Category Archives: southwest bed

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day – November 2016

annuals, backyard bed, bloom day, front bed, perennials, southwest bed, the Lot

November on the Lot is always rather quiet so there is not much to post for Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day. Today was quite cold and soggy while earlier this week it was warmer. It will be a matter of days before we get our first hard frost which will finish off the dwindling annuals.

This first set of blooms is the alyssum planted from seed between the two vegetable beds. Mom G. has this annual in her garden and it has resown itself every year.

111916_alyssum

The next bloom is from an ice plant just obtained from an end-of-summer sale and placed in the main backyard bed.

111916_iceplant

Most of the purple coneflowers have gone black and died, which was perfect decor for Halloween! However, this last bloom is hanging on.

111916_coneflower

The jupiters beard begins blooming in spring and keeps at it until the snow covers it, as evidence by the bloom below.

111916_jupitersbeard

Also still  blooming are the lamium and lavender. More blooms can be spotted over at May Dreams Gardens, the wonderful hostess of Bloom Day.

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day – October 2016

backyard bed, bloom day, fence bed, front bed, loki bed, native plants, perennials, sidewalk bed, southwest bed

October Bloom Day is here! By this time each season the garden seems to have gone wild and the amount of daylight required to maintain control is dwindling . (The gardener is also tired and beginning to eye her knitting needles.) Looking back last year, we had some warmer-than-normal weather in October. So far this year we’ve had a ton of rain in September after a hot, dry August. The lankier plants have been beat down by the heavy rains. The days are cooler and rainy, but there are still some “blooms” to be enjoyed on the Lot.

We can always count on the toad lily (Trycyrtis hirta) to bring some delicate speckles of color to the Lot in the Autumn. I’d like to find another fall-blooming plant to accompany this shade-loving perennial in the east bed near the foundation of the house.

101416_toadlilies

In the expanded bit of Loki’s bed, the swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) is becoming streaked with color because of the cooler nights. The lavender it shares its bed with is still blooming and is way larger than the gardener had planned. Rats.

101416_swampmilkweedlavendar

The new anemone is still carrying on its show from last month. I like the backdrop of the blue blooms of the plumbago. The silver foliage of the sage is pretty as well.

101416_anenome

This joe pye weed (Eupatorium rugosum) is in its second year on the Lot. The white blooms look great with the darker stems of the plant. Apparently this cultivar grows to a max of 4 feet tall. I found this out just now as I looked up the latin name to post here. This must be why the plant is not  growing to the 6 feet I expected. Oy with reading the plant tags! You’d think I’ve learned to do so by now!

101416_joepyeweed

This is more than likely the last, frazzled bloom of Echinacea purpurea ‘Butterfly Kisses,’ a dwarf coneflower.

101416_butterflykisses

Here’s a droopy aster I rescued from beneath the mum when we expanded the backyard bed this past Spring. I’m looking forward to seeing how it likes the new digs next season.

101416_asters1

And here is another batch of aster currently peeking from beneath the foliage of a false indigo.

101416_asters2

Here is the monster mum in the backyard bed. It has not been divided since it was planted. I was going to do so this Fall, but read the Spring is the best time to do so. Therefore, the task has been shifted to the Spring list.

101416_mums

The next few shots aren’t necessarily blooms, but still some fun colors in the garden. The yew in the front South bed is covered in small red berries.

101416_yew

This year the rose at the southwest corner of the Lot was not pruned back, but allowed to form rose hips.

101416_rosehips

There are some other perennials still blooming on the Lot, including the various sedum and some coreopsis. Just fading are the snakeroot, heuchera, and the tall phlox.

Be sure to visit May Dreams Gardens to view all the other lovely blooms for this month!

Something is Stirring

backyard bed, bulbs, fence bed, front bed, gate bed, perennials, sidewalk bed, southwest bed, spring, the Lot

Yesterday I spent a nice chunk of the afternoon cutting back dead plant bits leftover from last growing season. As I worked on garden squats (yeah, the backside is burning today) and happily clipped away, I caught glimpses of plants emerging from the ground. It’s fun because you are busy clearing away hollowed stalks and crackling leaves when your fingers brush again something alive. While the Other Half and I have been cooped up inside bemoaning the fact Spring cannot arrive soon enough, these plants have been stirring. They’ve already begun their move toward the surface of the soil seeking sunlight.

So, I thought it would be fun to make a psuedo-First-Day-of-Spring (it was yesterday) post with photos of the first arriving plants on the Lot. This first grouping is of some Spring bulbs. Winter aconite and snowdrops have been open on the Lot for a few weeks now, but the tulips, daffodils, and remaining bulbs are queuing up in the wings.

Species Tulips Daffodil and Tulip Foilage Emerging Spring Bulb

In the South bed, sedum is already growing, as well as the bearded iris, bee balm, and coneflowers.

Emerging Sedum Emerging Iris Emerging Bee Balm Emerging Coneflower

Along the east bed, lady’s mantle and columbine are fanning out new growth.

Emerging Ladys Mantle Emerging Columbine

In the backyard along the fence bed, the tall garden flox is well on its way. The dwarf iris rhizomes are sprouting leaves and two poppies are racing ahead. Loosestrife is appearing as red spear-like columns.

032016_fdosPhlox 032016_fdosMiniIris 032016_fdosPoppyLoosestrife

Near the rain barrels, the snakeroot and brunnera are just emerging. The snakeroot seems to be pushing up a fiddle-head like shoot to break the soil surface.

Emerging Snakeroot Emerging Brunerra

In the backyard bed, the Himalayan cinquefoil has been well on its way for awhile now. There are little bits of frost bite around the edges of the leaves.

Emerging Cinquefoil

The weather forecast for the upcoming week is a bit more on the chilly side, with chances of frost during the evening. Because of this I left the layer of dead leaves the plants have been growing beneath. So begins my Spring routine of a quick, daily stroll about the Lot to check on the progress of the plants.