Meet TS and Come See the Rest of the Garden...

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Yick Yuck Blah



Yick


Yuck


Blah


I'm tired of all the brown. I'm ready for some ahhh!


Little red daylilies


Aster ericoides and variegated sedum


Lantana, flax, and 'Piglet' pennisetum in the rain garden


Zinnias


'Abraham Darby' rose


Helianthus, 'Johnson's Blue' geraniums, and pink yarrow


White trumpet lilies 


Drumstick aliums, 'Rocky Top' coneflowers, and orange milkweed grow alongside daylilies and agastache


I have coneflowers all over my garden.


This perennial bed runs from the dog run down to the rain garden. The rain garden is being expanded this spring to create a much greater curve into the grass. 


Marguerites (anthemis 'Susanna Mitchell') grow in pots alongside Stella d'Oro daylilies, white petunias, and zinnias


Joe Pye Weed (eupatorium fistulosa)


My garden has many trees, including three crepe myrtles, and I've learned to garden in various degrees of shade. This spot is pretty sunny. 


Spigellia marylandica, a native southeastern wildflower grows easily in well drained filtered shade.


Part of the back garden


Most of the plants in this bed were seedlings rescued from other parts of the garden. The grass path was redone in  November 2012 and featured in my last post. 


Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on 'Laura' phlox

72 comments:

  1. I'm tired of the brown, too. Except at the moment most of the brown is covered with white. I love that Spigellia, I'd never seen that before!

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    1. Spigellia is one of those plants that a lot of people have never heard of. My patch grows in filtered shade in a moist but well draining area between two huge crepe myrtles. It attracts hummingbirds in early summer. It's hardy to zone 5 so I'd give it a try!

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  2. I am loving your native south-eastern wildflower. Where did you get them? Any online garden store? You have brown; I am constantly having white, but liking that because I have found that snow really makes the soil fertile!

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    1. Snow is great at insulating plants and the extra moisture helps make the nutrients in the soil more available to plants. I wish we got a lot more of it!
      Here's a link to an online nursery where I buy a lot of my plants, including the spigelia:
      http://www.lazyssfarm.com/Plants/Perennials/S_files/S.htm You might be able to find it locally if any nurseries in your area carry true natives.

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  3. What a contrast going from blah to all of your beautiful blooms! Your beds have amazing flow and form! I am just loving the combinations as well! And boy do I love that Spigellia marylandica...just gorgeous! Wish we could grow that here! I'm sick of the brown but I'm afraid we are a ways away in Chicago so I'm trying to keep my mind off it by doing projects inside....sigh! Beautiful garden lady!

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    1. Thanks! Spigelia is hardy to zone 5 so it might grow for you. Have you ever visited the blog http://gardeninacity.wordpress.com/ ? It's also in Chicago. :o) Figuring out plant combinations is a constant process. Sometimes what I think will look good in my mind ends up looking weird in reality. I'm still learning, that's for sure! :o)

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  4. You certainly have something to look forward to! What a nice diversity of plants and colors. I love the 'Abraham Darby" rose. Wish I had some room to plant one. If I could just convince my husband to relinquish some of that lawn. When I feel better, I may just have to follow your lead.
    I think I'll start sharpening the shovel now! Oh, and I really like the spigellia marylandica.

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    1. Good bye, grass! Once my husband realized I was never going to take out all the grass and that I liked the way it bordered the garden, he was much more relaxed about seeing me expand the beds. 'Abraham Darby' is one of my favorite roses. It's so lush and the fragrance is amazing. I hope you're feeling better soon so you can get busy with the shovel! :o)

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  5. Stunning, absolutely stunning! Cheers~

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  6. Wonderful colours, makes me feel warm ! And yes, I'm too already waiting spring. Soon....

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    1. I'm ready for some warm sun, too. I love how colorful summer gardens are. :o)

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  7. we are enjoying the first Autumn rain, and I wait hopefully for the March lilies to explode in my garden.

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    1. Are your March lilies also called rain lilies? I like the idea of fall lilies. It's a wonderful send off to summer.

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  8. Yick Yuck Blah will soon be a riot of colour once again.
    If it makes you feel any better, those are some lovely ceramic pots in your collection. Think how smashing they will be with all new plantings...I can't wait. I'm excited for you.
    At least there are still lots of colorful areas in your garden to enjoy.

