June 11, 2012: Planted annuals in front garden

I had kind of neglected the front garden -weeding wise - because I figured I'd weed when I planted my annuals. So the weeds got pretty out of control. 

BEFORE weeding and planting:

 Not as bad on the shady side of the garden:

Weeds! And my flats of orange impatiens and coleus waiting to be planted.

AFTER weeding and planting:

 Coleus planted between the hostas with impatiens around on the border:

Impatients and coleus added in all the empty spots. I really like the "pop" that the orange flowers bring to the garden.

I also moved one of my heucheras that was not doing that well (light green with pink border) next to the one that was doing very well. I hope it will thrive like the other one does in this spot.

May 31, 2012: Update on Deck Plants

I'm planning to do some planting in the front garden this weekend and I'll post updates when I'm done. Meanwhile, my deck plants are doing great. The nasturtiums are coming up and marigolds are getting bigger. This is the view from the dining room:

 View from the deck:

 Close up of one of the baskets. You can see the nasturtiums coming out and the tomato trying to grow up the side of the basket!

 Here are my window boxes: the morning glories aren't climbing yet but will be soon. In the corner are cucumber plants that I hope will go up the middle.

May 7, 2012: Planting on the Deck

This week I did a lot of planting on the deck. Last year I loved the feel of having tons of plants around, so this year I want to have even more. I had a big shopping trip to get supplies for my first two projects: upside down tomatoes, a morning glory wall. 

Upside down tomatoes: 

A few years ago I tried to plant tomatoes in my back garden and they were all eaten by groundhogs. So this year Mama suggested I try planting them upside down in hanging baskets. I did some research online and then made these:

Each has a tomato plant growing out of the bottom and marigolds and nasturtiums seeds planted on top (I have read these are both good companion plants for tomatoes). I used three different types of determinate tomatoes: a roma, a celebrity, and a patio vine tomato. To fill the baskets I used a mixture of organic garden soil and organic cow manure compost.  I soaked the nasturtium seeds overnight and planted them around the outside of each basket. I got two types, a variegated clumping variety (Alaska mix) and a regular trailing variety (Fordhook favorites mix). The baskets even look nice from inside the house and should only get better as they mature:

The morning glory wall: 

I wanted to add a little privacy from the neighbors and make the deck feel more jungle-y. So I've planted two window boxes with a variety of morning glory seeds, and put up a trellis for them to grow up. 

I'll put updated pictures on here as they grow. My next project will be a succulent pot for the coffee table on the deck. 

April 22, 2012: Expecting snow(!!) tonight

Things have been doing really well, but we are expecting a late season snowstorm tonight. Sloppy, wet snow. I'm worried about what it will do to all my plants. So here are some before pictures. I put a dum-dum lolly pop next to each so you can get a sense of the size of each plant. 

The whole garden:

Blue angel hosta:

American sweetheart hosta:

Sum and substance hosta:

Regal splendor hosta:

Kimbotan hosta:

Mouse ears hosta:

Bitsy gold hosta: 

#1 of my 5 "mystery" hostas from the grab bag:

#2 of my 5 "mystery" hostas from the grab bag:

#3 of my 5 "mystery" hostas from the grab bag:

#4 of my 5 "mystery" hostas from the grab bag (#5 did not survive - it was dug up by an animal):

Great expectations hosta, which I think is actually two hostas that are stuck together. One half (not leafed out yet) looks like Great Expectations, one half does not.

Hadspen blue hosta:

And another that I don't have the name of that I think might also be Hadspen blue:

Guacamole hosta:

Empress Wu hosta:

Paul's Glory hosta - doesn't seem to have minded the move last year:

Lakeside shoremaster hosta:

Jewel of the Nile hosta just coming out, burried in the forget-me-nots:

Some hosta's Mama gave me from her garden:

My four Heucheras. I only know the official name of Heuchera caramel, which has gotten a lot brighter since the last pic:

The rest I don't know the names of.  Heuchera #2:

Heuchera #3:

Heuchera #4:

Forget -me-nots in full bloom:

Ligularia: 

Japanese painted fern and some others:

 View from the street. You can see the Japanese irises, maidenhair fern and the ladies mantle:

April 13, 2012: Pansies and not much else

Last weekend Mama helped me plant a flat of pansies to add a little color while the garden filled out. All the perennials had been going like gangbusters, but it has been colder for the last week or so, so they haven't changed at all this week. Still, you can see some change since the last photos. 

A close-up of some pansies. We also moved the hosta Great Expectations a foot or so over so it would be in a less crowded area. 

 The forget-me-nots are in full bloom:

April 2, 2012: First garden pictures of the year

The garden doesn't really look impressive yet, but there is A LOT going on. I cleaned off the leaves and mulch two weeks ago, and things are coming up really quickly. I'm including tons of pictures here. The whole garden:

 Blue angel hosta:

 American sweetheart hosta:

 Sum and substance hosta:

 Regal splendor hosta:

 Kimbotan hosta (hard to tell, but it is tiny):

 Mouse ears hosta:

 Heuchera (don't know the name):

 One of my 5 "mystery" hostas from the grab bag:

 Bitsy gold hosta:

 Guacamole hosta:

 Corner of the garden - shows my climbing hydrangia, several ferns, the goat's beard, and the ginger doing well. You can't really see, but 3 of the 5 "mystery hostas" are also coming up in the center section.

 Ligularia:

 Empress Wu hosta (should be BIG!):

 Paul's Glory hosta - doesn't seem to have minded the move last year:

 Several ferns, irish moss, another heuchera, and the first shoots from Hadspen Blue hosta:

 Forget -me-nots:

 Lady's mantle coming up:

 Heuchera caramel:

 View from the street. You can see the Japanese irises, and some other hostas that I don't have names for.