My favorite hardy geranium: Ballerina. It was a tough one to get started, but well worth it! I discovered in my garden, it likes to snuggle in the sun. Plant in sun but tuck it in with other plants so it won't feel so exposed.
My second favorite geraniums, because they are FREE! These came into my garden on their own and have been busy setting up their friends and family. They are pretty and polite, so I don't mind.
New this year to my garden: Dream Queen hosta.
Isn't she dreamy?
My first delphinium of the year. Not sure of the variety, most likely Magic Fountains. This one is four years old.
Thimbleweed in the rain garden. They are getting nice and bunchy.
Bleeding hearts, and not-so-bleeding hearts.
Blue Ravine clematis. Not as nice as the first one I had, that met an unfortunate accident, but lovely all the same.
The absolute best picture I could get of Pewter Moon heuchera. I only have two, but I want more!
Red Prince weigela and cerastium tomentosum. I love this cerastium tomentosum and creeping thyme together.
I planted these peach poppies from seed years ago. What's that? They aren't peach? Yep, because this is what happens to all my color varieties of poppies - back to orange after a couple of years. But I love them anyway!
Hardy dianthus. It came in a big pack from Home Depot years ago. I thought it was an annual but needed the color and it was 50% off! It has never disappointed with its blooms and has since multiplied!
Anthemis marschallianna. I got it from Shopko years ago and haven't seen it offered since, anywhere. I have tried to divide it, but it is a fussy little bugger. As long as I leave it alone, it does fantastic and has been mounding up nicely.
FINALLY A PEONY! And unfortunately I don't know the variety. I thought it was Sarah Bernhardt, but it's not a soft enough pink. Maybe someday I will find that tag!
These daisies were some of very first plants I bought when I started my garden over 10 years ago. I bought twenty, three survived. I love the way they look against the golden barberry.
Speaking of daisies, lets not forget the backbone of my garden: the humble oxeye daisy. They volunteered their services almost immediately and have not let me down in all this time. Thank you daisies!
19 comments:
You have so many nice plants blooming. I agree that the bright fuchia daisy and the golden barberry are perfect neighbors.
All your colored poppies revert back to orange? Oh, no, I hope that doesn't happen with the eight new ones I planted in the fall. So far only two of them have buds (no bloom yet). I am looking forward to the new colors.
Thanks for that vanilla tip. I must remember to try it. I wonder if it works for mosquitoes?
Zoey, yeah, orange. I think what happens is that they seed out and the offspring are orange. Then either the parent plant isn't that hardy and dies or the offspring are aggressive and choke the parent out. BUT I've never seen the two different colors bloom together...
And I would never have said that I like fuchsia, but then when I look I find that my garden is silly with it!
Hi Sylvana, love all the colors in your garden. I've also got the Ballerina geranium and have dug it up and moved it around the country with me (Michigan to Chicago and now to Connecticut) - it just keeps going and going :-).
GardenJunkie, glad to see you here. Luckily it had no with me moving it, because part of my problem growing it was location. I'm looking for more of these, but I can't find any. I would take this plant with me too!!
Great photos, and great list of bloomers! I love that snow-in-summer against the thyme, too. I keep trying to figure out a place where I can sneak in some of that silvery beauty... I just have too many groundcovers, I guess.
Your backyard garden is HUGE, btw! I love the last (all-garden) shot... I totally want to stroll down the path and see what's around that corner. :)
Very nice blooms! I'm a big fan of heucheras and that 'Pewter Moon' would look great next to some 'Silver Scrolls'!
Your garden is lovely. The raised beds with the bricks make such a nice edge to the paths.
I now have lust in my heart for Hosta 'Dream Queen.' Is it slug resistant? Clematis 'Blue Ravine' is a lovely color. If you've got time on your hands, you could check out this website to try to ID your Peony.
Black Swampgirl, I don't have enough ground covers! I look around my garden and see bare ground and think, "Is there a non-aggressive ground cover that would look good there?" The cerastium tomentosum is totally non-aggressive in my garden. All I have to do it shake a finger and say, "Ah, ah, ah!" and it goes back to it's spot.
