tulip bulbs planted

June helped me plant twelve tulip bulbs in the daylily bed. Hopefully the squirrels won't dig them up and eat them before spring.  I've been dreaming of rearranging all the bulbs, but never quite found the time.  Maybe next spring. These bulbs I purchased from the supermarket - impulse purchase.

Painted Ferns - the kindness of strangers

Well, not strangers exactly.....
I mentioned to my step-mother-in-law Julie that we were trying to fill in some shady gaps in the garden and within hours she showed up with ferns.  I was ecstatic to get some big ole ferns in to add some height and texture to the ivy beds on the north side of the house.  She also handed over a hosta which I promptly split in two and planted (you can see one of them along the fence below)
THEN, I walk over to her house the other day, and find two large cardboard boxes of japanese painted ferns!  For me!  Julie mentioned to her friend at work Gwen, that I was in need of some planting material and Gwen yanked some ferns out of her garden.  I hardly even know Gwen, but I find it so sweet that as Julie's friend, and fellow gardener, she went to all that trouble.  So nice!!
The painted ferns had a tough two days in their cardboard box, but I think they'll spring back.  Gwen says they are from the Scott Arboretum and aren't picky about their soil.  We'll see....

 Also note my astilbe blooming.  There is another one next to it, but it is pretty scrawny and it is unlikely that it will bloom.

What's Sprouting Today

Little Hyacinth blooming by the family room windows. Bed B3

Frilly red tulip in bed B3

Pink tulips and little yellow narcissus in bed B3

Purple hyacinth in bed B3 on the side of the family room.

Astilbe (red leaves) popping up (amid some creeping Charlie) beneath the hydrangea tree in bed B5

Clematis coming up next to the hose.

Ferns unfurling beside the garage. bed B4

 

Forsythia in full bloom.by driveway

Butterfly bushes pruned

yesterday i took care of the butterfly bushes.

Late summer pics

Just a quick recap of what is going on out in the back yard in mid-September (need to weed!):
Vegetable garden with the last of the tomatoes, marigolds, rosemary and broccoli and beet seeds. B7

Front porch garden with marigolds, sedum, and rose of sharon still blooming.  Red gaillardia still hanging in there. B6

 Garage side garden - needs some serious weeding, but the hostas are doing well. B4

 Daylily bed B5. It really was just all daylilies!

 Back fence line - B10

 North fence line B11. After I removed some thorny shrub.  I thought it was a rose of some sort, but the blooms were just tiny white flowers - definitely not worth the thorny mess. 

 Screen porch ferns B1

 New japanese holly and chysanthemums. B2

 Family room bed B3

Daylilies are blooming

Finally, our first daylily has bloomed!  We have an entire bed (B5) of daylilies (or rather, they are our neighbors', but our large family room window overlooks them).  It looks like the first to pop  are double orange daylilies.  Very pretty.The rest of the neighborhood's daylilies have come and gone. I guess our bed is shaded enough to delay the bloom,  I was getting worried that they wouldn't bloom at all.

B5 Backyard Bed

November 2010 - when we saw the house for the first time

late April: Post-bamboo removal.

late April

Early June.  I reduced the size of the bed, and expanded the lawn by putting in sod.

Mid June: Sod has taken, bamboo temporarily under control, I added some astilbe for a little color.

Bed B5.  I consider this the primary backyard bed.  Our main living area, the family room, has a direct view of this area, so it was one of the first areas I attacked.  As spring sprung, we found a net of bamboo runners under this bed. After many many hours of pulling out bamboo runners, we ended up with one fern, a healthy crop of daylilies, a hydrangea tree (Peegee?) , and a couple heavily pruned butterfly bushes (color yet unknown).