April 25, 2009 Living the good life, and reaping flowers!

Category: Melisa's Garden | Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 3:25 pm

This is my first blog ever, so please be patient with me as I try to figure it all out!

I'm thrilled that it's finally warm and pretty outside! My garden is giving me a reason to get up each morning- just to see what is budding and what bloomed overnight! I'll try to post lots of pictures.


Clematis Bloom ( photo / image / picture from smiles4sunshine54's Garden )

My Clemantis is starting to bloom. I have two blooms right now, but the vine is covered with buds.


Clematis Starting to Bloom ( photo / image / picture from smiles4sunshine54's Garden )

I planted this last year, and I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed in it's size. I may have had unreasonable expectations, but I thought it would cover the trellis by now. There are two vines growing, and one it still so short I have to tie it to the trellis with gardening tape.

Oh, and this picture does make me realize how I need to fix the deck!




Clematis Vine ( photo / image / picture from smiles4sunshine54's Garden )



Hostas ( photo / image / picture from smiles4sunshine54's Garden )

The hostas have come up!





Hydrangea Close Up ( photo / image / picture from smiles4sunshine54's Garden )


I'm so thrilled with the Endless Summer Hydrangea! I
bought it for myself for my birthday! I just love the way it looks!



Endless Summer Hydrangea ( photo / image / picture from smiles4sunshine54's Garden )






Climbing Rose Bloom ( photo / image / picture from smiles4sunshine54's Garden )


The first of the climbing rose's blooms. This thing is absolutely laden with rose buds. It's so pretty and all summer, I clip these so I'll have roses inside, too. OK - the black spots on the leaves - is that black spot, the disease? What can I do about this? Should I be concerned? Will it kill the rose?



Another Climbing Rose Bloom ( photo / image / picture from smiles4sunshine54's Garden )






Climbing Rose ( photo / image / picture from smiles4sunshine54's Garden )


I love the way this bush is really starting to cover the trellis - actually, the other trellis had a rose planted there, too, but it died. This year, I let the one bush swoop over to the other trellis, but I also planted sweet pea seeds. Hopefully they'll come up. I hear they're very easy to grow from seed. We'll see.



Rose Bush Buds ( photo / image / picture from smiles4sunshine54's Garden )

This little rose bush does pretty well too, but it doesn't really compare to it's next door neighbor, the climbing rose bush!



Lamb's Ear Patch ( photo / image / picture from smiles4sunshine54's Garden )

OK, so I must confess that when I first moved in this house, this little patch was already here. I thought it was an ugly weed, so I tried to weed it all out. Then I slacked up a bit, and the ugly fuzzy foliage bloomed. Oops, that's Lamb's Ear and it's actually pretty. Well, I don't want any more of it, but at least I won't try to eradicate it.


Lamb's Ear Bud ( photo / image / picture from smiles4sunshine54's Garden )








Creeping Phlox ( photo / image / picture from smiles4sunshine54's Garden )

Nothing says Spring like Creeping Phlox in bloom! What is there not to love about this pretty little early bloomer? I was jealous because the creeping phlox in the garden down the street bloomed two weeks earlier. Then, it seems I have a fuzzy memory of buying the mid-season bloom variety. Where was this blog when I first started this garden 3 years ago? Probably here, but I wasn't! I kept all the info sticks from the plants, but then my better half got ambitious about cleaning out the garage. I think those are in the dump now!







Front Garden ( photo / image / picture from smiles4sunshine54's Garden )

This is the front garden. I weeded it this weekend and was happy to discover that most of the "annual" dusty millers have survived the winter. Shhh..don't tell them they were supposed to die! Also in this bed is the creeping phlox, daylilies, a few iris, gladiolas (not yet sprouted), foxglove (planted seeds, not yet up), anemoies, dahlias. I planted a couple Peonies this year, also. I need to get some more plants to fill in while I'm waiting for things to come up. That's going to be another day, though.






Our House ( photo / image / picture from smiles4sunshine54's Garden )

This is our house from the road. By the mailbox is Stonecrop. I wanted something that blooms all summer and is drought tolerant. That hose is all the way on the left side of the house, and I get a little lazy in the heat of the summer. Best to pick a plant that can deal with it! I'll let you know how that goes!




Iris ( photo / image / picture from smiles4sunshine54's Garden )


Here's the Iris. I think I need to divide these soon. They are starting to look pretty crowded. They are covered in big buds, though, and I'm hoping they bloom soon. I don't know exactly what variety they are but I do remember that they're purple.



Iris Bud ( photo / image / picture from smiles4sunshine54's Garden )






Perennial Garden Encore ( photo / image / picture from smiles4sunshine54's Garden )






Perennial Garden Again ( photo / image / picture from smiles4sunshine54's Garden )






Perennial Garden ( photo / image / picture from smiles4sunshine54's Garden )






Need to divide! ( photo / image / picture from smiles4sunshine54's Garden )

Here I thought Brad had a weedeating mishap again, but I was reading about dividing online, and they said when the center dies out and only the edges remain, it's time to divide. I didn't know this creeping juniper got this big, anyway, and I don't want more of it spreading around. If any of you are interested in live in Tennessee, you're welcome to it. I hate to throw away plant material, but seriously, this stuff took over my bed and spreads rampantly like a weed. Maybe if I planted it in a planter, I'd like it better.




Periwinkle ( photo / image / picture from smiles4sunshine54's Garden )






Periwinkle again ( photo / image / picture from smiles4sunshine54's Garden )

This is the show-stopper right now. Love it, love it, had no idea it gets this big! Can I divide it? I need to do some digging for information on this, because I just love it! Low maintenance and high blooming! What could be better?


Front Sidewalk ( photo / image / picture from smiles4sunshine54's Garden )


This shows the daylilys lining the front sidewalk. This part of the garden is a work in progress. Any suggestions on what I might pair these with?



Crepe Myrtle ( photo / image / picture from smiles4sunshine54's Garden )

The crepe myrtle is finally filling out green again. As pretty as this is all summer, it's barren in the wintertime. I think it's my favorite thing in the front garden because it's huge and it blooms so nice and for so long! I believe I'm going to try some rooting hormone on some cuttings. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

I feel like I've left out stuff I wanted to discuss, but hey, another day!

Thanks for reading, ya'll come back now, ya hear?




Last edited: Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:35 pm

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Comments

 

eileen wrote on Mon Apr 27, 2009 3:35 pm:


Nice to see you blogging with us Melisa. My garden gives me a lot of pleasure too now that winter is behind us. I look forward to reading more of your blog entries soon.




 

toni wrote on Mon Apr 27, 2009 3:50 pm:


Glad to see the beginning of your blog Melisa. The blog is a great place to keep track of what you planted and when. What you want to plant and make plans for new garden areas.

Looking forward to following your gardening adventures and don't forget the pictures :)




 

glendann wrote on Mon Apr 27, 2009 7:22 pm:


I love your yard and all your plants.Your blooms are so pretty.




 

Droopy wrote on Mon Apr 27, 2009 7:29 pm:


Lovely garden you've got there, and lovely blooms too. I'm looking forward to following your garden through the seasons.




smiles4sunshine54 wrote on Tue Apr 28, 2009 1:06 pm:


Thanks, everyone, for being so supportive!





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