Monday, May 16, 2011

Foliage

Along with all the lovely May blooms, there is some nice foliage as well.  I am joining Pam again, with her Foliage Follow-up.  I haven't made it to many GBBD posts yet.  I made myself do a little housework and some laundry, although the house is such a mess, you can't tell I did a thing inside.  I also went out in the cold and took some photos of foliage.  About 3:00, the sun came out, and it finally got into the upper 50s, warm enough to get some gardening done.  Since the tomatoes I planted a couple days ago were doing OK, I went ahead and planted most of the rest of them.  I came in for a microwave meal, and went back out until after 9:00 pm.  It was fun watching the moon get brighter and brighter through the trees.  I was feeling appreciative of all the trees in our neighborhood.  Even though we have no trees in our yard, there are still trees all around us.  We even get quite a lot of shade from some of them in the front yard, but not the house itself.

The hostas are doing fine.  The reason I have all the stuff in with them is to try to keep Heidi out of them. 





The closest variegated false sunflower is more variegated than the one next to it.


Larry saw these little spireas somewhere, and wanted them.  He does that once in awhile.  They sure are looking pretty this year.  That's a clematis on the trellis.


The arum foliage looks like it's ready to fade.  Soon, the odd looking flowers will appear, followed by stalks of what looks like berries, which will turn from green to red.


'Fireworks' goldenrod:


I'm tickled that several kinds of foxgloves have survived 5 or so winters, and bloom each year.  The foliage is nice looking, too.


The strappy leaves of the surprise lilies is fading, and will soon be gone, and later in the summer, the flower stalks will come up through the monarda, which is a petite pink blooming one.


I hope you are having some nice spring weather, and there is no more flooding this week.  Enjoy your outdoor time!

17 comments:

  1. I love your new header and background, Sue. I have been rather scarce in blogworld recently, as I too have been very busy with puppies, gardening in preparation for our winter etc so I have missed a few of your most recent posts. Trying to do a bit of catching up now though ;) I am amazed to see how lush and thick your lawn is and always astounded by the huge variety of plants you have in your garden. It is all looking so good! The housework can take a backseat now you're able to enjoy your spring warmth and put in as many gardening hours as you can when the opportunity presents :) I hope you are well over your recent bout of illness?

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  2. That is a good picture of the house and front and side yard! I see more yard on the side that you could convert....carrying on the front border around to the back! (just kidding).

    I hope you will take a picture of the foxgloves when they bloom; my foliage looks nothing like that and I am curious about what kind you have. I have just one lonely plant this year. I need to start some more this summer.

    The plants all look like they are enjoying this cool wet weather.

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  3. Wait! Foliage? I'm not through with Bloom Day. You have lots of interesting things coming on in your perennial gardens. Everything looks finished in such a short time since that tree was cut. I can relate to rigging anti-dog barriers.

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  4. Hey Sue, seems it's turned winter here again. Fortunately no more flooding though.

    Beautiful greenery today.

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  5. Your spirea foliage sure is pretty, and the hostas look like summer (in the north) to me -- cool and green. Hope you get some nice gardening weather soon. We're enjoying a last gasp of spring before the long southern summer.

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  6. Like that fireworks goldenrod foliage. So that is the fifth year for the foxglove. I thought mine were bi-annuals. Do they bloom every year? Looks like you garden is taking off. great..

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  7. I love the way you have the hostas overlapping each other. I hope mine will do that this year, if they get wide enough.

    Did you ever find out what the alleged 'Stoke's Aster' is? I enjoyed that story!

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  8. I have been enjoying the spring foliage too. It is always so beautiful and fresh looking this time of the year. .as compared to in a few months. .when it will be faded from heat and wind. .with holes in the leaves from hoppers and whatever else!! Looks like you will have a lot of bloom action soon!!

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  9. Girl I love seeing all that green at your place. Pretty soon it will be so colorful. I love your hostas along the side of the house. I noticed the new header photo. Your yard looks so different but in such a good way.

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  10. I think I would faint if hubby picked out a flower for the garden without consulting me! Excellent choice your hubby made though. Your hostas look so nice this spring!

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  11. Great shots of your perennials, Sue. I love your hostas and kudos to Larry for liking the spiraea. :) That was a pretty moon, wasn't it?

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  12. Love the hostas. They're on my list to try.

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  13. Gorgeous foliage Sue! I love that variegated false Sunflower, the leaves are interesting. :)

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  14. What a wonderful variety of foliage! It lets us know that you don't have to have blooms to have a beautiful garden. If you find yourself missing leaves in the Fall, we have two Pin Oaks in the front that give us enough leaves and acorns that I could share some with you ;-) .

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  15. What a lovely bunch of foliage! The moon has been so bright I can see why you stayed out until after 9! I hope it stays warm and spring is here to stay, I put out tomatoes yesterday.

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  16. I love your hosta shots with several of them planted close together. Everything looks lovely;-)

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