Whats going on now...

So today's post will be a series of photos that have been taken this past week.
As you probably can tell by now, I am not too informational, but will vow to do better. Maybe.

I am a huge reader of garden books, as all the librarians in my library will attest to, and have already stated I am a master gardener, but somehow with all of the garden/plant information "out there" I get very lazy about giving facts or speaking Latin. Shame on me.

Okay, so with that said, onto the fun stuff!

This Weigela was supposed to stay small 3-4 feet, but again has already out grown that height. But I love the variegated foliage and blooms that are a Humming bird magnet. I placed it right by the garden seating area and we still get so excited when they visit.

Full view of Weigela on right along with Siberian Irises. The 'Great Heron' in front.

 Next up is a rose that is one of my all time favorites! I fell in love with it when a follow master gardener brought a photo into class one day...ahh..plant lust.
It's a climber called 'Teasing Georgia'. Unfortunately, it does get the dreaded black spot, Long Island has such humid summers.  I do spray it with Neem oil, which holds it back until it is done blooming.

This past winter, it took a really hard hit and I lost most life in the two plants. But it seems to be making a come back, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed and giving it extra banana peels, aged chicken manure and water.

The bloom has a lovely fragrance and the coloring starts out an apricotish yellow but fades, to a creamy yellow as it matures. I attached chicken wire to the potting shed roof, which will hopefully again be covered .

 Next up are the Knockouts. I have the doubles, mostly in pink but a few in red (which in my opinion are dark pink) They are great! No diseases, spraying or dead heading. Just blooms all summer.

These next photos will be a little of this..and that.

Happy 'Cordona' Salvia...bees love it, I love it. I prune it back by half, twice a summer to get fresh blooms.
Dries beautifully!

This is a Scabosia, I  purchased this spring. Came with no tags, but I believe its Scabiosa caucasica 'Perfeta'. Wasn't in bloom but I bought  three. I was in a mood.  So glad I took the chance.

Check this out. Both flowers growing, two different colors, both stems curved, same angle, from same plant.
Reverting back to original cultivar? 'Queen Alexander' poppy.

Light pink peonies, are the last peonies to bloom. I have 'Pink giant', 'Sarah Bernhardt' and unnamed. I think these are 'Sarahs'.
They are pictured with 'Coranation gold' Yarrow, which is quite invasive, but worth the editing out, and 'Karl Forster' grass and a Hydrangea..maybe 'Nikko'? Also, one of a matching pair of urns I own, that need to be moved because it gets lost in the jungle. Lily also in foreground..maybe 'Wine and Roses'?

Just a few of the peonies, roses, lavender, salvia, hydrangeas, grasses, yarrow and many others that will be dried for house decoration.

A few bunches ready to be hung to dry. I am hoping to share a few posts on the "whats and hows" of drying and designing for the holidays.


This next photo is Baptisa 'Australis', and I have 'Carolina...something or another, a yellow,lol. I forget. 'Carolina ... MOONLIGHT'  Ha!

These plants are lovely, although they do seed around a lot. But they don't have any pest or disease problems that I've noticed for the past 8 or 9 years that they've been in the driveway bed.


Okay! I really like this next plant, Peruvian daffodil   ismene...
I planted the bulbs in a pot to sit along side of a pot of low growing 'tropical sunrise' Canna
It was going to be stunning..but the cannas failed, too much rain rotted the bulbs..at least that's my therory.
Well, anyway the Peruvian Daffodil is a tropical so I will be using these as annuals...
very fun plant. This bloom was the first open, I'll probably shoot this again when the pot is in full bloom.

They are fragrant and grow to height of 24".

Volunteer foxgloves have mysteriously arrived in the dog pen garden and driveway bed. I cant remember If I threw out seeds while I was walking..sometimes I'll do that in the late fall with the seasons seeds I have left over. But can't remember buying foxglove seeds..oh well, lovely. About 10 -12 volunteers showed up.

Purple Siberians in driveway bed.

I have to say, Siberians are my favorite Iris. Again, no pests or diseases...no spraying.
The only sprays I do use on other plants (roses, Bearded Irises, peonies) are Neem oil, or some Organic sprays. But I try to use those as little as possible.
So when I find plants that don't need any, they're keepers.


This next photo is of the "fence" that surrounds three sides of my property. It is a living fence.
It is made from Eastern cedars, Junipers, and Blue Junipers.
It consists of only the trees that were on the property before we built the house.
When we bought the property, my husband and I tagged approx 150 trees, so the builder wouldn't try to
"sell them off". They are lovely and he had a reputation of this practice.
We had to hire a team of landscapers to move all the trees. They did it in one day!
We left the rear of the property with no trees because the view is too special.

We do have a lot of lawn, in my opinion. About three fourths of an acre. My husband likes his grass ; )

Some of the trees supply boughs with little blue berries for Christmas decoration.

And last is a photo of a shell from my collection..I just never get tired of the beauty of shells.

They are small glimpses of glory....

I just know there will be sea shells in Heaven.

Shell next to stachys byzantina 'Silver Carpet' and Artemisia schmidtiana 'Silver Mound' and

Kalmeris x. 'Shogun'.

Hows that for Latin? lol

How does your garden grow?