As a gardener I tend to judge the year by how much rain we receive. 2004 was an odd year for us. We had drought in 2002 and more than adequate rain in 2003. In 2004 we had it both ways! Early in the year we were way ahead of average rain totals. Then in late summer the rain just quit. Period. We had no rain-at-all for 6 weeks! Then the rain came back with a vengeance. We had the driest September on record and the wettest October on record. Very strange!
Enough rambling - on with the pictures!
2003 the rain came back!
2002 was very dry but we still managed!
More flowers in Summer 2001!
Let's visit the fishpond.
Summer 2000 was a busy year in our garden!
Go back to Summer '99
Visit our Winter garden on
Christmas Eve '99
Pink Crabapple var. unknown. This is not my favorite tree except for 2
weeks in April. During the summer the Japanese beetles devour the leaves and
they fall to the ground or turn brown. It's not particularly shapely BUT when
it blooms and the late afternoon sun hits it just right- it's beautiful.
Photo taken April 15 for a bit of beauty on TAX day!.
Variegated periwinkle or vinca minor.
This is the rear corner of our backyard flower gardens.
It gets full mid-afternoon sun and was a rather dry
barren looking corner until we planted the periwinkle.
Disease and insect free and evergreen. At least it keeps
most of it's leaves during our Kentucky winters. (Your mileage
may vary!)
Taken May 11, 2004.
The variegated leaves on this periwinkle look very refreshing and cool.
The yellow and light green leaves turned this hot brown corner into a mini
oasis.
This plant spreads by sending out above ground runners that then take root
and form "satellite" plants.
Not terribly invasive if you lift the runners
and snip them off a couple of times a season.
May 12.
Japanese Blood Grass - imperata cylindrica is a hardy perennial fairly
short grass. We use it as "bookends" on this end of a stepping stone path
through the garden. It dies back to the ground in winter and reaches 18" high
in summer. Later in the season it shows many more red tips. How can you
not want a plant with a name like "blood grass"??
Taken May 11.
The following pictures are old fashioned Bearded Iris
These plants are hand-me-downs from my sister and she got them from
someone else "many" years ago.
The plants are hardy and fairly drought and insect resistant.
Taken May 11.
You plant bearded iris tubers nearly on top of the soil. Just barely
cover them. After that simply mulch to keep down weeds and hold moisture
and enjoy. Very low maintenance plants.
May 11.
If you plant bearded iris try to pick a spot where you can leave
them for several years. They take a year or 2 to get going but are
worth the wait!
May 11.
One more color!
May 11.
And another....
May 11.
Like I said, a simple low maintenance bed that you can leave alone.
Close up picture of Spiderwort bloom. What a pretty color!
Only about 1 1/4 inches across it's still an eye catcher.
May 31.
May 31.
Some plants I buy as much for the name as for the flower and this is one of them.
Spiderwort - Tradescantia ohiensis is a perennial that blooms most
of the summer. Not at all fussy about soil or water and seems to be mostly disease
and insect free. This one is a keeper!
June 23.
I just have to include a goldfish pond photo each year.
Our entire back yard - over half an acre - was just grass and
a vegetable garden for nearly 20 years. I stuck in a little
preformed plastic fish pond and a friend gave us a few pond plants
and 4 or 5 different perennial flowers to put around it and suddenly we
SAW THE LIGHT!
These are just 25 cent goldfish that have grown as big as 6 inches in length.
As soon as they see your outline or shadow they gather with open mouths!
June 23.
July 12, 2003
Anchoring the back corner of the pond is a clump of
Gooseneck loosestrife which is a hardy perennial fairly invasive plant.
Purple loosestrife is labeled a noxious invasive weed around here but the white
is less of a problem. This variety spreads by underground root runners.
I had it surrounded by a 4 inch plastic bed edging buried nearly to the top.
They ran right under that and started trying to take over the rest of the area.
I bought some 10" wide aluminum flashing and dug a ditch around the gooseneck and
buried the flashing. I then placed the plastic edging next to the aluminum to
protect the edge and filled in the ditch. That's kept them contained for the
last 3 years.
Red bee balm - monarda didyma look great, are very hardy, not too
invasive, (but will travel via shallow root runners) and they smell great.
I just figured it was a fragrant plant - I didn't realize it was an herb.
Here's a close-up of the purple variety which does get some mildew each summer.
Some varieties are more resistant. Pretty flowers and nice spicy scent.
It's earned a permanent place in our gardens.
June 23.
I've talked about Balloon Flower - Platycodon grandiflorus
on previous years but I'm including it again.
It's a very reliable hardy plant. Mostly bug and disease free.
It's not invasive. It may fall over in the rain if many blooms
are open at once so I put a small fence around them to hold them up.
