Marigolds

I put in some marigolds yesterday.  I don't see marigolds much in high-end gardens.  I guess they are considered pedestrian for most serious gardeners, but i think they deserve a little more respect.  I have such happy memories of my Dad planting marigolds in our backyard when I was young.  They are such happy sunny little flowers that don't seem to take themselves too seriously.  They now welcome visitors in the bed up near our front door, and I know i can count on them to provide color all summer long.
Coreopsis now blooming up there too.

Lilacs and Magnolias

Some of our sweetest smelling plants and trees are in bloom this week- pink magnolia, star magnolia, pear tree,  hyacinth, wild hyacinth, grape hyacinth, and best of all, the lilac shrub! 

Lilac

L to R: Star Magnolia, Pear tree, and Lilac

 Love the foliage combo of the red maple, pink magnolia, and the Chinese Maple beyond

Hyacinths in bed B6

But of all the sweet smelling blooms, I am really loving the Viburnam collection of our neighbors.  It has such a sweet delicious smell which reminds me of white tic tacs. Yum.

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

Rose of Sharon Blooming!

Finally, confirmation that the shrubs/trees on the side of our house are Rose of Sharon.  They are just starting to bloom today.  We have some in B6 and B4 beds at the front door and at the side of our garage.  I'm not sure why I feel this way, but I think of Rose of Sharon as kind of....low class.  I wish I felt differently because we have a lot of them, and the flowers are quite stunning.

Bed B6 Front Door Bed

Mid June: I added some coreposis and some annuals to brighten up the bed

Mid May: Some woodland hyacinths in bloom, not much else...

Late April

This bed to the left of the driveway and in front of our front door will be gone when we reconfigure the driveway into a courtyard concept.  I'm not going to expend too much money or energy on it, so I put in some annuals to fill it in a bit with color.  The previous owners put these Rose of Sharon in EVERYWHERE! I'm not sure I'm a fan yet.