Some of you may remember this was the view down the front sidewalk last fall. Lush and growing everywhere.
Susan
What a Change a Winter Makes!
Now a harsh Nebraska winter has come and hopefully gone. Even though it's still bare, there are signs of life again and the spring clean up has started.
On the right side of the front garden a few daffs are starting to bloom. A few daylilies here and there are showing signs of spring sickness, but that seems to be the norm. So far, I think most of them made it through the winter.
Even as bare as things are this time of the year, it is my very favorite season in the garden. Every green thing that pokes it's head out of the ground amazes me.
This photo has nothing to do with cottage gardening, but it is one of my favorite childhood photos because I remember that it was early spring and I was so delighted to find a green piece of grass growing. If you look closely you can see I have that piece of grass in my hand and am studing it. Guess some of us are born to garden and love growing things. See below for photo.
Happy spring to everyone!
Susan
This message was edited Mar 21, 2007 11:36 AM
Dear Lincolness,
Gosh, what a beautiful fall garden. I love the mums bursting at the seams. It's really amazing seeing the contrast between early spring and later on and how lush it all is.
You guys already have daffodils blooming - mine are only just poking through the soil about an inch.
Here the childhood photo.
I do love this kind of story ,Lin , a true gardener is always optimistic -with delight in new life .Your Autumn garden was lovely with chrysanths ,so I am looking forward to how it looks in Spring .
Emelle .
Thanks for the comments. This is a very early blooming daff. Most won't bloom for a few weeks yet, bet you will have some before long. Emelle , what season are you in now? Or can you grow things year round?
Susan
My early daffodils here in Texas have already bloomed and now are just storing up energy for next year. I have some other bulbs that just now starting so hopefully I will have blooms in a few weeks.
Beautiful!! I'm trying to figure out the area so I can do drive by's and watch the transformation!
Thanks for your interest ,Susan .We are going into Autumn ,so my garden is looking tatty .I am planting bulbs now for next Spring (August ) .It is an inspiration to see everyone's Spring enthusiasm here in DG....
Emelle.
This message was edited Mar 22, 2007 12:48 PM
This message was edited Mar 22, 2007 12:54 PM
PS - yes there is generally something blooming in the garden throughout the year as we don't have snow .I have heard that you can't have Camellias or Rhododendrons there - is that true ? Because most gardens here have them because of their beautiful flowers in Winter ,when there isn't much else.
Emelle
lincolnitess,
Your sidewalk garden is lovely, nice colors, texture and balance. I'd love to see a progression of pictures as the seasons change, if it's not too much trouble.
Thanks. I planning on taking photos of various areas of the garden at least once a month this summer to see what areas need things added or moved around to get more all season interest. Here is a photo of the sidewalk area during daylily season last summer.
Really lovely scene .Do you lift the
day lily bulbs and store them Susan ? The picture looks so different from your other sidewalk one ; It would give people walking past ,such pleasure to see what you have created each season..
Emelle
You have a beautiful sidewalk Susan! It is difficult to imagine so much coming from so little, I too love to see the changes in spring. It's so satisfying when the ground is cleaned up, and new foliage is springing up everywhere, there has to be a trade off for cold weather!
I love the colours of your Daylilies, you look to have some choices ones there. The purple coneflower compliments them beautifully. I have quite a few Hems in large pots waiting for ground space, I haven't had flowers on those yet so need to get going with it. So much to do at this time when the weather allows, I'm sure you will know!
Do you have many other flower beds? Would love to see the rest!
Susan,
Have you considered using a few evergreen perennials? I'm in your same zone and have several plants that really liven up the winter garden. Some of my favorites are:
Sedum spurium
This is a low-growing sedum that is a lush bright green durringing the summer and sports bright pink flowers. However, in the winter it turns a deep brilliant red. It never looses its foliage. 'Dragon's Blood' is red through the summer and a deep black-burgandy through the winter.
Sedum rupestre 'Angelina'
Chartruse pine-like foliage makes an excellent textural piece in any perennial border. But best of all, it glows a brilliant yellow-orange all winter. It is especially attractive next to Sedum spurium above.
Dianthus caryophyllus 'King of the Blacks'
This deep-burgandy wonderfully-scented dianthus creates a mound of star-burst powder-blue foliage that livens up the dead winter ground.
Dianthus 'Spangled Star'
This dianthus also keeps its powder-blue foliage throughout the winter. It keeps a tight mound of soft grass-like foliage that when planted in groups looks like a series of silver balls.
Heuchera (all-kinds)
Every Heuchera that I've grown keeps its foliage through the winter. Orange varieties like 'Amber Waves' are especially intense during winter months. Others tend to get a rich reddish cast to their leaves.
Bergenia (most-kinds)
'Winter Glow' is especially nice, but almost all varieties exhibit a rich display of greens, burgandies, oranges, and reds all mixed together in the same plant.
Others
There are also a lot of others like Ornamental Strawberries, Variegated Sages, Thymes, Rhododendrons, and Pieris that can really liven up a winter garden.
