Hey, hi! I haven't been out in the garden much at all this year (as my blogging track record will confirm) but I thought I'd post a quick update on the front garden. I redesigned and replanted most of this garden during the past two years, so this will be the second spring in the ground for many of the plants. There is still a lot of growing/filling-in yet to come, but I think things are progressing well. (Next year is the year I should expect to see them "leap," right? Sleep...creep...leap.) Once grown-in, the general framework will be a swathe of Hakonechloa interspersed with western sword ferns. Flowering shrubs, perennials, and a few bulbs are dotted around within this framework.
The first photo is an overview of the front garden taken from the vantage point of the sidewalk at the Southeast corner of the property. In addition to Hakonechloa and sword ferns, I've planted some Allium "All Summer Beauty" and campanulas in the front rockery. (There are also some self-planted lady ferns, and I elected to let them stay in this new iteration of the garden.)
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| Garden overview |
I always wanted for the front walkway to give the effect of actually walking in/through the garden and I'm pretty happy with the way that effect has been achieved. The Salvia lyrata is a really tough plant and is establishing itself between the pavers. I like the way its burgundy foliage connects from left to right of the entry path. The salvia keeps trying to send up flower spikes and can look a little raggedy or informal, but it is easy to choose to leave some or to trim them all short--actually, (and despite the fact that this photo shows the plants freshly and uniformly trimmed down), I like to leave the ones at the sides a little bit longer and trim only the center ones.
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| Salvia lyrata between the pavers |
This is the small garden bed to the right of the entry path. The Ajuga genevensis has gone over a bit, but it is pretty and welcome in the spring. I'll have to get out there and trim down the spent blooms--it's a bit time consuming and much more nit-picky work than I like, but it is worth it.
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| "Carport Bed" to the right of the entry path |
Back on the left-hand side of the entry path, the pale yellow itoh peony "Yumi" is about ready to bloom. This is its first spring in the garden and I was impressed by how well it settled-in. But I am worried that it will try to flower just as we get hit with a streak of rainy days. The big, single flowers will be no match for a load of rain.
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| Itoh peony "Yumi"and alliums |
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| Itoh peony "Yumi" |
Volunteer violas--I don''t know where they came from. I'm kinda charmed by them, but I hope I don't regret letting them get a foothold in the garden.
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| Volunteer violas |