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    1. All the pictures I posted are from last summer. The only color in the garden is brown, brown, and more brown, with a few tiny pops of green scattered throughout. I do love those pots! Shopping for new pots is addictive and expensive so I can't do it too much. But when most of my old pots were broken or cracked, I was excited to replace them. :o)

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  9. I love the flow of your curved flower beds - they draw the eye to explore. No probs with brown and yuck here - the recent snows have certainly brightened up the beds. To bad Orka will rain on THAT parade today. Hmmm, make note: MUST HAVE some of that variegated sedum!

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    1. Is the newest storm named Orka? I can't keep up with all these silly names. The curved beds allow me to wrap my garden around the lawn. Linear beds feel harsh to me. I'm always attracted to shapes that are round or curved. They feel more natural. :o)

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  10. Hi Tammy! This is my first visit to your blog and I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!! Your gardens are so beautiful, I really liked your sense of humor and, of course, I love all your dogs (we have six dogs.) I'm going to add Lantana to my garden this year. I really like the look of yours, compact, but full. Do you happen to know the name of it? I also really liked the Spigellia Marylandica. I might have to find some of that to try. You also have such a beautiful lawn! My garden is on an old farmfield, so we have a little grass and a lot of weeds in the "lawn" area...but at least they're green so if I squint, I can pretend it's lawn. I don't know if you've ever tried throwing down some gypsum, but it will bust that clay soil down. It works like a charm...you can buy it at the big home stores. I am really looking forward to following your blog!! (PS..I'm so sorry that Chance passed.)

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    1. Hi Christy! Growing a nice lawn has been almost as challenging as working in the garden beds. Because our subdivision is only 12 years old, our property came with a few native trees and horribly compacted clay soil left by the builder. My husband has used a pick ax to dig huge slabs of rocks out of the grass. The soil was so hard, sometimes it seemed the rain would just run off rather than soak in. To fix the grass we dug out the rocks, aerated, manually dug out weeds and used an organic herbicide for the really tough ones, applied corn gluten meal, and in a final act of desperation I applied a product that has worked miracles in my garden.

      Penetrate by https://www.johnandbobs.com/ is amazing stuff! It's a liquid created by two scientists that is made from saponin and molasses extracts. When you add it to water, it becomes bioactive and actually separate clay particles in the soil. Not only is my lawn healthier, but it requires a lot less water now that more water and oxygen are available to the roots. I applied it after the lawn was aerated.

      In my garden, I used a pitch fork to poke holes in the soil and then applied it to all the tough spots. I also use greensand and have used gypsum, too. When I was trying to break the clay and create the beds 9 years ago, I bought worm eggs to increase the worm population to help break down the clay. Collectively, each method has made a difference, but applying Penetrate made an immediate difference. It's well worth the cost. I've applied it spring and fall for the past 2 years.

      I can't remember the name of the lantana and because it was an annual, I don't think I kept the tag. But it's not lantana camara, which gets really big. It's a trailing or mounding lantana that stays much shorter. It really liked the extra moisture and compost in the newly created rain garden.

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  11. Yick, yuck, blah was starting to wear on me too. However after spending all day yesterday dealing with a couple of feet of the white stuff, yick, yuck, blah looks pretty damn good! This morning I'm lingering over coffee before I hook myself back up to the ibuprofen IV and head out for round two of shovelmania. Thanks for the the reminder that spring is indeed coming.

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    1. Shoveling can be so brutal! Maybe some neighborhood kids will come by and offer to do it for you for $10 or so. Snow shovels should be sold with a bottle of wine and a hot tub attached. :o)

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  12. Też mam już dość bieli lub szarości na ziemi, chcę zieleni i kolorowych kwiatów. Pozdrawiam.
    I'm also tired of white or gray on the ground, I want greenery and colorful flowers. Yours.

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  13. I can't wait for Spring too. Anxious to see how things come together this year and finish the last of my transplanting (I hope).
    Cher Sunray Gardens

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    1. I also made a lot of changes last fall and really want to see if they work or not. I'm tired of waiting!

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  14. I am a snow bunny and love snow, even as it covers a garden, but I agree on the browns of winter when they are mere mulch and soil. I looks a bit too barren at this time of year. The seesaw weather is giving us hope for Spring, but not sure the garden plants are all too happy about that. It may be a bad freeze/thaw year with perennials popping. What better time to look back when all was green, lush and full of bloom. It warms the cold air here in the frigid north. I just talked to my brother and he said your area missed much of Nemo. It looks like you did too. I miss the butterflies though. Pretty capture of your Swallowtail.

