garden@home

Front Beds

The Lamium, Penstemon, and foxglove is blooming and looks good.  This is a limited time look.  After the blooms fade, the Lamium gets patchy, the Penstemon and Digitalis brown and die – big YUCK!  The newer Lamium still looks good into September but I’m sure that won’t last.

The daffodils and tulips are dying back and look ugly.  The Peony, Echinachea (not blooming yet), and the Rose start picking up color and bloom but the rest of the bed is a mess.

Cleaned up under the magnolia.  Need to get newspaper and mulch down before next spring.

Working on cleaning out under the Japanese Maple, but I’m waiting for some rain to soften the ground.  Hopefully, now that its September and we are getting some rain I can get to it before the ground gets too muddy.

The magnolia in the corner looks pretty good after its severe hair cut.  I’ll probably actually take off more next spring.

Side Rose Bed – lovely right now

I might add some Alliums sp. I’ve heard they may help fend off aphids (curses, curses, curses) and they look great together.

Not Photoshopped.  It really is THAT bright.

Veggie Bed

The garden on the left, hastily created dirt mound for the gifts of garlic and Walla Walla onions on the right.

From the other side.

The potato condo.  Unfortunately about two weeks after this photo was taken the potato plant croaked for totally unknown reasons.

Baby 8-ball zuke front left.  It produced a perfect amount for me.

The peas…

…are sooo yummy!  I could have used more of those.  A lot more.  I may have eaten them all standing in the garden, by the handfuls.

Tomato buds!  These have lost some excitement now that I’m actually harvesting those buds.  BLT anyone?

Pepper plant.  Chewed up, but they recovered nicely and produced.

The lemon cuke turned out great.  Loved the flavor, it was prolific, and easy to grow.  The straight 8 I tore out.  It tasted bitter even with young, peeled cukes.  It may have been random chance but I did not like it. I may give it another chance but I doubt it.

The turnips were ready to harvest.

Baby melon – it didn’t end up growing though.  Bummer.

Beets.

Lettuce, just got my winter crop started about I week ago (in September).

Spinach.

I harvested one Kincho melon (in August) but it wasn’t ripe, but I have at least one more on the vine.  I am cautiously hopeful about these.  They are a Japanese melon that are eaten out of hand.

Basil.

Swiss chard.  I grew way to much.

Parsley – I couldn’t believe how well it did.

Butterfly Garden

Side Yards

This is a beautiful single bloom climbing rose that I love.

Snowball bush in process of a haircut.

Strawberry bed that is sooo overgrown, its scary.

But still producing strawberries.

Heavy shade + under the eave drought conditions, what do you plant?  Calla lilies, they do better and better each year with total neglect.  You have to love that.

The Jungle

It’s pretty but completely overgrown.  The honeysuckle has a divine smell but is almost a nuisance because of how well it grows.

Roses

Backyard

The butterfly garden.

Notice the goldfinch in the feeder.

Yep, that’s the sweetie-pie’s hand right next to it.  There was something wrong with it and it died shortly after.

The cherries were just beginning to show.

Voodoo lilies.  They smell like death (rotting flesh) but they are striking.

The basil came back.  Yay!

Shade Garden

I need to get mulch down, the weeds are starting to get thick back there.

Plums starting.  I didn’t pick early enough so I didn’t get much of a harvest.