faulker042

First bloom of 'Little Lime' Hydrangea. June 28, 2012. What's the most refreshing bloom color on a 100°+ summer day?  My vote goes to the huge, cool snowballs of 'Little Lime'™ hardy hydrangea from Proven Winners®.  I know! I know! I'm obsessed with refreshing lime and refreshed  light green  garden benches to cool down my garden! After seven years of waiting for shade, I finally have a spot for hydrangea, my favorite summer shrub. At previous homes, I grew so many different varieties, but here in my small cottage garden, the small sliver of all-day shade requires a small shrub. In late May, while on a plant shopping trip to Big Bloomers in Sanford, I asked for 'Little Lime' and they had it in stock! Fortunately, with deep watering, it is well-established in time for this run of triple-digit heat. 'Little Lime' is not that tiny—the height and spread will be between 36-60 inches. I'm totally okay with a bit of overlap onto my path and through...

Many, many years ago at a property that I no longer own, a neighboring farmer teased me when I was painting my old, weathered barn. He said "A little bit of powder, a little bit of paint will make it look like what it ain't." It was true that the old barn had warped boards and a rusty metal roof. It needed more help than a coat of paint. Fortunately, my metal garden benches were showing only a bit of rust and faded color—easily remedied by a good scrubbing and a coat of fresh paint. After seven years in the garden, I was ready to use some color. I bought the spray paint, Valspar® Satin Leafy Rise , as my color of choice. It's a pale green that looks so much cooler than the dark bronze of the cottage garden bench or the black of the gravel garden bench. I also painted a rusty metal plant stand and a pot. I'll have a solid color deck stain mixed to match the benches to use on our two wooden bridges. One wooden bridge is in the cottage garden over the flowing stream ...

The last rays of the sun shine on the willow at the end of lower path. There is order to the path edging plants, but there are"wild" flower pairings mixed in the rest of the deer resistant meadow garden. 1. Around 8:00 pm on a June evening in the deer resistant meadow garden. When the summer sun heats up and the temperatures rise, the best time to walk through the garden is late evening.  The light is soft and the true colors are easier to capture with the camera. 1. The purple spikes of meadow blazing star ( liatris ligulistylis ) are backlit by gold/yellow black-eyed susans ( rudbeckia hirta). White shasta daisies ( leucanthemum x superbum 'Alaska') truly shine in the low light of the fading sun. Wisps of feather grass ( stipa ) provide a backdrop for the tufted blooms of deep raspberry bee balm ( monarda 'Raspberry Wine'). 2. Different views provide different combinations in the mix of meadow flowers in the deer resistant gadren. Shasta daisies and susans...

Left of house is west and driveway with entry gravel garden.  Right is east with the red/white and orange/yellow flowers. Front is south-facing with 2 acres of open meadow grass. There is no garden in the back (north) as our woods (2.5 acres) come up to the back deck. Paved driveway (west) ends in the gravel entry garden. The gravel entry garden is the first thing a visitor sees when arriving. There is sufficient space for a car to park in front of the bench. In a few years, the dwarf Burford 'nana' hollies will create a hedge to separate the gravel garden from our concrete parking area for our garage. A large oakleaf holly and a crepe myrtle flank the bench area. A row of rosemary lines the opposite side of the gravel parking space.  The gravel entry garden along the front of the garage wall. From the gravel parking area, a hedge of hollies line the garage wall. The arched bridge crosses the dry stream to the meadow grass. A crepe myrtle on the lower right is underplant...

Iris ensata . June 2012 Although I always dread the fall chore of digging up big clumps of Japanese iris every three years, I must admit that doing so opens the opportunity to try different vignettes. The purple Japanese iris (tag long gone and so it is unknown) is a great bloomer. With my last division of this iris, I planted it graduated—or staggered—up a slope rather than on the same level.  My logic was that each clump grows quickly and by planting each divided piece up the slope instead of grouped on the same level, I could hopefully extend the number of years before needing to divide again. Was the resulting design a "staggering" achievement or defeat? Overhead view of the "staggered" planting. Path view of the staggered planting on the slope. Combination includes: Foreground: spirea, Japanese blood grass, hardy ageratum. Middle: echinacea foliage, shasta blooms. Beside irises: monarda foliage, nigella seed pods, white iris blooms. The staggered planting adds ...

OVERVIEW: Red and white garden, straight ahead, left. Orange and yellow garden on the near left by a new path cut-through. Green shrubbery (osmanthus fragrans and hollies) on the right.  June 2012 The "red" in my "red and white garden" is delivered through monarda 'Jacob Cline' along with a mass planting of  bright red salvia greggii , crocosmia 'Lucifer'. The red salvia blooms first, followed by the monarda, then the crocosmia. The white daisies are planted uphill and for now, provide most of the "white" in this garden. Note: A yellow-blooming St. John's Wort shrub (left of the bench) provides the axis between the "red and white garden" and the "orange and yellow garden." The yellow centers of the daisies tie in with the yellow blooms of the shrub. Up the hill: White shasta daisies sown from seeds provide contrast to the red monarda 'Jacob Cline'. June 2012 View from lower path: The blade foliage of crocosmi...

Ratibida columnifera (Mexican hat, upright prairie coneflower, thimbleflower) with Santolina pinnata (green Lavender cotton) in the background. June 2012 Debuting in my deer resistant meadow garden this year is the US native wildflower, ratibida columnifera , commonly called Mexican hat. According to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center database, the foliage of this native has a strong smell that repels deer. But wait—there's a catch! The same database says that deer will eat this flower. Hmm... Currently growing beside my open meadow where the deer congregate each night for slumber parties, there's nary a nibble so far. I've not detected an offensive smell—but I'm not a deer! The height at this point is just over two feet, but with the see-through quality of the airy foliage, it works well at the edge of the garden. I'm sharing photos before the entire plant is at peak bloom because I'm so excited over the flowers—and in case the deer do decide to nibble th...