Just to let you know, I'm a patient, analytical person by nature. Except for when I'm not. Sometimes I just want what I want and if there's nothing holding me back I can be outrageously spontaneous and decisive. I once went to London for a day to surprise someone who needed surprising. It needed to be done so I did it. It just didn't occur to me not to.
Zinnias grown from seed
The front garden is filling in.
All the annuals were grown from seed over the winter.
But this summer life has unspooled on a timetable I can't control or influence so I've waited and waited and waited some more. But that's how it goes, isn't it? Sometimes you just have to stand back and look at the whole instead of the pieces and find the beauty in the chaos.
Coneflowers and naked lady lilies came with the house.
This looks like a mess but there are 50 prairie dropseed grass plugs, 30 liatris spicata, and 30 orange milkweed plants hidden in this mess of turf I've dubbed The Meadow. The dropseed grass will eventually suffocate the turf and take over. I scattered in some rudbeckia because I wanted more color and had too many. Roses grow along the wall.
Roses in the spring
Violets are everywhere are have to be pulled to keep from suffocating everything. These are all perennials brought over from my other garden.
If the garden reflects the gardener, mine has become a mess of contradictions. The front garden screams "I'm organized and have my shit together!" while the side garden laughs "My socks don't match and I don't care!". I don't know what the driveway garden says but it makes me happy and that's all that matters. The back is a massive construction site as a series of retaining walls of Titanic proportions are slowly taking shape.
To maximize my sunshine, I've lined my driveway with pots and stuffed them full of the annuals I grew from seed.
Orange poets tassel flower (Emiliana javanica) and gomphrena.
Seed grown dahlia
An assortment of rudbeckia hirta
Life is a dance and you don't always get to pick the music. But get up and shake your ass, anyway.
Just a wee bit of The Wall
The concrete forms will be covered in river rocks.
A view of The Wall from the second story
Your garden is as full and colorful as you are. It is looking great. So much anticipation for planting up the terraces. I love the smooth caps that will be over the river rock. A friend of mine gave me a pair of knee high socks that didn't match :) love em.
ReplyDeleteI looove the wall and the river rocks. The contractor has started adding them to the wall and they look fabulous! That will be my next post! I love socks that don't match. :o)
DeleteSo much going on in your garden, a glorious chaos that reflects a stellar person. Does one's shit always need to be together? Seems that spreading it out might cut down on the smell or at least let it decompose faster:) What fun to be planning what you'll plant in your new terraces.
ReplyDeleteI love all your love, Peter! I need every drop! I think life should always have a messy side. I'm suspicious of things and people that are too orderly.
DeleteHow long have you lived there?! Even with the ongoing construction project out back, your garden already looks well established. Clear evidence of the value of your seedy ways! I'm glad you discovered some happy naked ladies to dance in your summer garden too. A single stem has appeared to represent the batch of bulbs you sent me back in 2015 but I'm waiting patiently to see if more show up in time - they did have a very, very dry winter to contend with. As to chaos, I think that's the world's normal mode now and it's best we all get used to it.
ReplyDeleteI closed on the house Nov 16, 2017 and had a yellow house 4 days later. I moved in Dec 27 after a one month reno on the interior and parts of the exterior. This is my first summer. The garden looks full because I used annuals I'd grown from seed. It's a great way to fill in all the empty spots while the perennials grow larger. I think I'll use the same tactic next year. I also added herbs and brought over large perennials from my last garden. I do hope those bulbs survive! But they're tough!
DeleteLooks wonderful to me. I have a clown pants garden.xo
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm a big believer in clown pants!
DeleteLoving your new garden. I can't wait to see the retaining walls when they're done.
ReplyDeleteThanks! They're almost done and that will be my next post!
DeleteI have a book called 'A gentle plea of chaos'. I love your chaos!!!
ReplyDeleteMe, too! I love that book!! Every garden needs a bit of chaos. :o)
DeleteYou have a meadow! That is so completely wonderful. So are your gardens.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Susan!
DeleteTammy I can NOT believe how many plants you grow from seed .. now that is the epitome of patience !!!
