Perennial plants that look beautiful together and bloom together in late spring. Part sun/full sun
I just took these photos this morning. What a beautiful day it is going to be!
Wild White Rose Shrub, Pink Coral Bells and Lavender.
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Rosa Multiflora
English Lavender
Coral Bells
Related:
Fabulous Threesomes for Spring
Apparently I won’t be getting flowers for my anniversary on Sunday!
Can you believe it?
My husband told me that the bouquet of flowers already on the table was so out of this world he couldn’t compete. Hmmmm. Is that a compliment or are you trying to get out of something here?? I always tease him that telling me that he was GOING to do something is not the same as ACTUALLY doing it! Well, I’ve decided to take it as a compliment and we decided that maybe every year at the half way mark of our anniversary he should get me flowers instead.
A cold 16th of December always needs flowers right?
The peonies are just beautiful right now.
Do you have a favourite bloom that a bouquet of flowers is just not the same without?
We just had a truckload of *FREE* wood chip dropped off. This is I am quite sure the BIGGEST load I have ever had at once. It’s even wider/deeper than it looks. My guess is 15 cu yards. I am so happy because it is beautiful stuff, ash trees and walnut and not full of weird logs and leaves. I didn’t even take the full truckload…very close though. It is the best workout and my gardens need it. Although I have been just waiting for everything to grow in close together so I don’t need to do this anymore the weeds are too much at the moment. I’d definitely rather shovel mulch than do back breaking weed pulling. Mind you my back does hurt today… 
Keeps me young! ha!
If you can put a stick into the ground you can have a beautiful tree or shrub.
As I was walking around the yard this spring I took a few cuttings off my plants as I am slowly working on a natural barrier between myself and the neighbours. I cut Red Dogwood, Willow and Poplar and to my surprise they have all sprouted quite easily! I really like the single Poplar tree I have. I know in some places they can be quite invasive but nothing more has ever come of the one I have. In a few years there might be something to look at other than things I don’t want to see!
Dogwood clipping shoved into the wet ground (In April)
Poplar tree clippings beginning to grow.
A 4 or 5 year old Willow tree that was started from a clipping put directly into the ground.
It’s best to put them in the ground before the buds start to open.
Hopefully one day I will be able to look back on this and be glad for an afternoon of aimless dreaming!
I came across this garden in my home town, set on the most picturesque lawn complete with country home. This place was immaculate and just glittered with perfection. I have never seen such a hilarious garden in my entire life. On the same day that I was completely annoyed at people stopping to take pictures of my house I did the same to someone else!
Do you see the pot man, the lobster trap, the chandelier under the shade umbrella?
Impatients all potted up by the front door. I went with Light pinks and white this year. So cheerful and bright!
Related: Shady Patio Planter
There have been aphids in our area attacking burning bush shrubs in particular. Last year many of the garden centres couldn’t even sell the shrub because they were so badly infested. I don’t know why all of a sudden a relatively easy maintenance free shrub is being attacked.
It was recommended to me to use Neem Oil. Neem Oil comes from the Neem tree (Azadirachta Indica). It is an all natural product that is actually used to shine the leaves on house plants but also seems to do the trick on aphids in just one application. However, it does also say on the bottle to keep out of reach of children, avoid contact with eyes, skin or clothing!
Dear Aphids: just bug off and leave my burning shrubs alone!
Before (YUCK!)
After Using Neem Oil.
Other all natural aphid repellants are
Cedar, Hyssop, Peppermint and Spearmint. Another reason to let mint take over your garden!
Oh and Chickens!! My chickens ate all the aphids off the shrubs near their coop but I have some really weird looking shrubs out of it. Lots of big green leaves on the top and not so much on the bottom.
I can’t stay mad a chicken though when it’s trying to help!
My MIL made this fantastic trellis quite a few years. We’ve had it tucked into a path in the woods for lack of any where more creative to put it. When we had some sick ash trees cut down in the fall, it had to be moved. In fact the tree trimmers upsettingly just tossed it in a heap. So this is where we have placed it, here at the end of the square foot garden.
I am thinking of building just a small little box under it to grow gourds or something.
What do you think? Any ideas?
The veggies are in!
Here is the revamped garden Plan. The original plan had different sized raised beds and garlic. The garlic did not overwinter for me. When I took that out it freed up quite a bit of space. But I bought WAY too much celery. Always shop with your list in hand!!! ha! Oh well, If I get tomatoes this year the celery will be great for making sauce.
I looked at different watering systems and decided to give the plain old soaker hose a try. I will put it on a timer and let it go. With this layout the water will hit the roots of everything that needs to be watered without getting any of the leaves. The years that I have used a soaker hose I have had a better crop. Fingers crossed!
Full of promise of good eats to come!
What are you most excited to eat fresh from the garden or market?
I finally swallowed my frog. I did that dreaded task that I wished would just do its self. I have absolutely no idea why doing a dreaded task is called ‘your frog’. … because I like frogs!
Anyways, I decided a few months ago when planning my square foot garden layout that I needed to enlarge an awkward shaped raised bed (that always stayed overly wet) and add another to get the amount of veggies that I wanted with the correct companion plantings. It required some muscle and some slugging. I didn’t want to buy wood and luckily I found enough around here to make it work. All the planks were different lengths. I even took apart some left over support posts made of pressure treated 2×4′s in the barn and schlepped them up to the house.
After doing math for a period of time longer than I was comfortable, I figured out how to make everything fit. I took apart the overly deep 3′x7′ box in the centre of the garden and turned it into a 4′x10′ bed and added a 4′x6′ bed closer to the house.
Weed barrier was stapled to the bottom of the box. This stops weeds from entering and the soil from washing away.
Of course I had to get more dirt! Big bag of Premier Pro mix, peat moss, sheep manure, worm castings and loamy soil from the back yard. Probably around 35$ in soil just for the 4′x10′ft box. Going to Home Depot on the weekends is nuts!
Everything is all cleaned up. We are ready to plant!
Have you planted your garden already?
