointy beak. Some minutes spent with the ID book helped me to identify the bird as a gray catbird (Dumetella carolinensis).

Returning to my desk for work, I felt giddy with having witnessed these new visitors to the back garden. As mentioned many times before in this digital journal, one of the reasons I garden is for wildlife. Even if they were passing through for migration, I was happy to have created a space the birds could stop in and grab a bite.

Lunch time rolled around and I headed back down to the kitchen to get a meal of my own. I about fell over when I looked out the back window. Four adult male rose-breasted grosbeaks and one female were at the feeders. One of the males flew right up to the back window to take a try at the finch feeder. Also, hopping around on the ground below the feeder were several white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys ). This is a bird who has visited before, but often is only here a short time as they make their way north to Canada.

And then, as if this bombardment of diverse birds all in one day wasn’t enough, I spotted it. A baltimore oriole (Icterus galbula). I have tried every. single. spring. since living here to get this bird to visit the Lot. I ever-so-slowly reached into the kitchen drawer for the binoculars we keep there and took a closer look at it. Yes! It was an oriole!!! The recently sought after advice from Sister G had paid off.

When I again texted the Other Half, his reply was “Now you’re just making stuff up”. At least when he got home tonight he was able to see a Ms. and Mr. grosbeak. The whole experience was fantastic and I can’t wait to see what this season brings with our feathered friends.

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