Botanical Beauties

Little by little, the lawn gets smaller and the beds get bigger. Grass is overrated anyway. We put in two raised vegetable beds, moving the perennials around, and dug out a new "Mediterranean" garden. The 4th St. bed got an extra foot in depth, and another new bed went in on the other side of the fence by the alley. The hyssop and monarda love it there!

The hops is still out of control; I'm pretty sure I will attempt to eradicate that this fall, but I'm not so sure I'll succeed.

I didn't do much plant purchasing this year. I'm trying to work with what I have now and later fill in any gaps. We did go a little mulch crazy, though. Everything looks better with mulch!

Much thanks to my fiance, who did all of the heavy lifting. He was an inspiration and a motivation.

Late Summer Update

I probably have more bamboo stakes than plants on this side.



Luminescent physostegia (probably the only obedient thing in my garden.)




Japanese Anemone



Bamboo Ewok arbor with clematis

Lady Emma Hamilton 9/07/2008

Master Gardener's Plant Sale

Lucky for me it was pouring rain; by the time I got to the plant sale after work, there was still a pretty good selection. Too bad for me that I imposed a very strict spending limit.

My loot:

Wood Aster - I have very high hopes for this plant. Likes shade and late blooming and xeric AND liked by butterflies?! Inconceivable!
Viola walteri - I think this was mislabeled because it doesn't really look like the violas that I am continually pulling out of my lawn and beds, which is what most of the viola walteris look like in my online search.
hollyhock - not sure what color it will be, but it is supposed to be perennial. I must cultivate (literally) my cottage garden look.
Geranium sanguineum - Bloody cranesbill is so descriptive. I love it! This is my second try for this plant. Last time I chose a spot that I think was way too shady for it.
Sisyrinchium bellum - blue-eyed grass. I was looking for some grasses, any grasses, no concern for any other aspect of its form. I had no idea it would have such a pretty flower! This is why I love the plant sale; I'm willing to spend a dollar on something I am completely unfamiliar with, and then it's a complete surprise when I bring home something like this!
Begonia grandis - another shady lady.

Now... where to put everything...

Bats are scary when they're flying directly at you...

7/18/2008



7/06/2008





7/06/2008




6/08/2008




6/07/2008




5/22/2008

4/20/2008

Lady Emma Hamilton

I had read about the lack of quality of the Lady Emma Hamilton rose on some gardening forums but from the description of the color, the scent and the growing habit, I was really excited to get it. It was sold out two years ago when I placed the order, so I had to wait until this spring until it was delivered. The condition was a little suspect when I received it; but I'm not an expert rose collector, and in general, I'm not a very picky person. So... I planted it and hoped that it would live and even thrive.

It was doing better than I could have hoped, but Maya had other ideas. The evil little girl enjoys killing plants. It's what she does best. Brodie tries not to hurt anything, and will exhibit remorse if he does misstep; but she is plantbane. You can see the evil gleam in her eye; flowers quiver in fear under her mere glance.

So she stepped on Lady Emma several times and knocked her first bud off before I put up a little fence to redirect dog traffic.

Lady Emma is doing much better now, and even deigned to produce another bud.