Garden Tour: May

Yesterday was the perfect day. It was nice and cool early in the morning with no wind. I had a pile full of plants to get in the ground and Michael and Scott were being great helpers. We got a ton of work done and I think I can officially say that everything is planted for 2012!

I ran outside and snapped a few pictures last night to show you what I've done so far. I just took these really quickly and are mostly for informational purposes. You may think I am crazy, and I'm pretty sure my neighbors think I am also, but taking pictures is such a good way to document my landscaping from year to year. I love looking back on old pictures and seeing how it is changed and also just comparing pictures from spring to fall. 

 

Here is the front bed. You will see the mum in the foreground (my "Betty Naibert" mum from Scott's grandmother's house...a true heritage plant!) and then we have purple wave petunias in front, followed by lavender and then the salvia. In the very back is my purple fountain grass which looks pretty terrible now but will do just fine as the summer progresses. I just cut back the salvia so they should rebloom again soon and the lavender is transplanted from my side retaining wall bed. It is so pretty and was just getting lost in with all the other perennials so I moved it up front with all my other purple plants and I think it will fit right in! 

My side retaining wall bed got a total overhaul this spring. I meant to get to it last summer but I didn't and so it was just a disaster. I mostly had purple coneflower and black eyed susans in it but my coneflowers got a disease and had to be pulled and there were volunteer black eyed susans everywhere. It was so bad I even hated just looking at it. So I pulled almost everything out and started over. I kept the Russian Sage because it is so beautiful and easy and makes a good backdrop and also kept a few black eyed susan plants that looked good. I filled in the rest with some new perennials I wanted to try out.

I tried to keep things in groups of threes and leave plenty of space for it to grow and not get crowded. The foxglove should hopefully look like this when it blooms:

 

Around the corner you'll see my giant sages, along with the new Speedwell I planted:

 The speedwell will hopefully look like this when it blooms:

And around the final corner you'll see more sage and black eyed susans and the new Liatris I planted which will hopefully look like this when it blooms:

I tried to keep my new perennials in the purple family and I like the look up the upright shape. I'm crossing my fingers it will all look good together when it blooms later this summer. 

I also bought some bee balm and some lupine for my perennial bed but they didn't fit so I stuck them out in my grasses. I hope these will be beautiful as well and I'm looking forward to some new perennials growing out there.  They should look like this when they bloom:

I also added a nice new maiden grass to this side bed from Earl May with some memorial gift cards. It is really big and nice and something I would never in a million year splurge on so I am happy to add it to my garden because it makes me so happy to see it. I also transplanted a huge catmint plant to fill up some space and I like the color its purple flowers add. 

 

Around back, I planted a TON of zinnia seeds. I hope they bloom and bloom and are giant and gorgeous. The seeds are so easy to plant and once they get going they require almost no care. I love watching carefully for my little seeds to grow and it is really exciting to me. 

 All this dirt-like area will hopefully be full of zinnias this summer! They usually peak around the beginning of August. I also have some sweet potato vine planted here to trail over the wall and some mint for mojitos!

This is my trio of foliage plants. Mom got the fern for me and I planted the coleus- they were the super tiny ones you can get in a six pack for like $1 and they have already filled out nicely. 

In our garage side bed I planted some more memorial plants we got for Trace. I have a few other things to add in here for a little memorial type garden but really....I feel like my whole yard is a memorial garden. The lilac is a gift from our childcare friends, and the Viburnum is a gift from other friend (thank you, Jodi!) and then the Endless Summer Hydrangea is another big plant I splurged on with memorial gifts from Earl May. I love love love hydrangeas and I've always been too cheap to buy them because nice ones are so expensive. I am really happy with this one and it is doing so well in that spot. It looked a little droopy when I got it home so I cut off the big blooms and it is already blooming again! I am in love with it. 

 I do have another small one tucked behind the hostas but I've had it for three summers and it has never bloomed. I'm sure I am doing something wrong....if it doesn't bloom this year I will go back and get another big one because it is so beautiful. 

 

Since you've made it this far, here are a few pretty pictures for you from around the garden. It is such a joy to me!  These hydrangeas are the ones cut from my new plant.

 

 

 

 Okay, wow....was this like the world's longest post or what? I really wanted to get it all in one spot so I could reference it easily. In case you are wondering, I could barely walk yesterday. I was so sore from working all day and I know Scott was too (he was mulching for me). I am so excited to watch things grow and I know I will stay busying just weeding and watering until then. 

Most of the perennials and some my expensive annuals like the purple fountain grass were bought with memorial gift cards to Earl May from friends and family and I just want to say how fun it has been to carefully choose plants to make my yard a happy place. It is such a healing place for me and I hope it brings enjoyment to others as well!