Rock Garden, Sedum and Whites Flowers

Around June 23rd I did little transplanting and rearranging of this area where my Fairy Garden was located last year.

All the "pinks" dianthus were planted last year when I had the fairy garden on this corner.  This year I decided to expand a little bit more on the sedum plants since they were originally put there to be with some rocks.  I felt the dianthus looked too busy and didn't really enhance anything except to add some color.

I used my garden cart to toss the plants in and had it loaded with some water so the plants would be kept hydrated while I moved things around.  These plants are hardy- I didn't put them into the ground for a couple of hours and they didn't even wilt or act like they had transplant shock.

So here it is minus the pinks.  I am happier with it now.

 I put in two Sedum "Abbeydore" plants which are described as having a blue green foliage topped with pink florets in late summer.  I transplanted and cut back some of the other sedum.

There is a White bell-flower Campanula (which I planted in 2013 as seen "here") that will soon bloom (next to the new sedum)  and I think that is a perennial geranium blooming near it.  I don't remember planting it though!

I like this look a lot more now- seems more calm and fits in the landscape much nicer.

I went out this morning an snapped off these shots.  The Bell Flower Campanula started blooming and as you can see the plants have recovered from the adjustments.

On the other side of the path are my gold flame Spiraea.  I trimmed them down pretty severely last fall because they were getting gangly looking.  I didn't expect to see flowers because of the timing of my trimming but alas they did grow back quite well and are blooming!  The bees and butterflies love them!

 Sadly I have to report that so far this is the only bloom on my Endless Summer Hydrangeas and I don't see any signs of other blooms which should be showing by now.  Ho hum…. :-(

The Annabelle Hydrangeas are doing fantastic!

The sweet potato vine is starting to fill out a lot more.  I like the coloring of this variety.  It seems like a good mix too with these white Big Bounce Super Impatiens that are good in the sun!

Bye for now!

Thank you so much for the visits- I've been noticing I'm not getting updates on all the comments in my e-mail so sometimes I miss a comment that's been made until I check back.  I'm trying to get around more to visit my fellow gardeners but have to admit I've been missing a lot.  Sorry about that I'll try to do better!

 

Cotton Candy

I strolled around Saturday evening and took some pictures of the gardens…87 to be exact!  LOL…

I decided I should break it up into a few posts or your eyes will cross and you'll forget why you were looking!!  

I used Espoma Organic Soil Acidifier this year and it deepened the color of the blooms

This made me think of cotton candy!

I don't know what my camera focused on but my goal was the double impatiens that looked so pretty. This is part of a hanging basket by the house.

My fav!

Happy Sunday!

I'm joining
A Delightsome Life
for
Home And Garden Thursday

 

Hydrangea time!

A year ago I was posting about my Endless Summer Hydrangeas and a few others.  I couldn't have been happier with how they were doing!

Here you have a fine crop of hydrangeas with NO blooms!  Grr....  I'm convinced it's because of the early warm up we had then the various freezes that came afterwards.  When I think back on it, I realize that these started growing later then normal too.

This is my City Line, Paris hydrangea that also has no blooms!!

I went through my pictures from last year at the same time and they definitely should be flowering by now....darn...Well the plant is healthy anyway!

 My Annabelles did well, but its a young plant and the stalks are not heavy enough to support their own flowers so I tried to help the plant with my wire cage...it looked good for a bit, but then some of the stalks bent over the wire and I decided to cut a bunch of the flowers to dry them.  I hope they keep the papery green look they have! My alyssum came back from last year and look so nice! I love freebies!

One of the Annabelle's that I cut...

These hostas were put in last summer and they have a super tall flower stem on them!  

How pretty their flowers are!  

Wouldn't you like to be a bee flying inside of me!! 

(I made that up!)

I am tickled that my PeeGee hydrangea is flowering nicely this year! I mentioned before that it only had 5 flowers last year.  I was worried I had placed it in a bad spot but as with a lot of plants/shrubs/trees the 3rd year is the charm! (Sleep, Creep and Leap)

I like how the hosta filled out around it too...you'd think I planned it or something! 

PeeGee Hydrangea...up close...

I will capture pictures of the flowers in their various stages...

Our front my Rose Mallow-Hibiscus plants are slow to get going.  I did some reading on these and they claim they won't even pop out of the ground until you have at least 70 degrees consistently for a while....My husband kept saying their dead...I kept hoping he was wrong!

I think there are flower buds forming!  Let's all say YAY!  

