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The trip to Chattanooga was wonderful, but I was glad to get back home to my gardens and animals. It rained again Sunday and yesterday though, so it's too wet to plant again. It's extremely frustrating. Since I can't plant, I buy! My pot garden keeps expanding. I need some drier ground!
Yes, I broke down/gave in and bought Knockout roses. I read something that said think of Knockout roses as blooming shrubs instead of traditional roses. That works for me. I have a space on the left front of my house, in front of a row of arborvitae trees where I'm planting them. There is already a row of 'Happy Returns' daylilies there. I think it will look pretty from the road.

I bought a few vegetable plants yesterday: Tomatoes (Better Boy, which my father always planted, and grape tomatoes. I wanted Sweet 100s but didn't find them.); bell peppers; banana peppers; yellow squash; sweet basil (an herb, I know). I also want eggplants but didn't find them either. I'll have to look elsewhere. I'm going to plant my vegetables on my Flower Girl hill this year. I really want a traditional potager with raised beds. Maybe next year.


'Lady Banks' rose is blooming. It grows in the River Birch and makes it look like the tree is blooming.

This doesn't look like much, but it's an azalea that someone sent when my niece Tracy died in February. I planted it in the Angel Garden (shade garden under River Birch).


Wisteria on the back deck. Wisteria runs rampant, like blooming kudzu, but I love it. Need to keep on top of it better though. There are vines everywhere. The second photo is the pergola overhead. I want to weave little fairy lights through it on this.


The view of Flower Girl Hill from the deck (looking to the right). The pond is just beyond. I can't wait until all those roses bloom.

The view straight out from the deck of backyard. I really want a brick path around the perimeter of backyard, with a border of all kinds of shrubs and big roses and evergreens. To the left of this, the yard slopes up to the sideyard, which is my Secret Garden area. We still need to put steps down from there to backyard. Somewhere along this route, I'd love a long rose tunnel.

I have so many plans! That's the fun of gardening.

p.s. I found the angel face! Well, most of it. Now to find glue...

Shade Gardening

So, I got my orders from Bluestone and Wayside. The Bluestone plants were really nice; the Wayside plants, not so much. Why did I order from Wayside again this year? When will I ever learn? Most of what I ordered was for my shade garden, under the River Birch. I planted that today. I can't wait until it all fills in. I still have a few empty spots to fill.

I'm sorry for that faceless angel. I was going to try to fix it today, but I couldn't find her face. A missing face. How scary.



Planted:
Heuchera 'Frosted Violet'
Heuchera brizoides 'Bressingham Mix'
Astilbe 'Purple Lance'
Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost'
Hosta 'Brim Cup'
Hosta 'Aureonebulosa'
Tricyrtis 'Taipei Silk'
Epimedium 'Pink Elf'

Still left to plant. So far. I'm sure I'm not finished shopping.

I started making plant markers. I'm not sure how I feel about them. I think they can detract from the beauty of a garden, but I don't want to forget names. I could do garden maps, but I haven't so far.


I still haven't figured this one out. I've narrowed it down though. I believe it's Cops, Ingenuity, or Widow's Veil. I can't find photos of them though. Anyone?

SDB Iris 'Little Showoff'

SDB Iris 'Lore'

I know I take a lot of Bleeding Heart photos, but I just can't resist.

I couldn't decide which focus I liked better.

Chicken love.

Sad news: Another koi dead. This time it was my favorite koi, Dottie. I am heartbroken about it. I'm going to have to buy an ugly heron decoy.

Going to Chattanooga for the weekend. It's so hard to leave my gardening! I'll be back at it Monday.

Let's Talk Roses

The view out my kitchen window on this rainy day. A peek of the pond in the first one. We just got the waterfall/filter turned on a few days ago. The water is really murky right now. I dream of clear water! Sad fish news: Walked down to the pond Friday to find one of the big koi dead on the path. Most likely the work of the dreaded heron. I thought the heron mostly got goldfish and couldn't catch the bigger fish. Wrong. So heartbreaking.
In the second photo, the pergola that Pat built last summer. Cl. White Maman Cochet is growing on the front right. I want to plant something big on the back. I was thinking maybe Cl. Pinkie, which is an Earthkind rose.

