Hosta Shuffling, Turkeys and Limelights!

Well- here we are in the late summer heading for fall very quickly!  The impatiens have really spread out and until we have a frost they'll stay about like this.  Our evenings have been cooling into the mid 50's so we're already having those crisp mornings!  

I guess I should say I am never done with projects.  I bought a few more hostas (yes I did!) and decided I needed to make a change with some of the ones I have.  I dug from this area and moved a group of hostas to the other side and also relocated a few in this area.

Not a great picture but you can see the ferns on the right side earlier this summer.  They are a pretty accent.

Unfortunately the ferns are on the decline at this time of year and I decided that I needed to reduce how many I have especially since each year they are traveling into more territory and now infringing on the hostas to the left..  I dug out all of them in this 6 ft. wide section which was no joy.  It took a lot of digging because they have runners that can go quite a ways and pop up.  Just about when you think you are done there's more!

I took several hostas from that area I first showed and added them to this curved wall area.  Sorry it's so messy but that's how it goes.

On this side I put in a new one- the taller dark green one that is just about centered here is called "Hump Back Whale" and it's going to be quite a big one when it matures.

Here's a close up.  I found it at a garden center that was offering 40% off and it was a huge plant already so I'm tickled about that.

I dug up a few more of the hostas and set them in a row so they'll make a nice display next year.

These are the other two I bought on the discount.  They are called "Albiqua Drinking Gourd" I really ravaged the area.  Stepping on the ground cover and digging.  It'll all be good next year!

I bought some mums a couple of weeks ago.  We've had so much rain and little sun so they're just now starting to show their colors.  I bought them purposely with no open flowers to get the most time out of them.  There's an orange toned one, lavender, deep burgundy and yellow.

The wild turkey's have been visiting a lot lately.  I snapped these pics from the bedroom window so they're not real high quality.

I always think of that movie "Field of Dreams" when the baseball players come out of the corn field and then when they go back in they disappear.  These guys do that too!  All of a sudden one comes walking out and then more follow.  You just don't see them until that moment and when they go back in they seemingly disappear!  

I came out to get the mail and had to snap a picture of this Limelight shrub.  It always performs so well and doesn't mind our harsh winters.  

Glorious!

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Dishing It & Digging It

Eary Morning in the Backyard Garden

I did a quick run around the backyard this morning to capture a few more pictures. 

 Standing a ways back I use my zoom and focus on the white impatiens which ends up creating a softened background.  I love that affect- kind of dreamy :-)

I know you've seen this view before but I like how the path was lit by the sun...

Turning around to this pie shaped garden area that the garden pathway follows and is one side of the patio.

 Love how this hosta took over this area.  I believe it was 2 or 3 hostas that were planted next to a tree that used to be here.  They've converged and made a very large clump!

These bright green hostas are called Amber Tiara.  They're a good border size hosta.  I'm planning to move them (early fall)  over to the area shown below in the next picture.  These guys are getting crowded out here.

 These two hostas were new last year.  They're doing very well this summer and I'm quite happy with them.  Notice how the day lilies are all pointing towards the West...looking for the sun!   I think I am going to lift these lilies and move them closer to the wall and then center these two hostas since they will eventually get a lot larger.   The amber tiara hostas from above can be planted in this area close to the stones and I think it will look great.

These are called Gypsy Rose.  Reading up on it I found it's a sport of another hosta called Striptease which I also have on the hosta island.

 Dappled sunlight for a few moments each morning. 

Notice the white lily in the forefront?  I broke down and replaced the one that was there before that the voles ate last winter.  I ran across it at Lowe's.  

 A few hours later I went out for a better picture of this are.  The white campanula has been blooming a good week now.  The sedum I planted a few years ago are all doing well.

 Notice my visitor- Mr. Chipmunk?

They're always so cute to see but they do anger me.  They dig holes to bury sunflower seeds that they find on the ground by the bird feeders and I've had to tidy up the fairy garden because of them. 

These Annabelle hydrangeas are one of my absolute favorites.  We had a good rain the other day and it caused them to fall over a bit.  That's the only negative to these big mophead type hydrangeas- they can be too heavy for their own stems!  I'm going to go out and add some stakes to them to keep them from breaking.

Wishing you a wonderful day!

 

Weekend of Planting

I took the plunge and planted my annuals this weekend.  It was a mini marathon event (at least for me it was) with going up and down steps many times, digging up soil from out back to half fill some of the larger planters, filling the planters with new potting soil and then the plants which all got an extra dose of pelted fertilizer.

