Wow -- that's very pretty! I'm not sure what you are able to support in your zone, but I have good luck with Caraway thyme or one of the small fescues between the stones on one of my paths.
You Show Me Your Gardens . . . Part II
This is Blue Star Creeper - and I've been very happy with it. Light colored blue and spreads nicely - I just planted this a year ago, fairly sparsely.
And here's a closeup. Unfortunately, I just took these and the sun is bright so you don't get the impact of how pretty the color is.
I love the blue star creeper, Murmer! That is EXACTLY the look I want to go for. Will it do for Z5? How well will it stay just in my path?
I had creeping thyme in mind, but I'm not set on that yet - it probably won't be this year that plants for those spaces get purchased anyway.
Okay guys,
I hope this is the right way to get a link to some pictures of my garden. I'm a little confused though. I started this link in the perennials forum and now I find you guys posting here with all you garden shots. Oh well, hope this works. I probably shouldn't post the same photos in 2 different forums. There are so many forums that sometimes I forget where I've posted what! But it's fun. ;o)
Sherry
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/728703/
So far it seems to be pretty good at staying where I planted it - however, at the moment I have so many weeds in other places along my path that until I really get in there and get rid of those, I can't be sure just how far the creeper has crept! I'll keep you posted (it is my heartfelt intent to get that bed weeded, but I've also been busy expanding it on one end and side . . . you'd think I'd get what exists in good shape before I start a new project, but noooooooo).
I am going to have to check into the bluestar creeper and see if it would work here. Sherrygirl, murmer, wildgardengirl and all the rest of you have some fantastic gardens!
mibleedingheart, you have a great start. Isn't it amazing how fast things fill in. Show us some updated photos as things bloom this year. One problem I'm finding with DG is that as it grow, it's hard to keep up with all the photos posted in all the forums and hard to know what to post where. So many of the forums do seem to overlap.
Susan
They sure do overlap at times, and my gosh - I find myself wanting to watch just about every thread I check out . . . not enough hours in the day!
Zeppy
I have milkweed in 2 locations in my gardens. One is full sun, it is not real happy there ... it comes back each year, but does not look 'robust'. The other is in a slightly wet/partial shade area ... 6 hours midday sun. It grows wonderfully and bloom prolifically. I grow 'cinderella'.
Murmur, beautiful pictures.
Wildgardengirl, I love your path garden. Seems like a dianthus or 2 might look good in there too. I'm not to big on the chives, but they look 'so right' in your garden! You have a great eye for gardening.
toofew
Here is a sunflower I shot at a Bot Garden in Orlando, cool grey foliage, it will flower later in the summer>
Trying a new thing and having a good time with it -- a little raked circle "Zen" pebble garden beneath the bird feeders. We're adding to the design today (more pea gravel and some sparkly pebbles, too), and then we'll rake and carve in the pattern. But it's a fun little serene space where grass won't grow ... period ... and it's an easy cleanup and makes it easier to see the birds when they're feeding, too.
This picture doesn't really capture it, but you can get an idea, anyway. Eventually we hope that entire circle will be surrounded by flowers, with only a little path in.
very pretty susannah...keep those visual treats a coming!!!
The butterfly garden at Leu in Ordlando ( it is right behind the Demonstration Cottage)>
fburg, Your yarrow looks exactly like mine ... mine is called 'Paprika' yarrow. I just love the deep red and yellow when it first blooms ... not too crazy about it when it begins to fade. I try to get out there right away and cut off any fading blooms.
Butterfly garden this morning. In the back is a hibiscus that throws huge, dessert-plate sized pink blooms. They are about to pop.
And a general view from the back of the screen porch to the rose and butterfly gardens. My cell phone camera is NOT optimal, but the garden is coming on strong after two weeks of rain and storms.
Here are some parts of my garden I am pleased with right now. Thank goodness I took these pictures yesterday because we are getting a pounding rain right now and I don't know how beat up things may look when it's over.
This first is one section of my front gardens. The others I'm not so happy about.
Side yard
Murmer - I know how you feel trying to keep up with the weeding - I keep expanding my flowerbeds too and am having a hard time keeping up with the weeds. I've got several projects half completed, between weeding that front bed and adding to it, adding to the beds that wrap around the front of the house, keeping the path weed-free, AND building my butterfly garden, terraced rock garden and back-of-the-garage flowerbed out back. I can't seem to complete one project before I start another either!!
DH asked me just this weekend what I was planning to do in between the stones - he knows nothing about flowers, and just smiled politely as I descriped the blue star creeper. :)
Toofew - thanks for the compliment!! Sometimes I look at what I've got and think "oh geez, what a mess!" (like right now). Funny you should mention dianthus - I just stuck a clump of pink around the base of that sand cherry to help keep the weeds at bay. I also "made" my mom buy some for her flowerbed - and intend to "steal" a small division this fall - same with her coreopsis. lol :)
back yard
Chris - I LOVE your side yard!!!