OK, roses. I had decided not to buy any more roses, but I really wanted needed another Perle d'Or (also Earthkind) for my front garden/Good and Evil Garden. I love Roses Unlimited's beautiful, healthy, ownroot, one gallon roses. They have a three rose minimum or pay more shipping, so of course I had to order at least three. Well, maybe six. I waited too late to order though, and all but two were already sold out. So were the next four I inquired about. So far, Mrs. B.R. Cant (One of the most beautiful and carefree roses. I already have one.) and Duchesse de Brabant (another Earthkind) are reserved for me, and I've inquired about Adam, Souv. de Mme. Leonie Viennot, Gilbert Nabonnand, Mme. Lombard and Mlle. Franziska Kruger. Notice that this all started with my desperate need for another Perle d'Or, which I'm not getting. By the way, a great place to read about and see photos of specific roses is the HelpMeFind website.
My Mrs. B.R. Cant from a few years ago.

I am down some roses since I made my list in 2005. I'm going to do a formal inventory soon and make new markers.

Next up: Daylily Lust.

An Introduction of Sorts

Wisteria over deck.

I'm new here to Blogger. I moved my blog/journal over from Live Journal. We built our house 13 years ago on about 1.5 acres. It was just pasture and mud when we moved in, so all the gardens were from scratch. With the exception of trees and a few shrubs, I've planted everything myself that's here now. I like the concept of garden rooms and try to implement that idea. After I get everything cleaned up this spring, I'll do a photo tour of my yard and gardens. Gardening for me is an ongoing experiment, and I garden by trial and error, as do most gardeners, I believe. Oh, and (obviously from the photos so far) I have chickens! I got six chicks last summer: Three buff orpingtons and three plymouth barred rocks. All hens. I love them extremely. My favorite part of my gardens is my koi pond. It needs a lot of work still. I lost both of my parents in the past few years, and as a result of sadness, I seriously neglected my gardens. That is changing this year though! OK, enough babbling! Pretty picture time.








I had forgotten I had a white bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis ' Alba'). I love surprises like that.



I still haven't been able to indentify this SDB iris. It's making me crazy.

This one is SDB 'Jillaroo'.

My Bluestone Perennial order is supposed to be here tomorrow. So much planting to do!

Dogwood Winter?

Wintertime is back! I can't believe how cold it is. I went outside to check on things, and my hands froze. Tonight is going to be even colder. I'll have to move some stuff into the garage, and I guess I should cover up my irises with buds.

I don't plant many annuals, but I do love Angelonia (Angelonia angustifolia).

Photo from 2007 garden.
I usually buy violet/blue, but pink is beautiful too. I just love the form of this flower.

I also bought a few African daisies (Oesteosermum) Saturday. I needed some round flowers in my roadside/St. Francis garden (the names!).

Photo from this morning. Thank goodness I followed the rule about not planting annuals until April 15! I'll have to move these (still in pots) to the garage tonight.

I went to Farmhouse Gardeners's open house Saturday. Even though I didn't buy much, I just love to wander around that place. It's so beautiful. I did get a few things:

Hosta 'Brim Cup' (for under the River birch shade garden/Dot's Garden/Angel Garden)

Miscanthus s.'Variegatus' (for Pond Hill)

Heuchera brizoides 'Bressingham Mix' (for shade garden)


Loropetalum chinense var. rubrum 'Daruma' (for Pond Hill)


(I'm trying really hard with the Latin-esque thing!)

Here's my little shade area:

I have several things ordered to plant here also. Notice the concrete angel (Concrete Angel would make a great song title. I'll have to work on that.). My mother's beloved angel. I moved it into my garden from hers, and look what happened to it at my house.

Look even closer!

My guilt is huge about this. It did break off in (mostly) one chunk though, and I'm going to try to glue her face back on! Ha. How sad.

Here's your daily moment of chicken:




Oh, and we're on The Unimpressed Chicken! Yay!