Front Garden

The front garden is small and it is the newest garden.
Because of this, it is also the garden that is the most overgrown.

Weeds overtake some of the plants and I never see them again. Others struggle through until I manage to get over there and weed.

The bit that is closest to the front deck is getting more and more under control this year. I see it more, walk by it more, bend down and pull weeds up more.

It is actually getting quite pretty.

 

 

 

Who doesn't love groundcover?

I have groundcover everywhere! Nothing keeps the weeds down better. Most of my groundcovers bloom and it is wonderful to see sweeps of flowers in the gardens.

Some of my groundcovers are plants not traditionally considered groundcover. I use anything that will spread and fill in, like fern and lily of the valley.

I even have plants that I would never have considered in my city garden, like sweeping views of goutweed. Here, the drive keeps it under some control and I have learned to brutally rip it out where it needs it... without feeling guilt. lol.

I always have my eye out for new or different groundcover, like my tricolour sedum. And, I am always looking for new little corners, nooks and crannies in my yard in which to plant them.

 

Another Victim

The 'Autumn Joy' sedum was new to my garden last year. I had one a couple of years ago that did not survive its' first winter. Last year, I replaced it in a few places. It did not bloom but it came back this year in all of the spots it was planted and was in full bud when the early frost hit. Looks like another year to wait for blooms but I can only blame myself. The frost was forecasted and I chose not to believe it. I could have covered it and it would have likely opened since we are having a long, warm fall. Another victim of my lessons learned.

First Sign of Fall

Our first sign of fall has shown up in the garden. Sedum 'Autumn Joy' is in full bud. Won't be long now before we will be watching the forecast for frost warnings overnight. I heard today that we are supposed to have a dry, warm September. That would be nice.

Hens & Chicks Again

I love groundcovers of all types, especially sedums. Of all of them, my far and away favourite is hens & chicks. Any variety will do but the larger the better and if they are bicolour green/red I tend to gravitate to them first. Of course, my favourite would also be the one that is the most challenging for me to grow. I did manage to find and save all three of these this year. Their reward for resilience will be a more protected spot for next season.

First challenge is that they are small. Small can get lost in my garden and sometimes be found too late to save. I have more than one day a season that I look out the kitchen window and wonder if I am growing a weed garden or a flower garden. Worse still, I can't even try to call it a wildflower garden because thistle and goldenrod do not a garden make. Under any definition.

The next and biggest challenge can be summed up in one word... animals. From the crows that peck them up every spring to the dogs that seem to live only to paw them up out of the dirt and baby hammy who likes to take them into the tree to munch and then spit them out - animals of all kinds love hens & chicks. Many days I can do my garden walk-about to find hens & chicks sitting root upward, smiling at the sun. The afternoon sun here is hot. +35 and dry today. An afternoon of that would kill most plants. Not hens & chicks. I pop them back in and they always recover. Always. It is one of the many things I admire about them. This week, I need to find all three of these a new, permanent home. They are currently in temporary spots. I am determined to have their roots in the earth by the end of this week!

The Little Things

This plastic pot belongs in a little green metal chair. It is the seat of that chair, obviously never meant to sit in. I really dislike plastic pots and only planted it because I loved the little chair. Last year I used the chair as a peony ring for a baby peony that was needing help standing and the pot sat in the shop all year. This year, every pot I am taking has been planted with plants I am taking. This little plastic bowl seat got filled with sedum, creeping jenny, hens & chicks and dwarf purple iris - yes, I have a spreadsheet! Since it is an awkward shape to sit outside the chair and the chair is still over the peony, I tucked it in the boardwalk garden where a winter killed veronica left a space. Turns out that it is my favorite little planter this year. It is full of texture and so many shades of green that it always catches my eye as I walk by. Guess I like plastic after all.

Good Hair Day

I was born with bone straight, very fine hair. The kind of hair that it is hard to find a hair dresser that knows what to do with it. The lifetime result of that is that my hair is always straight and either shoulder length or longer because for the last ten years I have had the same hair routine. Every summer when the weather gets really hot, I pull it all into a ponytail and then cut that off. It grows the rest of the year until I get too hot in the garden again and repeat the procedure. I think my skills as a garden hair dresser are far more impressive. This year, our pothead Gnome has three types of sedum for hair. I like this planting better than any other she has had since she arrived. Miles is more fond of her when I plant decorative grasses but I love the way the sedum sits along her forehead and fills outward and upward giving the impression that she has spent some time making herself look her best. Perhaps heading to a Saturday night barn dance. I think she is going to look even better when the flowers open.