Welcome to Ky-Dan's Flower Gardens!

Purple Crocus
As I reviewed the pictures from last season this one just stood out. These little beauties are cheap, reliable and the 1st real sign that spring is right around the corner.
March 6



Bleeding Heart - Dicentra spectabilis or Japanese bleeding heart. This one blooms in the spring and then the plants get tall and leggy finally dieing back in early summer.
Dicentra eximia or Fringed Bleeding Heart blooms later in the season and does not die back until frost if you keep it watered. Both kinds appreciate some shade.
March 15

Dwarf Crested Iris is a native of Kentucky and Southern Indiana forests. These diminutive plants are only 4 to 6 inches tall with blooms of 1 1/4 inch.
This patch started with just 1 plant 4 years ago and has spread to a 3 foot diameter group.
These are planted under a Bradford pear tree so they get full sun in the early spring but shade during the hot summer. April 21

A red gazing ball lends some color to the pink Spirea
June 5

These dwarf Burning Bush lend some color to the red gazing ball!!
When our burning bushes look like this we know that old man winter is knocking on our door.
November 5

Evening primrose is a hardy, reliable splash of yellow along the path in our early summer garden. It can be slightly invasive but it's shallow roots are easily contained by burying a ring of plastic flower-bed edging around it. Requires some watering during dry spells but otherwise is nearly maintenance and pest free.
June 5

Corn Poppy- papaver rhoeas is one of my favorite flowers in the wild flower bed
June 5

Another pretty surprise in the wildflower bed.

June 5

Rita fusses about the "tangled mess" but if you've got room for even a small bed- wildflowers are a joy to behold. There are new and different blooms almost every day all season long. After they've gone to seed in the fall just cut down the tops and wait for them to re-appear next year!

June 5

We added a small bed of mixed gladiolis last summer and it was a hit. They sprawled all over the lawn when they bloomed so we used them to add a touch of color and "coolness" to our back porch on a hot summer afternoon. They start blooming on the lower part of the stalk and continue right up to the top bud lasting a week or so even after they've been cut.
July 20

Hibiscus- disco belle is a favorite year after year!

July 30

This plant blooms mightily for a 3 to 4 week span in late summer.
The dinner plate size blooms last only one day and have no fragrance but WOW- they will catch your eye from a hundred feet away.

July 30

Japanese beautyberry- Callicapra Japonica. We were attempting to espaliea this one to a simple "re-bar" trellis. I recently discovered it normally dies back to the ground during our winters so I'm not sure how it's going to work here. (Wish I'd done my homework before planting this one!) Note, the foliage you see in the background is foxglove and not the leaves of a beautyberry.

The pretty purple berrys add a little color to a fall garden. These lasted only about 3 weeks or so but we enjoyed them on those indian summer days of late fall.

November 7

Winterberry- Ilex verticillata is a great addition to the late fall garden. The pretty red berries are wonderful in table decorations. It's a native plant that is found from Nova Scotia to Florida and Michigan to Missouri. It's trouble free and low maintenance. Note: you need one male plant somewhere in your garden in order for the "ladies" to produce these beautiful & long lasting berries.
November 17

Just two of the many deer that stroll, trample and munch their way through our gardens - seen here through a rain spattered window on a late February morning.

We made it almost all the way to Halloween before Jack Frost bit our tender annuals. Note the Purple hyacinth beans on the arch trellis are drooping. The red gazing ball and deck rails have a frosty coating.
Now it's time to harvest some of the bean seeds to save for next year's crop.
October 29

Dan & Rita enjoying our other favorite pastime -hiking! This view is from the top of Kentucky's Pine Mountain state park - home of the chained rock- which is next door to the Historic Cumberland Gap National park.

So long for now- we hope to see you again- in the garden or on the trail!

These pages were ALL created with plain old NOTEPAD.
If I have misspoken, misspelled or made a typo I'd be grateful if you'd drop me a line so I can fix it.

Thanks for stopping by. We hope you enjoyed your visit to our tiny piece of Kentucky!
Come back, anytime!

Up to the top of this page
This way to the Pond page!
Let's visit the garden in winter!
To Dan's Garage