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| Heuchera Coral Bells, Iris |
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| Iris |
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| Convallaria Lily of the Valley |
Flower of the Week: Centaurea
June 2, 2011
This beautiful flower is something new to me this year. I bought two of them at a plant sale last spring. This looks like one big plant now, which shows you how quickly they spread. The Centaurea, also known as Cornflower or Knapweed, is just starting to come into bloom. There are a good many buds on it, and it already looks great.
From what I read in my books, they bloom in early summer, but will also have a smaller flush of blooms in autumn. We shall see if they do in my zone.
The flowers look like little thistles, but they are soft to the touch. They make excellent cutting flowers and will do well in light shade as well as full sun. Mine are getting full sun, but I will experiment with moving some into light shade.
You might be asking yourself, should you put anything in your garden that has 'weed' in it's common name? I'll let you know about this time next year!
As I've already found out, they are fast spreaders, so they probably aren't a good choice for smaller gardens. I'm the type of gardener who doesn't mind quick spreading plants, as I have lots of room to move things to, friends to give plants to, and two composters for what's left over!
And you can't have too much blue in your garden. In my garden, anyway.
The flowers look like little thistles, but they are soft to the touch. They make excellent cutting flowers and will do well in light shade as well as full sun. Mine are getting full sun, but I will experiment with moving some into light shade.
You might be asking yourself, should you put anything in your garden that has 'weed' in it's common name? I'll let you know about this time next year!
As I've already found out, they are fast spreaders, so they probably aren't a good choice for smaller gardens. I'm the type of gardener who doesn't mind quick spreading plants, as I have lots of room to move things to, friends to give plants to, and two composters for what's left over!
And you can't have too much blue in your garden. In my garden, anyway.
Things are Coming Along!
May 28, 2011
It's a rainy day here. I've been doing some weeding and finished the garden clean up. Everything's late, but coming along nicely. The weather forecast is looking good for next week.
These are a couple of shots of the border that goes along the south side of our house. We built the bed in the fall of 2009 and put the perennials in last spring. Things are starting to take shape.
These are some shots of the limestone walkway. Most of this was planted last spring as well. This is the north side of our house and it's very shaded by a pine grove out front. My hope is that the left side (against the house) will have lots of high(ish) and colourful plants doing well in it. I have bee balm, digitalis, bleeding hearts, and monkshood here. On the right side, lots of hostas and ferns, and well as some low-growing things like lamium, violets, and other ground covers.
It's a rainy day here. I've been doing some weeding and finished the garden clean up. Everything's late, but coming along nicely. The weather forecast is looking good for next week.
These are a couple of shots of the border that goes along the south side of our house. We built the bed in the fall of 2009 and put the perennials in last spring. Things are starting to take shape.
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| My Side Border |
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| Tulipa 'Cracker' with some Phlox Moss Phlox |
These are some shots of the limestone walkway. Most of this was planted last spring as well. This is the north side of our house and it's very shaded by a pine grove out front. My hope is that the left side (against the house) will have lots of high(ish) and colourful plants doing well in it. I have bee balm, digitalis, bleeding hearts, and monkshood here. On the right side, lots of hostas and ferns, and well as some low-growing things like lamium, violets, and other ground covers.
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| left side of the limestone walkway |
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| right side of the limestone walkway |
Wordless Wednesday
May 24, 2011
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| Muscari Grape Hyacinths |
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Myosotis Forget-Me-Not |
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| Bleeding Heart |
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| Arabis Rock Cress |
Fertilizer Friday!
May 20, 2011
I decided to join in the fun at Fertilizer Friday today. I enjoyed all the great garden blogs I discovered though the Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, so I thought I'd try this. Check out Tootsie's blog all the information about it at: Fertilizer Fridays.
I posted this same view of the 'Apricot Beauties' and muscari last year, but I love the combination so much. It's one of my favourite 'happy coincidences' that they bloom together:
These are my shade-growing tulips called 'Firespay'. They also have the interesting habit of having more than one flower on each stem. These are the second year for these, in my garden, and I notice they are somewhat smaller than they were the first year:
Some other things that I have blooming today:
I decided to join in the fun at Fertilizer Friday today. I enjoyed all the great garden blogs I discovered though the Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, so I thought I'd try this. Check out Tootsie's blog all the information about it at: Fertilizer Fridays.
I posted this same view of the 'Apricot Beauties' and muscari last year, but I love the combination so much. It's one of my favourite 'happy coincidences' that they bloom together:
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| Tulipa 'Apricot Beauty and Muscari (Grape Hyacinth) |
These are my shade-growing tulips called 'Firespay'. They also have the interesting habit of having more than one flower on each stem. These are the second year for these, in my garden, and I notice they are somewhat smaller than they were the first year:
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| Tulipa 'Firespray' with a daffodil |
Some other things that I have blooming today:
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| Tulipa 'Yellow Emporer' |
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| Tulipa 'Wildhof' in the foreground and 'Fringed Elegance' in the background. |
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| Periwinkle |
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| Lamium bought at a plant sale, so I don't know the variety. |
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| The hostas are starting to come up! |
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| 'Red Lady' fern |
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