Beautiful! I love the colors. You seem to have the progression from one season to another. I hope mine can look half as lovely.
Here are the two sedums together. The S. spurium is starting to loose its red color and revert back to green for the summer...so it is not as intense as durring the winter.
Here they are from a distance. You can see how intensly yellow-orange the S. rupestre 'Angelina' becomes.
I'm not sure evergreen perennials would do well in Susan's bed between the street & sidewalk, since the plows probably pile up a fair bit of snow, slush, salt, etc on that strip... maybe on the other side of the sidewalk?
I don't dig up any of the daylilies, just plant around them for season long color. I do have a few of the Angelina sedems along the street edge. They are one of my favorite sedems. Also some varigated lemon thyme and some other sedums. Some how they seem to tolerate the snow plows and salt. This bed also has lots of Iris, Penstemons, Monarda, coreopsis, yarrows, betony and other assorted things. I think the bed is about 7x40 ft. The daylily photo was taken while I was on the sidewalk looking towards the street, so it is just a very small portion of the bed.I have all my yard in flower beds, so will have lots more photos to post as the year goes on. Here is a photo of the front strip and some of another area in front taken last June.
Susan,
Your neighbors should be bowing down before you as you pass for providing such a beautiful accent to the neighborhood. :)
We're having a nasty cold spell with temps in the 20's. Wind chill is 5 degrees today. Everything was just beginning to grow and looking so nice. Most everything should be Ok, but may bloom later than usual. I am worried about the lilies. Here are some photos of the front garden beds that I posted on another forum last fall. Can't wait for the blooms to start again.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/657728/
And here are the back beds.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/657807/
Susan
This message was edited Apr 6, 2007 5:54 AM
Susan, thank you for posting the link. I had a great time sipping my coffee and looking at the photos of your garden through the seasons. You have one of the nicest 'front of the house' garden I've ever seen.
I have a love for daylilies also and appreciate those that you have posted. But you have managed to integrate them into your garden nicely! That is something I have to work on.
I will have to look for the Angelina Sedum you are talking about. I have dragons blood, Sedum acre "aureum" (yellow), and sedum vera jameson, and some of the taller ones.
I really appreciate the time you took to explain what was in each bed and a little of how you thought they went together. Especially the thought about the coleus in pots adding color during a 'down' time.
You made me promise myself to keep a better log of the seasons of my garden this year no matter the demands of life.
Please keep posting pics of your garden ... I for one will be looking at them.
toofew
......we all should be doing this -- each forum participant should have his or her own thread for this exact thing. My garden doesn't hold a candle to Susan's, but it will be fun toresurrect the threads from year to year.
Now to make me actually *do* it!
Suzy
Susan, WOW ... That was a wonderful tour; I would love to be your neighbor!! I enjoyed the progression through the whole season. I will have to try to be that organized and get picks through this year so I can plot and plan through the winter months. You've done a wonderful job. Thank you.
I'm *still* looking for your betony that I saw last year - I was just bowled over by it - actually, by your pictures of your gardens... it's too luscious for words.
Susan, I'd love to see wider shots of your gardens. From what I've seen here, they are very photograph worthy. ;) Please show more. :)
Diann
Lincolntess-- Love the picture story of your winter garden. And always love to see pics of your spring one! Always so joyful!
Your coneflower/daylily combo is wonderful. I want to try for that in mine!
Are your iris blooming now?
Happy gardening. t.
This had been the worst year ever for Iris. The late freeze seems to have effected the ones in the front and some in the back look like they may be rotting away from all the rain. Here is one that did manage to bloom. It is a lovely one given to me by a DG member.
Susan
That ones nice. But most of mine are kind of punky too. Not much bloom.
I don't have near the blooms I had last year... but it's early yet..
Bad winter for plants. All the mums in the photos died except for one. Lost a rose and a number of other plants. This fall, things will look very different!
Susan
I feel your pain, lincolnitess. Although my irises are looking lovely, I did lose many of my favorite roses and a camellia (my only one.) So there will be many changes here, too, this year. Here's a combo that bloomed yesterday, though, one I've been waiting to see for 2 years - Westerland Rose and Clematis 'Julka'.
OK Mickgene--Bravo! That combo is just what we need to brighten up our gardens! Why don't you start a rose/clematis pairing thread?!
I am a klutz with clematis but I love to see how they can be combined!
I don't have a Westerland rose, but I think they are by far one of the most fabulous!!! And combined with that deep blue clematis, what more could we ask - and I echo Tabasco's comment about a rose/clematis pairing thread . . . great idea!
Hi all,
Lincolnitess, your borders are lovely!
Just wanted to echo the sentiments; I lost mums (which is hard to believe) and my roses and irises were set back enormously by the awful freeze we had in April. I sure hope that isn't going to be a normal event each spring. Even my yews are suffering...lost an ornamental peach...the japanese maples are still sparse, etc.
But it is always a good excuse to buy new plants and change things around, isn't it?
Toxi (also Susan)
I wonder how many Susans there are here at DG???