Garden Island Updated

 I decided to expand the front island so first I sprayed a line to follow.  Dan used an edger to create the initial line.

 We used the front end loader of our John Deere tractor to remove most of the sod.  Some hand digging was necessary.

The whole reason for this was that the blue spruce tree has gotten so big that it was taking over my space for the flowers.

 This was the island last year.

Here is a close up of the coreopsis, daisies, cone flowers and more.  Most of these have been moved.

 I began by digging and placing the perennials in different spots in this corner.  Some I transplanted from the right side of the garden and some were just packed in so I loosened up the look.

 I added some new Veronica, Shasta Daisies and two variegated sedums that I moved over from my "Forgotten Garden"

This area is my Forgotten Garden- I dug a bunch of plants from here (this is last year's image) and moved them over to the island.  It has become so shady here that things weren't doing well.

 We stopped into the garden center and I was blown away by this lily.  It's tag read O.Lilium "Carbonero"  It's about 3 ft tall and loaded with deep raspberry silky blooms.  I also bought a hydrangea shrub called "Little Quick Fire" to put out front.

 Now we've put the mulch down and I'm pretty well done with the plants.  You'll notice I put what looks like tomato cages in place.  That is where I intend to move my peonies this fall.  I have read that they don't like being moved but they are being shaded too much and fighting for light near the other side of the blue spruce.

 That's a row of coreopsis behind the cages.  They are sort of stuck there as years ago I put down a narrow strip of landscape fabric to help keep the grass back.  Well as time went by they grew right on top of the landscape fabric.  So I decided to leave them right where they are.  

 The Little Quick Fire hydrangea is on the right side now.  It should only get to be around 3x5' both width and height.  

Here's a panoramic of it.  

It was a big job and I have to thank my hubby for without him this would never have gotten done! 

I’m  joining:
Love Your Creativity Link Party #2 

Perennials and Some Annuals!

 Hello my fellow gardeners!  I thought I'd start off with this beauty which is a Lofus vine plant.  I really love the trumpet like flowers it produces.  I'm getting more and more each day!

 Things are finally taking off.  What a long drawn out spring it was!

 This is my new Cherry Parfait rose bush that I showed a bit ago having another round of flowers!  Love it!!

 Next to it is my Sarah Bernhardt peony.  It's finally producing more than one flower.  It's the third year in.  They are heavenly scented!

 These are the spirea I planted last year and they are coming along nicely.

 This is a classic example of how perennials sometimes crawl, creep, then leap!  This is the 2nd year for these hostas and the pretty much look like they did last year.  The astilbe is filling out nicely so next year I figure I'm going to have a nice show!

 Out front I planted two new shrubs.  One is a Ninebark and the other a Barberry bush.  I decided that the burgundy maple on the end, then the burgundy Barberry bush in the middle and the burgundy Ninebark on the other end to be punctuation points.  I decided it was all to green and needed some contrast.

I think this Ninebark should do well here.  I had a Pinky 

Winky hydrangea here but it was very lackluster so I dug it out and replaced it with this Ninebark.

 This is a mock orange shrub.  This is the third year in and it's filling out and flowering more.

 This spirea is blooming and will soon be shaped/trimmed.

 I put the stone out here last year and decided it needed a 2nd one next to it.  The cluster of hostas I planted came up nicely.  There's about 5 plants there and I planted this somewhat close together so they'd look like a very large hosta.

 This was last week when the pink peonies were in full bloom!  Gosh they smell so good, too bad they are so short lived!

 This is now and the white and deep pink or red ones are blooming away.

They are bordered with the perennial geraniums.

 A quick snap of the yellow begonias which are just now starting to take off.

 This is a Captain Kirk hosta.

 And lastly in front of the garage Superbena Royal Chambray planted with a Baby King Tut grass in the center.  I'm hoping the Baby King Tut will get taller soon!

Patriotic Vignette #2

 Land of the free!

 A few trinkets!  The White House and Statue of Liberty are salt and pepper shakers.

 I elevated the flag by turning a candle votive holder upside down and used some tacky wax to stabilize it. 

I used my "rug" with stars all over it for a table runner.  I believe it came from Pier 1 a few years ago.

(It's never been used on the floor)

 A couple of Uncle Sam's!

 Lady Liberty with fireworks behind her!

At night the candles glow and it takes on a whole new look!

 Patriotic Vignette #2!

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