Sometimes the critters (bunnies and deer!) will nibble off the stems.
Why don't more of you grow them??? They've been around for 50 years!
Get some!
June 23.
I've just got to include Canna - Cannaceae again as well.
Some websites call them canna lilies but they are not lilies!
Yes you have to dig the roots and store them over winter but
they are huge, RED, lush and tropical looking.
Feed heavily and give plenty of water for blooms lasting from mid summer
right up till frost. There are many different colors of blooms and leaves available.
Some are grown in pots in ponds and bogs.
You need some canas in your garden too!
June 23.
Stokes Aster - Stokesia laevis is a low growing, fairly low maintenance
addition to our garden. Not terribly remarkable but it's low habit and non-invasiveness
makes it an easy fit along our garden paths.
June 23.
The Asiatic lilies are pretty too but do not smell as nice or at all.
We added a new bed just for the Oriental Lilies. These hardy bulbs are
beautiful and the smell WONDERFUL.
June 23.
Stargazer Lily is THE worlds most popular lily. I just wish you could
smell it!
If you have any lilies at all you want some of these.
You can usually find these individually in pots at garden centers in early
to mid summer but you can order 25 bulbs for the price of only 2 or 3 pots.
Get a pot or 2 and order a bunch of bulbs!
June 23
July 13
If you must have a neat orderly "well kept" flowerbed then don't
plant wildflowers.
BUT-
If you love surprises and want something new to look at almost every day
then plant some!
June 23
I don't know the name of this wildflower but it's just one of many
that came from a single pack of "assorted wildflowers".
June 23
More wildflowers
June 23
And more wildflowers
June 23
Last one here but there were many more in the bed at different times of the summer.
This photo taken
June 23, 2004
I'm not kidding when I say our back yard was just grass for nearly 20 years.
June 23
OK we had a few trees along the sides but just grass everywhere else.
June 23
I simply walked forward about 50 feet from the previous picture and snapped
this one.
If you start at the end of the driveway and cross the shady deck and
pass the fishpond and follow the path all the way to the end-- you wind up
here!
June 23
This Garden Pergola was a fun and not too difficult project from
3 years ago.
The purple beans that will soon cover it completely are just starting
to climb the corners.
Miscanthus Sinensis Variegatus on the right.
Blood grass in the lower center.
Blue balloon flowers on the left.
June 23
St. Francis of Assisi - Patron Saint of Animals
watches over this shady corner of the garden.
June 23
This smiling little girl angel statue stands up on a block to
get above the ferns and coleus and hostas.
June 23
The "copperus stupidicus" or copper dodo bird looks for bugs amoungst
the hostas in the front shade garden.
June 23
Come on! Follow the steps across the shady deck and meet me out
by the fishpond.
June 23
If you're not in a hurry you can go the long way around and take the
front steps alongside the daylily bed.
June 23
Several years ago I bought a bag of "assorted" daylilies.
June 23
I have no idea what their names are.
June 23
Each plant started as just one little sprig or "fan" as they're called.
June 23
Now it's been 5 years and it's about time to dig and divide them!
I'm usually here this time of day but today Rita and I've gone
to Natural Bridge State Park for a little hiking trip.
June 24
Glad to see you made it around to the fish pond!
Possibly the best smelling flower in the whole garden.
September 3.
One last look at a Moonflower -Ipomoea alba.
I know it's hard to tell but this bloom is 5 or 6 inches across.
This member of the morning glory family blooms at the other end
of the day. It opens in late evening and is often gone by dawn!
I hope you enjoyed visiting our gardens as much as I enjoyed showing
them to you!
I pray you'll be safe until we
meet again - in the garden or out in the woods!
Here we are on a trail in the Daniel Boone National Forest
of eastern Kentucky. This is the area known as the Red River Gorge
and is some of the best hiking in the Eastern United States.
June 23
Now the golden Morn aloft
Waves her dew-bespangled wing,
With vermeil cheek, and whisper soft
She woos the tardy Spring:
Till April starts, and calls around
The sleeping fragrance from the ground:
And lightly o'er the living scene
Scatters his freshest, tenderest green.
New-born flocks, in rustic dance,
Frisking ply their feeble feet;
Forgetful of their wintry trance
The birds his presence greet:
But chief, the skylark warbles high
His trembling thrilling ecstasy;
And, lessening from the dazzled sight,
Melts into air and liquid light.
Rise, my soul! on wings of fire,
Rise the rapt'rous choir among;
Hark! 'tis Nature strikes the lyre,
And leads the general song:
NOTEPAD.
Thanks for stopping by. We hope you enjoyed your visit to our tiny piece
of Kentucky!
Come back, anytime!
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