Above picture is of bleeding heart and Lady's Mantel in bloom.
Another way to display hens and chicks. Found the ornament at a garage sale for 50 cents.
Taken early spring when the vine was still filling out. A couple of weeks ago I expanded this bed by a couple of feet leaving a path of grass to walk through.
Our little deck and it's surroundings. We have had many a lunch out here.
The above shrub/tree is an elder. It is 5 years old and every summer we prune about 3 feet off of it to keep it looking more like a topiary. It provides us with so much privacy on the deck. It does not have a bug or disease enemy like most plants. It just grows too fast! I have lost several of them over my garden years when we get a sudden cold snap in the winter. Seeds readily develop into future specimens of which I give all away except one just in case I need to replace one of these. I have only 2 in our yard.
A basket of Hens and Chicks also called Semperivums - not sure about spelling. I place these in this basket for the spring and summer. In the fall before freeze up I lift them out and set them on top of soil and cover with dead garden foliage from other plants to protect it through our harsh cold winters. In the spring I peel back this winter mulch and these hens and chicks are just as fresh as a salad. This continues year after year and since they multiply I have found other containers to put them in. Will post about those pictures at a later date. This basket is made out of concrete and dries out so fast so I thought I would put something in that likes it on the hot and dry side. It has worked out wonderful. I remember reading once that these little plants will grow on top of a fence post in some wet climates. Yet they don't need much moisture since the plant is actually full of water. Too much water and it will probably die. Thanks for reading.
The Eiffel Tower awaiting a climbing red runner bean. At time of writing the bean has grown beyond the height of tower and climbing up onto the clematis vine. I don't like to use a lot of garden ornaments but nice to have a few just for accents.
The above is a tall bleeding heart in the background. Ferns and bergenia in foreground. This gets about 3 hours of sunshine a day and I treat all three as shade plants.
The Lady's Mantle has since bloomed. Since it readily goes to seed I cut the whole plant down to the ground about 3 weeks after enjoying the tall yellow blossoms it produced. Beautiful green foliage came up within 1 week. I fertilized it and have since continued to water it well. When the water sits on the leaves it looks like little diamonds. I love this plant just for it's foliage. Will post a close up of the leaves some day.
My garden girl fountain. She wears a vine hat that I bought at a garage sale. Behind to left is a perennial valarian plant which has a beautiful fragrance. The root is used for sleep disorders and does not smell nice like the blossom. After it's done blooming I dead head the blossom which can grow as tall as 7 feet. I look forward to this every summer.
A nice place to have lunch al fresco - this spot is very private too.
Bought this stand at a garage sale just for this corner. The plant in the top pot and bottom pot is a kennelworth ivy, it loves it in sun or shade, pots or in the ground. We enjoy sitting here and observing the rest of the yarden. I love Non stop begonias. Here we treat them as an annual, starting over next year with a new plant.
This tree/shurb is only 5 years old. Every summer we cut off about 3 to 4 feet to keep it topiary shaped.
Every yard/garden has a sweet spot. A place that's nice to sit and a place that is a pleasure to look at.
In the spring these are one of the first perennials to bloom. I bought the root many years ago. It was called a rare oriental peony. I have moved it from several recent gardens and divided each time. Once these are done blooming I dead head immediately. I stake them early in the spring. If it rains heavy the stakes support them so they don't sprawl in the middle. After it's done blooming it looks like a shrub even though it's a perennial. The leaves have a fern look. This is one of my favorite perennials. I feed it with bone meal in the spring and fall.
This would be the view of a butterfly. The miniature bleeding heart is hiding under the elder tree.