This garden bed out front is winding down....the Daisies are 98% done and the Cones are about 70% done.  These Black Eyed Susans are blooming but kind of short this year.  As you can see some Delphiniums are blooming again!  Another YAY!

 This is my Limelight hydrangea shrub again....the flowers are really full and absolutely beautiful!  I'd love to have these in my backyard  all over the place but I have too much shade.  Aren't they quintessential summer!

They'll turn a tad bit pink and get papery....finally more brown.  You can leave the shrub alone and enjoy them in the winter and trim them in the spring!

Back out near the patio I see my impatiens that I planted along the walkway finally got going.  I had to trim some leaves off the hostas to give them some light and space!  

My Queen Elizabeth Grandiflora rose has done well and I'm pleased with how it's performed.  The information I read on them has all been accurate.  They claimed they are fairly disease resistent, and they can take the cold winters too!  I did use a spray on them early in the summer to stop the Rose Chafers from eating them up but I haven't had to treat them for a while.  I gave them some Rose Tone fertilizer in the late spring and lots of water.

It's a pretty flower....these are close to being done but still pretty!

I put a spike, sweet potato vine and begonias in this pot and they've all done well.  These begonias are easy to grow, no maintenance..just kept them watered...that's my kid of plant!  

We've cooled into the 70's and are having very enjoyable sleeping temps.  The wind is blowing today and the leaves are rustling...it has the sound of fall to it!

How are your gardens and plants doing?

Gardening with Tess!

I have a friend in the beautiful state of Virginia.  

Tess lives a bit south of Richmond and has a lovely home on generously sized lot that she and her hubby have turned into a gracious, almost park like setting 
  
I asked her if she wouldn't mind my sharing her gardens with my blog friends and thankfully she said yes! 

The magic for Tess begins in late March early April. 
As you can see she has an striking display 
of Dogwoods,  Azaleas and Rhododendrons!  

The property has very acidic soil, which really helps 
with their intense coloring.  I'm so jealous!  
Our winters are a bit too harsh and I had very
poor luck with Azaleas and Rhododendrons.
I threw in the towel on them (Or should I say shovel)!

This is a large island out front of their home 
that I'm certain wows everybody that goes by!  

This year some of the neighborhood teens going to prom asked 
to have their photographs taken with this as their backdrop!  

Right after that her Peonies and Iris were in their
glory.  I love her Helleri Hollies and how perfect their shape is!  
Did I mention how meticulous Tess is?  
I see a Clematis climbing the light post too!
At the end of the driveway you can see her Orange Harvest Iris 
like the ones I have, and recently posted about.  
We both ordered them 3 years ago and this year was their best for both of us!

A stand of mature trees offers some beautiful shade
as summer climbs in. 

A recent photo deep in the back where she can view all her  gardens and relax in the shade.  I can imagine sitting here and dreaming about what I want to do next!  I'm always thinking of ways to improve what I've done!  There isn't much reason to improve here, but that's part of the fun...what can I do next!


The Blues....
I have to display a few of these pictures which show off her Endless Summer Hydrangeas that are in full bloom right now!  I've (jokingly) accused her of using spray paint, but again that natural acidic soil they have plays a major roll in the intense blue color she gets!

See what I mean!!  Seriously who gets such blue hydrangeas!  Not me!  
I've added the trick ingredients but mine never quite look this color!

  Isn't she a lucky lady!  Of course it has nothing to do with her obvious 
gardening talent and all the time she puts into it!  

She is also lucky enough to have Impatiens that come back on their own every year.  Of course a bird bath is a necessary element in every garden if you want to enjoy the birds.

She does have one big problem with Voles.  She's learned the hard way to plant some things in pots- even her hostas have to be potted. She's tried many things but has resorted to potting them up to keep the varmints away! 
Voles love to eat the vegetation and roots.  

Of course you have to have some day lilies in the garden. 

 Gardenias- how nice!

She says the smell is awesome! I can only imagine since
we don't get those to grow up here!  

Her screened in gazebo and decking are surrounded by 
Pieris Japonica

Great spot for relaxing!

It would be nice to sit and enjoy the yard from here wouldn't it?  


I love the aqua tones she picked for the deck this year! It's perfect!

Or this wouldn't be a bad spot to enjoy it either!
Ahhh....Summertime....and the livin' is easy....

A view from above....
I like how she created the  sort of "U" shaped area in
the yard.  It creates some privacy and a more beautiful surrounding!  

Tess

This is the star of the show! 
I love this picture of her and borrowed it from 
her Facebook page!  


I hope you enjoyed seeing her lovely gardens 
and will leave some kind thoughts about it!


Thanks as always for visiting!
Liz


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