Garden: Spring 2019 Update

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.)

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.

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.

"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.  

Itoh peony "Yumi"and alliums

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.

Volunteer violas

Garden: Spring Comes First to the Carport Bed

Plants in the "carport bed" are among the first to wake up in Spring.  This is a small bed--about 12'X8', and is located to the right of the entry path and adjacent to the carport.  It faces East and South and receives full sun in the morning and early mid-day (during the Summer) before becoming shaded by the house.  

In some ways, this is my "most complete" garden.  It has an open canopy provided by two multi-stemmed vine maples, understory shrubs (Ribes sanguineum and Fothergilla gardenii), grasses (Chasmanthium latifolium and Hakonechloa macra), perennials (Myrrhis odorata, Geum "Flames of Passion", Salvia lyrata "Purple Volcano", Allium "Summer Beauty"), and ground covers (Ajuga genevensis and Ajuga reptans "Mahogany").  I think it fits with the overall aesthetic that I am trying to build--a sort of casual place (well--I don't know if my control-freak tendencies will ever allow "casual" but, at least, I am striving to avoid "fussy") where moist meadow meets ungroomed hedgerow or woodland edge.  This bed is especially pleasing in early Spring as the Ajuga remains fairly evergreen and robust throughout the Winter and is among the first of my plants to push out new growth.  When I planted this bed, I'd hoped to see the Ajuga and the Geum flowering together--mostly, they do.  Yea!  Here it is today and the bloom will continue to improve over the next month or so. 

As the planting matures, the layering should become more apparent--with trees (up), shrubs filling in underneath and masking the fence a little bit, and grasses and ground covers bringing it all together.

Green and purple ground covers mingle.

Geum "Flames of Passion" gets a close-up.  I wish the flowers were a mustier color--they're a lot brighter than I'd hoped to see.  Still pretty, though, and very welcome in the Spring.

Ajuga genevensis pushes upwards.

Geum with purple background contributed by Salvia lyrata.

The plants included in this bed also look pretty good all season.  The Salvia lyrata blooms early in the year, but the flower stalks are rigid and strong and the bracts bleach to white on the purple stems giving an effect that, while different than the flowers, remains attractive throughout the year.  I do tidy-up the spent stalks of the Ajuga and the Geum, but that's about all the maintenance that is required in this bed.  

In an effort to extend the bloom and to tie this area together with the rest of the front yard garden (across the entry path), I planted a small cutting of "Jolly Bee" hardy geranium last Fall.  I am already second-guessing this decision.  "Jolly Bee" ran rampant last year and almost ate the rest of the garden.  Here, it will easily outpace its neighbors and I think the Ajuga, at least, may resent being covered-up.  But, hey, the Geranium can be cut back as needed.  I'm trying to hold firm to my decision and see how it plays out.  

So, that's the carport bed on this Spring (rather odd Spring) day.  Bye, all!