Oh, you don't want to go around that corner yet... maybe next year.
Dave, I have Silver Scrolls too. It is all the way in the front garden though. But it's happy there with my Plum Puddings and Green Spice.
Mr. McGregor's Daughter, those bricks came from a friend's two story chimney that my husband and I tore down by hand, brick by brick, three years ago. The work was actually a lot of fun - especially since every day we worked we got ourselves Moolattes!
I only ever had slugs attack one hosta, some no-name that came with the house. They have left all my other collector hostas alone. Now as for rabbits... well, they are little bastards!
The closest that I have come to that peony is Felix Crousse (which actually rings a bell) and Karl Rosenfield (which is only vaguely familiar). It also kind of looks like Shawnee Chief and Paul M. Wild (neither of which is familiar to me). I actually have two un-identified peony that are just slightly different and I am sure one of them is Felix Crousse!
Welcome to GBBD. Your peony looks good enough to eat, like a bowl of raspberry sherbet.
Les, they really seem to like my garden, that's for sure! I'm pretty sure I bought this as root stock from Conglomomart and it bloomed the very next year!
What a great collection of beauties. Love that heuchera, and also the daisies. There's something to be said for being simple like they are. To me, they always look as if they smile...
Your garden must seem to just come alive in the spring! It's looking beautiful.
I agree with the comment about walking down the path, very inviting.
I've used thyme as a ground cover and border. My lavender has formed a low growing mound that has spread out over the last few years. It's not in bloom yet, but I'll get a picture up. It looks nice hanging over the rock wall.
Alpine strawberry plants are very pretty and small, not sending out runners. Berries are tiny but packed with awesome strawberry flavor.
My daughter has a small city lot and wants an edible landscape, so we've been brainstorming ;)
Another very pretty ground cover is the herb sweet woodruff. When dried it has a scent like fresh mown hay/vanilla. It's wonderful dried and mixed with lavender for a drawer sachet.
What a beautiful garden! I love free or bargain plants, particularly when they do well here. I have dianthus, too, that keep coming back in the same pot year after year, even though I thought they were annuals. I suppose I should plant them in the ground instead. The "Dream Queen" hosta certainly has beautiful blooms.
I'm adding your Ballerina geranium to my wish list - it's gorgeous! And your hollyhock reminds me of the colouring of some of the old farinaceous auriculas. Very unusual subdued shade. Heucheras are good value, aren't they? I got mine marked down at a supermarket, and although it looked to be on its last legs/roots, it's repaid being rescued and is now doing well.
TownMouse, I like classic, and there really isn't any flower more classic than a daisy! And I agree, they look so happy!
Primrozie, I love the spring. The tulips season is my favorite. And I have SO MANY TULIPS!!
I am determined to grow lavender. I just today bought two lavender plants - they are a variety I've never heard of and say that they are zone4! Cross your fingers.
I have the pink flowering alpine strawberries. I love the blooms - they match the dianthus in color and bloom at the same time.
I would have bought some sweet woodruff today but I thought that it was aggressive. Do you find it aggressive?
Rose, I love to use volunteers in my garden. I kind of see them as being sent on a mission from Mother Nature to help me out!
I bought Dream Queen because I was in love with the leaf color combo, then it flowered! OH MY!! What a keeper!
Linda, I love that little geranium. It was very difficult to get it established (which is probably why the growers gave up on it), but after killing two, I watched this one carefully. If it seemed to struggle in a site, I dug it up and moved it. This one had three homes before I found the spot it loved.
What a beautiful garden you have! I love the peony and the bright daisies with the barberry-they look like they were made to go together.
When I read about your free geraniums setting up their friends and family I thought, I hope they have a good calling plan. (Hee-hee...sorry, but I'm cracking myself up over here!)
Dreamybee, thanks! Like I said, normally I don't like fuschia, but I love what it is doing in my garden!
When I re-read that piece right after posting, I got that same joke out of it! Funny!
The peony may not be Sarah Bernhardt, but it is a most gorgeous colour.
Happy Mouffetard, I think so too. Too bad I can't get more since I don't know what they are!
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