Friday, February 13, 2009

Story of 2008's New Flower Bed, Part 4


These photos were taken 9/7/08.  The sunflowers were blooming, the cleome continuing to bloom, and the white cosmos were finally starting to bloom, after getting quite tall and bushy.



Foxglove and yarrow, I forgot what kind:



The name of the lantana is citrus blend.  I hope to find it again, as it bloomed all summer, and the butterflies and bees loved it.  Just to its left, I planted a day lily named Wally, that I saw pics of on the Cottage Garden Forum on ivillage. The post was by Mary Lu, and started out with, "As promised..." I plant to divide the red hot pokers behind them.



I planted another kind of day lily near this Harvest Moon Coneflower, which I found out later, may not be the best thing for the insects or native echinaceas. I can't remember the details, and just now, when I tried to look it up, couldn't find what I was looking for.  I did come across an interesting article from the University of Minnesota Extension, you may want to check out,  Common Questions About Wildflowers and Native Plants.



My husband doesn't garden, but he does the mowing, and has certain plants he likes that we have to grow every year.  One of them, is snail vine, which is blooming and growing with a morning glory vine.




The sunflowers were pretty for awhile.  I think these would have liked more sun.  The squirrels ended up taking most of the sunflowers just before they were fully ripe.



The nigella were still blooming, as they were planted late.  The verbena "on a stick" reseeds every year, and these were moved from the veggie garden.  They filled the bed out nicely, and the butterflies and bees loved them, too. The orange is butterfly milkweed.


Whenever I took pics, I took from the house, as well as the front.



We got 4 to 5 inches of snow today, and I almost posted pics of that, but since I was home from work, I had a lazy day at the computer, and decided to find some more pics to update my new bed saga.  One thing I plan to do differently is not plant a bunch of annual plants that I normally would put in pots, like the white blooming diamond frost euphorbia.  They bloomed all summer, but I want other things to fill it up this year.

15 comments:

  1. It looks great! And I like the nice big round shape of it-a perfect size. Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours tomorrow.

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  2. Wonderful flower garden. Those morning glories and sunflowers are stunning. Hope you have a great Valentines Day.

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  3. looking forward to your garden this year...these were great shots...i wish i had luck with my little spot but alas...it has been so hot early when i plant and things just don't take off like they should...but, i will try again this year.
    have a wonderful weekend.
    erin

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  4. Hi sue...lovely pictures. When ever i visit your blog i always feel connected with nature.So beautiful.

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  5. Thanks for the comments. I am excited to see what comes up in the bed. I have spots in other areas that need attending to, also.

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  6. After looking at your latest posting of my favorite garden bed, I want to start digging up my front yard. Unfortunately, I have a lot of obstacles to overcome. Still, I have a few more months to try to solve the problems. Keep the photos coming!

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  7. Harvest Moon Coneflower- I'm going to have to look for that! Just beautiful!

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  8. Sue I wonder if the yarrow is Paprika.

    Your garden is so cottagey and charming.

    I'm trying to think of plants with the name "pineapple" in them: there's Pineapple Sage, and Pineapple Lily. Did the plant look like this? http://www.plantdelights.com/Catalog/Current/Detail/01796.html

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  9. Hi Jill, I see you were able to leave a message. Thanks for the nice compliment. I hope you can overcome your obstacles. We have an underground sprinkler system that has been there over 10 years, so we had to work around that, and I have to be careful what I plant near the sprinkler heads.

    Tessa, I also planted a pink one, called Kim's Knee High, that bloomed all summer like the Harvest Moon did. I'll let post to let people know if they survived the winter.

    Sweet Bay, Yes, it is Paprika yarrow, and it was pineapple lily I liked. I see it's zone 6b, so I probably wouldn't be able to grow it. I sure liked it in the gardens in North Carolina.

    Have a great weekend!

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  10. Great pictures. I've been intrigued by the snail vine. Is it fragrant? I heard it was but I have no first hand experience. Years ago I grew Verbena bonariensis. I am STILL pulling seedlings. Rather than tossing them like I've been doing, I think I'm going to keep the ones that sprout this year, transplant them (like you did) and diligently deadhead them before they drop more seed. :-)

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  11. Thanks for this glimpse back at summer's rich beauty during the depths of winter! Must have cheered you on your snowy day indoors, to look back at that and also ahead to your plans for next year. The squirrels got all my sunflowers, too, durn 'em!

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  12. Hi Sue,

    I do like that snail vine...very interesting and showcased in this month's Fine Gardening mag (if memory serves me well)...The nice thing about snow is its insulating abilities...you know your beauties will be safe until spring. The archives are the best place to be on a cold winter day! Have a good weekend. gail

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  13. So many pretty plants. I love the verbena too, it seems to look good everywhere is shows up. You did great with your combinations.

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  14. Grace, yes, it is fragrant, but the fragrance doesn't carry very far. Yes, I pull a lot of verbena seedlings up, too, but don't get them dead headed. It's hard for me to tell when they're setting seeds.

    Greenwalks, what are we going to do about those pesky squirrels? I think ours are getting too tame. They stay quiet when I go out, and then run after I'm quite close, scaring me.

    Gail, I get a few magazines, but don't always get them read, especially now that I'm blogging. I haven't seen a Fine Gardening magazine lately. I bet the article said they prefer warm temps. It seems they don't like to get below 50. I think we are a bit cooler here than they prefer, and they are slow taking off.

    Thanks for the compliments, Catherine. I love the way the verbena fills up a space.

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  15. Oh!Those flowers caught my attention. It seems you have a great flower garden. How I wish I could alaso have a cool garden like yours. Keep it up!

    vitton

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