This cart is basically empty now with the exception of a couple of plants that I had to wait to plant for a couple more days. 

This is a rather large ceramic planter I picked up a few years ago.  I put a deep red Martha Washington geranium to the rear and two bright green coleus up front which will fill in.   I may stick a sweet potato vine in the front but I haven't decided yet.  Excuse my messy deck.  It's desperately overdue for some re-staining.  

Next to the big dairy planter I have my obelisk which I haven't used in quite a few years.  I found some nice blue pottery that fits into the rings nicely and found some shade loving p pants for it.  That's my hose that I pull out to water things.  

The hummingbirds will appreciate the fuchsia.  Both planters have some Ivy and polka dot plant in them that will spread and drape.

This has a "Firecracker" upright fuchsia in it with white alyssum that will create a ring around the base.

I've used a different fuchsia that had an orange color for the past few years so I decided to try a new look. 

I got Dan to paint this plant stand for me since it was getting rusty and chippy.  I found a copper planter that fit in the top like it was made for it.  In the past I tried using a coco liner in the top but it ended up looking messy and the birds like to pull on it for nesting materials so I was looking for a better idea.  

I've seen people planting boots now for the past few years and I decided to give it a try.  I drilled two holes in the bottom for drainage and loaded the bottom with stones so they'd have some weight to them.  I planted Diascia in them hoping they'll be topped with lush flowers.

The design on them is a work of art.

The Eiffel Tower and flowers all around. 

I added these metal topiary frames this year to help hold up the Black and Blue Salvia that get really huge.  I chose a lemony yellow supertunia to play nicely against the blue and added a vinca vine.  Once these supertunias take off it will really fill out.  Last year the Black and Blue Salvia was so huge I had to stake it so I'm hoping this wire frame will do the trick.

I'm in love with this crazy frog planter I found at Pier 1.  I have a red striped petunia and little yellow violas in there with another vinca vine.  I haven't done much with my fairy garden yet but I'll be into that soon.

On our way out back this is a metal art object Dan bought me.  It has two hummingbirds that look like they are feeding fro the flowers.  I teeters back and forth and swings around when there is a wind.  As you can see the hostas are on their way up.  Before long you won't be able to walk through this area.  We still haven't gotten to the mulch but it will happen.

These are my Jack Frost Brunnera that are just starting to bloom.  

I planted this with all white impatiens this year.  Last year the impatiens filled out the entire insides of this metal orb.  They sell these to hang from a tree or such but I planted it.  What can I say!

You can see how this looked last year at this "link".

I asked Dan if he could paint my arbor which we moved to a new spot.  The plants are coming up fast and we wanted to get this done as soon as possible.  The reason for painting it is because it basically disappears into the trees.  

He's my painter- I appreciate the help since this is so tall and I would've been real uncomfortable on the ladder.  The color I chose is called Stone by Rustoleum and it looks a lot like the color of the fountain.

For some reason this came out looking like the sides aren't spaced right but they are.   The hanging basket has a white New Guinea Impatiens and some vinca vine.  The impatiens will get pretty large so I only one in.  I took all my pictures with my cell phone- I need to bring out my good camera but I'll wait for things to look a but more filled in.

I know it's hard to see here but it is easier than it was before.  I wanted to see how the arbor would look as a backdrop to the fountain.  We'll see how it look as the summer progresses.  There are a lot of hostas that form a ring around here that are still coming up.  We had to run sprinklers to water things since we haven't had any rain for too long.  The fountain isn't on yet because the trees are dropping debris and pollen right now.  Probably next week.

Everything I planted looks insignificant since it hasn't had a chance to fill in.  In a couple of weeks things will look quite different.  I tried to stick with red, yellow and white in my planters for the most part.  I did plant some red and white star impatiens around most of the ring here but I didn't take a picture.

This Sweet Woodruff is blooming all over.  The Pachysandra that is nearby just finished blooming.

By the garage I put the two planters I talked about in my previous post.  You can see a small brown urn in this picture which has a red Sunpatiens planted in it.  There are two of them that flank the stairs.

Out back by the big maple tree is my antique wagon I picked up last year.  See the shovel by the tree- I had my eye on them for a couple of years but didn't like the price.  I found some on discount at little boutique store last fall.  They are laser cut and this one has a moose, the moon and a pine tree.

The wagon is planted with white impatiens and some Ivy.  It gets a bit of sun very late in the day.  

The link I provided earlier shows how the wagon looked as the summer progressed last year.  

Well that's what I did with my annuals.  It will be enjoyable watching them grow.  I hope you'll come back and visit as I post through the summer and fall.

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