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    1. I love snow, too. Maybe it's all those winters I spent in North and South Dakota, as well as upstate NY, along the Canadian border. I much prefer a cold, snowy winter to a mild brown one. I have a few perennials with basal growth but not much. Nemo swam right past us. I'm still hoping we get clobbered by a big storm. :o)

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  15. Hi Tammy, I am pretty tired of looking at a mainly brown and gray garden as well! Can't wait for spring! Yesterday I couldn't stand it anymore and planted some pansies in the front yard just to have some color pops!
    But back to your garden: You definitively have something to look forward to in spring. I love all the photos of your garden that you posted. For me you are the queen of variety in the garden :-)! Hope spring comes soon for all of us anxiously waiting for it!
    Christina

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    1. Thanks!! I love having lots of different plants growing. I think it's the contrast between my winter and summer garden that bugs me sometimes. There's very little middle ground. I'm holding out for daffodils. They're only 3 weeks away or so. :o)

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  16. What a nice antidote to all the dreary sights outside -- a tour of your gardens. You get me every single time with that photo of spigelia marilandica, and I am so close to completely redesigning my entire garden scheme so I can have a place to put that one plant. I do love it.

    I like seeing your back garden bordering the green lawn, a perfect balance of border and frame, punctuated with the crape myrtle. Nice!

    No brown yucks or blahs up here --- after Storm Nemo we are sitting almost three feet below an unbroken sea of eye-blinding white snow, as far as the eye can see and as deep as our mailbox, which we can't actually find yet.

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    1. I remember well seas of white snow that are painful to look at, let alone wade through and shovel/plow. I really think you could grow spigelia. Mine is at the bottom of my neighbors hill which gives it the moisture it wants, but its roots compete with 2 huge crepe myrtles, which gives it the drainage it wants. Early morning sun til about 11 or so and then partial, filtered shade.

      I like the frame of grass around the garden. It feels soft and balanced to me, too. Grass is not the enemy! When used well, it's a great accent.

      I hope you have someone to shovel/plow/snow blow you out!

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  17. Tammy, I'm tired to see white! And wait for to see brown and green!
    I love these Marguerites and Austin 'Abraham Darby' rose, is very pretty.

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    1. We always want what we don't have. I'd love to see a white backyard. Our winters are unpredictable. Sometimes it snows and sometimes it doesn't. Marguerites are very cold hardy, to zone 3. I think they would do well for you! :o)

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  18. I know to you it's yuck, and ugh...but to me it's flowers, and garden beds, and things that are not covered with snow...

    Why is this winter so tough on all of us?

    Love the borders you have, inspiration for my snow free days.

    Jen

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    1. I should try harder to see it that way, too. We've had a lot of overcast days lately, which just added to the gloom. Today was sunny and bright. It was a real mood lifter. :o)

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  19. I used to live in the midwest and I remember getting tired of the brown, and the gray! Your garden is beautiful, I hope you get an early Spring! Jeannine

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    1. Thanks. :o) It's just so drab. I miss all the color.

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  20. Oh, don't remind me! Seeing all that beauty makes me miss the blooms even more! I am sick of the yuck and brown, too. But, surely, spring will be here soon! By the way, your back garden is perfect - so serene, lush, green, and yet colorful, lively, with lots of interesting foliage. Perfection!

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    1. What an incredible compliment! I just started some seeds and am very excited about watching them grow. It's a great antidote. :o)

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  21. Spring is coming fast. I'm already noticing a lot of waking plants in my garden. I must be strange though, of all the gardeners I know I'm the only one enjoying the brown. It's as though the whole yard is sleeping. Sometimes the brown gives us a moment to look at other things going on in the garden, which I find really fascinating.

    Your garden pictures are so lovely. Once spring comes you'll have so many fun things to do!

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    1. My garden is definitely sound asleep. It's hibernating, which is ok, really. I just miss how colorful summer is. Perhaps I just need to take a second look and appreciate what's there instead of pining away for what isn't there.

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  22. I am also very tired of the drab colors... I anxious for warmness a color... Even in the desert there is that.... Hmmm Spring is in very much a need right now... XXX...

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    1. I saw very early daffodils that were about to bloom in a neighbors yard. They're in a raised bed so they're on the fast track but mine should only be a few weeks away. Yay!

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  23. Such an amazing contrast between the seasons, here we have green in all its many shades all year round, except for the deciduous plants and trees.

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    1. As much as I'm tired of the blahness, I can't imagine green all year round. I like the four seasons. I just need to figure out how to make winter a bit more colorful. :o)

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  24. Sprng is just around the corner! Soon your garden will be bursting with color again! Unless the Mayans were right but just a few months off. In either case, try to be patient.

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    1. I'm hoping the Mayans aren't right about anything. :o) You're all right - spring is coming and a shovel full of patience is my medicine. :o)

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  25. Looking at images of your fine plantings certainly will help get you to planting and blooming time. Here's more help: Think about how much sooner you'll be back to high-bloom season compared with us New Englanders still digging our way out of several feet of snow.

