I posted another thread with photos of my front garden, so thought I might as well invite you into the back yard too. It leaves much to be desired and is not as finished looking yet as the front, so I don't take as many long shots. What lawn was there when I moved into the house has slowly given way to all flower beds and paths. The chain link fence does not make a very nice background, but I'm working on covering it up. The first sign of spring is the creeping phlox and other bulbs blooming.
Mrs Moons Pulmonaria are another early bloomer in what I call my shade bed. In fact it gets too much sun and the plants there ususally look rather bad by late summer. A large tree that used to shade the are fell over a few years ago and much more sun gets to the bed now.
Two minature lilacs help to cover up part of the fence and add fragrance early season. Allium bloom at the same time. The lantana and dahlia in this photo are in pots of the back deck.
May 16 looking towards the Iris bed.
You have lots of early color! I like your combinations to. I didn't plan enough three season color and I'm looking at everyone's pics to get ideas.
Send more pics!
Deborah
Bare looking spring bed by garage.
Another early spring shot without much color. I should add more bulbs. The white along the left side is valarian. The Iris are just starting to open in the back corner and the snowball viburnum is in bloom.
This message was edited Oct 4, 2006 1:06 PM
Valarian is very pretty in bloom and smells wonderful.
This little snowball bush is two years old and not very large yet. I'm hoping it will fill up the whole back corner as it grows. May add a couple more next spring.
Iberis is another early bloomer. There are some white anemones mixed in with it that were about to bloom in this photo. This bed still need work. I moved the Cardonna salvia that you can see in this photo to another location this fall. It ended up spreading too much here.
I have a large compost pile behind the garage. The shrubs in this corner are snowberries and I am in the process of digging them up this fall and replacing them with Blackbeauty elderberries. Hope they will do well there. I also got one of the lime green leaved elderberries. Wonder how long it will take them to fill in?
This message was edited Oct 5, 2006 6:26 AM
The Iris had such a good year. Many of them were new ones and it was exciting to watch them open. I spend a lot of time with my digital camera taking photos. Thank goodness for digitals. Afraid Iris borers were very bad this year and the display may not be so good next spring. I need to learn how to treat for them.
More Iris. This bed looked very bare after the Iris and the tall lilies behind them were done blooming, so I moved some of the Iris this fall and added some daylilies to the bed. I think next year, I may move the tall lilies behind the Iris to a new area and fill that in with something like tall cosmos that will add late season color.
Goatsbeard in front of the shade area.
I call this bed "The Burning Bed", Using lots of reds, oranges and golds. Lots of daylilies, a couple helenium, lilies, a Penstemon and some annuals including a large blue salvia to cool things off a little. Plus some heurchera, golden creeping jenny, goatsbeard, astilbe and a few other odds and ends.
Your yard & beds look so nice and tidy! You must spend a lot of time keeping them that way. Yes, your irises look wonderful! I had my first blooms from bearded irises this year. They are marginally successful in my climate, but I love them. I've never tried pulmonaria. I wonder how it would do in my wet zone 3.
I added 5 Sundance bicolor gaillardia and they have bloomed and bloomed and are still going strong in Oct.
This message was edited Oct 4, 2006 1:44 PM
I think the pulmonaria would do Ok for you. They need some shade and like it a little wetter than I keep them. There are so many pretty ones out now. By mid June Abraham Darby is in full bloom and blooms on and off all summer. It was one one of the first things I planted in the back and the color does not really go with all the hot colors I'm using now, but I find it hard to get rid of it. I may replace it next spring with a yellow or red one.
Saratoga Spring Time is a May blooming daylily and blooms along with the bright yellow yarrow and Maynight salvia.
Foxglove blooms in front of the valerian. It is reblooming lightly now in Oct. I have a hard time getting them to reseed for me, so usually add one or two new ones each year to replace the ones that die. Using Preen I'm sure does not help with the reseeding, but it sure does keep the weeds under control.
Lemon Prelude is another early blooming daylily.
Mid June and the lilies are starting. This is Latvia.
An unknown lily that blooms for a very long time in the Burning Bed.
Desert Song is a lily that I moved this fall to bloom next to the unknown above. Thought they would be pretty together. I tend to do a lot of moving.
June 23. The zinnias in the raised square bed seem to be slow to get started this year. Daylilies are blooming away nicely.
Lilies by the garage get very tall.
Looking towards the house there are even more daylilies and lilies in June.
As if I don't have enough flower beds, I am also starting a new one in my neighbors yard. This area is along the side of my driveway and in Sept I planted it in daylilies and Iris. Here I was using newspapers to kill the grass.
June 27. More lilies and daylilies. The vine on the fence is a Dutchman's pipe vine. I planted it a few years ago. Big mistake. It shoots up all over the place. I am going to try to kill it this fall and replace it with morning glory vines next year.
This message was edited Oct 4, 2006 9:59 PM
Susan, Susan, Susan...... charming the neighbors out of their land again, are ya? LOL
June 29. African Queen lily.
I am thinking of taking over the whole block and then moving on into the park. LOL! It is a disease, but a pleasant one. Silk Road lily.
July 4th
Another photo from July 4.
July 6, the Burning Bed is heating up.
July 6 again. This is the bed that the valarian was blooming in last spring.
Same bed, looking towards the house. White Henry is in full bloom. Maybe my favorite lily.
But all the lilies are so lovely it's hard to pick a favorite. This is Leslie Woodriff.
July 14