We got the pounding rain yesterday - about 5 inches of it. Everything in my beds looks really pitiful today :(
And I love your backyard, Chris. :)) (Sideyard and front yard, too, just wanted to be different!) It looks very cool and restful and has those little nooks and crannies I just love to see, but haven't figured out how to do here at my place.
Suzy
I love browsing through the Cottage Garden forum. It's like a living magazine with new pictures and information all the time. Thanks for the compliments on my garden - I love your gardens too!
I have to go out to the garage and cuddle two cats I'm babysitting. I can't let them in the house because I'm pretty sure they have fleas, but they crawl all over me when I go out to see them. They love to cuddle.
this one is Mabel
This message was edited Jun 4, 2007 12:13 PM
And this is Olivia. She found a good place to hide.
chris ...i love your back yard!!! is it all shade? or how much shade is it? if it is majority shade what all is planted....i have 80% shade in my front yard and need your back yard...:)
My back yard varies from light shade to full shade. Our zones are quite different so I'm not sure which of my plants would work for you but here's what's working for me. (The notes I've made are just my own experience in my garden.)
Hostas (of course)
Ferns
Brunneras
Bleeding Hearts
Hackonechloa (ornamental grass)
Carex elata (also a grass)
Japanese anemones (light to medium shade)
Eupatorium rugosum “Chocolate” (light to medium shade)
Tricyrtis (toad lily)
Lathryus vernus
Kirengeshoma (yellow waxbells - these really need shade and moisture)
Astrantia (light to medium shade)
Epimedium
Variegated Solomon Seal
Pulmonarias
Clematis “Silver Moon”
Tiarellas
Phlox Divaricata
Cimicifuga
Chelone (turtlehead)
Monarda (seems to do well for me in light shade)
some varieties of geranium (I can't remember the names right now)
styllophorum diphyllum (wood poppy)
Begonia Grandis
Lathyrus vernus
Foxglove (light shade)
Columbine (light shade)
iris cristata
Lamium
Galium odorata (sweet woodruff)
primroses
Shrubs:
Azalea
Kerria japonica (a shrub)
Rhododendron
Clethra
Yews
These plants handle varying amounts of shade. Sometimes you just have to try some out because you never know. I would think that some plants that like light shade up here might appreciate a little more shade in Texas because of the greater summer heat.
chris i am so illiterate with regards to plants....there are several in the photo i LOVE....one is the bush thing that has the huge white blooms...; then there are 3 plants that have pink blooms...2 look like they are in pots or containers...while one is tallish on the upper left side of the photo....what are they?
The one with the big white flowers is a peony. It is in about the sunniest spot in the picture. I didn't list it because it's not a shade plant although peonies will flower in light shade, just not as heavily. I think you're limited in which peonies you can grow in Texas aren't you. I think Tree peonies bloom in more shade than the hebaceous kind. At least they do for me.
In the pot in the center of photo is a trailing geranium (gets a fair amount of sun in that spot). The one on the left is impatiens - definitely a shade annual.
the tall plant is a rose. It's Rosa Glauca "Carmenetta". It only blooms once a season with bright pink single flowers that look much like a Japanese anemone and its foliage is quite pretty, slightly bronzed with a waxy "bloom". It is listed as shade tolerant and tolerant of poor soil. Both are true of mine. It is planted under a huge Silver maple, just 8 or 9 feet from the trunk. The ground is a mass of tree roots but the rose seems to be doing fine. It is a good ten feet tall. It does get sun on one side in the afternoon after the sun drops below the tree branches and blooms more heavily on that side.
It's funny but I just took a couple of pictures of it yesterday because I was surprised at how tall it had gotten. I had my great niece who is about 5 feet tall stand in front of it for perspective
here's a closer view of the flowering part.
wow ...thanks for the information...your gardens are gorgeous....; i will have to keep all that in mind....i love your flowers:)
Wow. It's the fullness of these photographs that strikes me .... They all seem so abundant and rich ....
Just installed a little fountain in front of La Folie -- looks like a little stone trough with a carved flower pillar releasing the water. It's very sweet, though soundless.
Such lovely gardens - I don't have time to comment on them all, darn it. But I do want to say that the most beautiful flower of all is the young lady in Chris' photo - what a darling girl!
The magnolias are coming on strong. Here's a beauty from the front yard -- just outside my bedroom window.
We wrangle the leaves year-round, but my -- these flowers do make it worth it.
Susannah,
And it is rain lily season too.
Like giant Crocus
Murmur,
I'll have to tell my niece what you said . I know it will make her feel special. Thanks,
Chris