ReplyDeleteYou are a VERY complex person girl ! ... I love the mix and some times ? match of your garden .. it is chaotic yet threaded together (that is the way your brain functions too, right ? LOL) .. I think it is amazing and you have me so curious about how the back garden will look once the hard scaping is finished .. It is going to be AWESOME !! .. can't wait to see it girl : )
I am not a simple person, that's for sure, but my life would be much easier if I were. Actually, my tastes are simple but my brain is not. My brain is like something out of Wily Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I drive myself crazy.
DeleteHow wonderful that you have a meadow! After all the work I did in my garden this spring to get ready for a garden tour, when it was over I felt just DONE with it. I love the joyful chaos in your garden - it looks like a place you couldn't be unhappy in. And you love yellow and orange flowers, too! Great spaces everywhere. Can't wait to see your meadow develop.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I do love yellow and orange flowers, especially when mixed with pink and purple. :o)
DeleteYou've accomplished so much in such a short time!The polinatore must be happy come moved to the neighborhood. I love the lossaci pot by the front door : ) Hugs
ReplyDeleteThe pollinators have been few and far between this summer, which is very depressing. I'm hoping to attract more as my garden matures.
DeleteUmm - your garden looks more full and lush after less than a year than mine does after 4. You are a seed genius. I couldn't agree more on the old "use annuals to fill in the bare spots while perennials take their own sweet time to grow" trick. Works every time.
ReplyDeleteHere's my secret: I grow plants easy to grow. I think I'm going to stuff these beds full of annuals every year. :o) But I also don't have deer so don't beat yourself up.
DeleteGoodness, how beautifully it's all coming along, so quickly too. I can't wait to see the back after all the hard landscaping, looks fascinating!xxx
ReplyDeleteEven my contractor is sick of working on The Wall. It just won't go away. There's always more work to be done.But once it's done it will be amazing!!
DeleteWow, there is a lot going on! I think I would interpret it as, "I'm ready for anything." It's all going to be beautiful - creative chaos!
ReplyDeleteMaybe I am ready for anything. I hadn't thought about it like that. Thanks for a different perspective!
DeleteI like your style.
ReplyDelete(Although personally, I'd prefer rampant violets to a mass of prairie dropseed. Don't get me wrong, prairie dropseed is a pretty grass, but I'm among those people who find the 'fragrance' from the seedheads to be a bit too ... pungent.) :P
Ugh.... I had no idea dropseed was stinky! Geez Louise....
DeleteWow, just amazing how much you're getting done in such a short time span. Are you sure you need to pull the violets? Maybe they could be a transitional groundcover? Love the front garden with the Zinnias and Sunflowers.
ReplyDeleteI need to pull some of them or they’ll be the only plant in the garden. But I’ll leave a lot because they’re the larval food source for fritillary butterflies. What is a five-year plan to the rest of the world is a five-minute plan to me. It will take a long time to fill the retaining wall garden but at least the structure is up and almost done.
DeleteYour garden is really coming along. Can't wait to see how the backyard turns out!
ReplyDeleteThanks! It will take much longer to fill in the back garden than the front.
DeleteHi Tammy, the front garden is already looking incredible and that's some major engineering works going on at the back. I know you said your back garden sloped down but that picture really puts into perspective just how steep that slope is. If the garden reflects the gardener, then my garden would say that I'm totally out of control!
ReplyDeleteI love your garden! It's as fun as you are!
DeleteYou amaze me, Tammy! That back retaining wall is incredible. I need to pick your brain a little bit about a similar project here. I love your Rudbeckia display!
ReplyDeleteThanks,Beth! I do love those rudbeckia, too! Just message me about your project. :o)
DeleteHow do you do it?? Your new garden looks so full and lush compared to my new border - I have a feeling I'm being much to anal about plant spacing as we so often hear about plants being placed too close together. Next season, I'll be stuffing a lot more perennials into the border - if they are eventually too close, I'll just pull them out, Tammy style ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm not very anal! I just stuff my plants in close together 'naked hippie at a concert' style! It's funky, free spirited, and there's lots of naughtiness so I end up with seedlings. I like it when my plants are a bit snuggled up together.
DeleteThank you!
ReplyDeleteI don't show enough "befores" on my blog figuring people don't want to see the nitty gritty behind the scenes, but I think that's a mistake. A garden takes years to come together and the process is just as interesting as the end result.
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