The garden
above belongs to my friend Joan, who lives in California.
And so... we sent in for a few catalogs, which arrived just a short time ago. We are now carefully perusing the pages with dreams of brightly colored gardens dancing in our heads! We have decided on several perennial varieties and a few shrubs and vines. These, along with a few types of bulbs, will be the first elements of our "Great Gardening Adventure"! I'm so excited!
This year's plans include two main projects; a sideyard shade garden and a bulb and perennial bed along part of the driveway. If we have time, we'll begin a sunny perennial bed in the front yard near the road.
I recently found a photograph of a garden that could be our yard in the very near future! The layout is very much like our own yard and driveway, except ours is currently without the beautiful Tulips and Daffodils, not to mention the nicely paved drive and beautiful statuary. Our thanks to Mary Geisert of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, for allowing us to "steal" her garden photo, and for the vision of what we, too, can accomplish! Thank you, Mary! And our thanks to Terry Yockey, whose wonderful Northern Gardening web page was the source for the photo and also much inspiration! Visit her page of Minnesota style gardening complete with gorgeous picture galleries and informative gardening articles.
The resemblance to our own yard is uncanny. The driveway and the trees are in exactly the same configuration and the road beyond the trees is in the same place as the one in front of our house, except ours is a country gravel road. Mary's garden photo is the inspiration for our bulb and perennial bed, yet to be created. In fact, Mary's home page is the source for much of our garden inspiration. Give her page a visit and see what we mean!
Due to the different
types of areas contained within our yard, we will be able to plant a wide
variety of perennials. Last year, we raked the side yard and bordered it
with a combination of brick, field stone and broken patio blocks. The look
is quite eclectic! It is doubtful that we will have to ammend the soil
in this area very much. The earth is rich, rather loamy and dark in color.
Deep shade and abundant moisture are the domineering factors in this area,
so we have chosen to plant such things as Lily-Of-The-Valley, Hosta, Carpet
Bugle and Cardinal Flower. These will be the staple plants for the first
year of this particular garden area's life.
Although Carpet Bugle
and Lily-Of-The-Valley are considered ground covers,
they make very nice
additions to the front of a shade garden. They are both short in stature
and spread quickly to fill areas. I never label a plant as having only
one use in landscaping. There is so much that can be changed from the norm
with a bit of imagination! Since the area is very moist and contains the
cover and entry for our home's septic system, we thought these two small
plants would be good choices as they have rather shallow root systems and
may have to be dug up occasionally. Losing a bit of ground cover to a shovel
will not seem so devastating!
Future plans for our shade garden, beyond this coming year, will include adding Columbine, Bleeding Heart, Viola, Coral Bells and a few different types of Lilies. We may even try our hand at growing Astilbe, although, I've never had particular luck with this shade lover before.
Other perennials we plan
on adding to our project beds include Rudbeckia, Purple Coneflower, Gaillardia,
Siberian Iris, Japanese Iris, Peony, Miniature Rose, Clematis,
Aster, Bee Balm, Lamb's
Ears, Lady's Mantle, Oriental Poppy, Achillia, English Daisy and many more.
A few of my favorite perennials:
Shade
Hosta, Dicentra, Convallaria, Astilbe, Violas, Aquilegia, Heuchera, Cimicifuga, Digitalis, Lobelia.
Partial Sun
Clematis, Geranium, Centranthus, Campanula.
Full Sun
Gaillardia, Echinacea, Dianthus, Coreopsis, Aster, Achillea, Monarda, Alcea, Phlox, Physostegia, Rudbeckia, Salvia, Sedum, Peony, Rose, Chrysanthemum, Liatris.
Many of the plants listed above can be grown in areas other than their recommended light requirements. For instance, a plant that is listed as needing full sun can do fine in partial shade. Experiment. If a plant doesn't seem to thrive in a particular area, simply move it. It may take a couple of moves in order to find the perfect spot.
Peonies and Roses make wonderful focal points in the perennial border. Miniature Roses make excellent ground cover and do well even in colder climates because they are usually grown on their own root stock. Clematis can thrive in full sun as long as the roots are kept cool, either with heavy mulch or shade from another plant. Clematis also can be allowed to ramble on its own instead of kept on a trellis. The blooms of Clematis look very nice peeking through the leaves of a small tree or shrub.
We recently found two rose growers that have exactly what we're looking for. They are The Roseraie at Bayfield and Spring Valley Roses. Both are northern companies that offer nice selections of hardy species, gallica, rugosa, shrub, damask and other types of roses. Our goal is to grow beautiful roses without having to baby them too much. With the winter temperatures here dipping into the negative numbers, we need the hardiness that these rose types offer. The pictures below show six different roses that we have chosen for our yard. Our thanks to the previously mentioned nurseries for allowing us to "steal" these beautiful photos.
Happy Gardening to all!
The
Garden Book Club
Garden
Escape Home Page
Northern
Gardening
Spring
Valley Roses ~ Nursery & Gardens
Mary
Geisert's Home Page
Thanks
to many beautiful Gardening pages for the "borrowed" graphics.
Thanks
to Mary Lee in Delaware for the spring robin graphic!
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