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    1. The pity party is officially over and the hats have been put away. Excellent perspective, Lee.

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  26. Sigh...me, too! Except my "brown" is "white." I don't know which is worse? The white is brighter, but it's colder and it just keeps piling up. ;-) We'll both be happier to have a multi-colored palette, won't we?! Cheers!

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    1. Absolutely! I just started some seeds which I love. I keep peeking at them which is dumb because I just planted them last night but there's so much potential in those little pots! :o)

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  27. Add me to the list!! The nice spring weather we had in January was just to tease us here in London, we have had proper winter for almost 4 weeks now, and last night it snowed, again!

    Loved your photos, especially the long shots, nice to see your garden from a distance to see the different parts.

    I can't wait for sping to come properly, I need to see some colour in my garden too!

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    1. I just need color, period. The landscape is brown and everyone's clothes are grey and black. We've had some bright sunny skies the past few days which has been wonderful. I wore red today just to be colorful! :o)

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  28. I know exactly what you mean about the brown - but so much colour, and colourful wildlife, to look forward to. I was thinking about zinnias only yesterday, I have no idea where I am going to put them, but I am definitely going to sow them, there has to be room somewhere...

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    1. It's not summer for me without zinnias. They just feel so cheerful. I need to find some beauty in all that blah. It's there. I'm just missing it.

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  29. I'm ready for color too! No more brown! Then again....I'm glad we didn't get mountains of snow, so I'll take brown over white. Have a great day!

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    1. I love snow and am dying for a snow storm. :o) I have an itch to make a snowman.

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  30. Didn't that PA groundhog predict an early Spring? I'm sure the brown will soon be overtaken by green and your garden will be restored to glory. In the meantime, you're welcome to visit mine any time.

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    1. I don't take advice from a groundhog. My daffs should be blooming a month from now. But maybe if I stare at them enough, they'll speed up. :o)

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  31. We still can't see the earth, but I know that yuck feeling. With luck warm weather will start sprouting tips in the garden beds and the air will smell sweet. I can't wait.

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    1. Sweet box (sarcocca) is the first bit of fragrance that tells me spring is coming. It blooms in really late winter/early spring. Waiting, waiting, waiting...

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  32. Amen, Sister! I'd even take some brown, as we are literally buried under white after a two day snowstorm in Minnesota. The promise of a colorful spring/summer is what keeps me from going crazy. I love to see people's collections of containers. Thank you for sharing that. Do you move them around throughout the garden or keep them on a patio?

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    1. The big pots weigh a ton so I don't move them that often. I have a bunch more pots (55+) scattered around the patio, front porch, etc. I'm always rearranging them. I used to live in Grand Forks, ND. I miss snow!

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  33. It could be worse, you could still be under a foot or two of snow! I hope you have a little green shoot or two here and there, giving you signs of Spring. The rest of your photos (with flowers) have me sooooo ready to for summer!

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    1. You're so right! There are some daffs poking their heads up. Yay!

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  34. Thank goodness for a stash of bright photos to get you through winter. The browns of winter can be a bit dull. I would take brown right now though, instead I'm staring at a wall of white. (eep, arm yourselves with shovels before heading out the door today!)

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    1. I know you get a ton of snow. Do you have a plow or snow blower? Spring should start here in a month. Patience!

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  35. I love your plant combinations and back garden!!

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  36. I agree with Marguerite. It is a godsend to be able to look at pictures of summer when you are buried in snow. Gosh, your garden is neat and tidy looking Tammy! Mine looks unkempt in comparison. I must remember to get some Spigellia marylandica this spring. What a pretty plant!

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  37. Beautiful pics! I love the lantana and would grow them myself if I had a bit more sun in my garden. Gorgeous zinnia too!

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  38. I don't blame you...I want more green too:) At least Hellebores are blooming. My brown is even bigger than yours because we have NO grass in the back...it's all mulch (and plants under ground waiting to pop out). We do need to get together one of these days. I'm sorry we still haven't!! I'm busy subbing in the elem. schools now and my daughter got a 1st gr. teaching job in Aug. so she's here in the county, as well. I subbed at T Clay Wood once, but it was a longer drive than I'll do on most days. Is that anywhere near you? Anyway...I gave up the Planting Natives blog and am back on Thanks For Today...just FYI :)

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  39. I know it is hard to make it through the last few weeks of winter....your gardens are tidy, ready for the new spring season to bring forth your 'Ahhhh'

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