Plumeria Flowers!

End of August

By now, the Echinacea are past their prime and the Back Eyed Susans are on their way out. Harlow Carr (rose) managed to put out a few blooms. With nothing to really look at, I'm thinking of maybe a mass planting of lirope which are currently in bloom and looking good this time of year.

Today I discovered a surprise on my plumeria - an inflow! From far away, I thought it might be a bug or a cocoon of some sort, but upon further inspection, I was happy to see signs of flowering! Since it is already September, I wonder if there is still enough time. In the spring, I repotted it from a pot that was approximately 8" in diameter (its first pot from two years ago) to one that is about 14" in diameter and kept it in the shadier part of the garden.  Now that there are signs of flowering, I will move it into the sunnier part of the garden where it might be happier. Looking forward to seeing what the flowers look like!

Lily

Early Summer

The Crown Princess Margareta rose that I potted this year seems to be doing well, but is tilting to the left. It might be bending towards the direction of the sun. Will try to turn the pot around and use a bit of twine to train it to the trellis. There are some holes in the leaves as well, but hopefully, it will be OK since I'm not a big fan of spraying chemicals on plants. The Jackmanii clematis has not blossomed yet, but there are flower buds on the stem, so I am hopeful that they will cooperate with each other and put on a nice show.

Also planted some Santo Cilantro and Tequila Sunrise Poppy seeds:

Somehow, I was fortunate enough this year to have a Foxglove growing out of nowhere. I've always admired them, but never had any success with growing them from seeds. Also, since I prefer to grow plants that will survive normal conditions, I usually do not supplement with additional water apart from the rain which with Mother Nature blesses us. Unfortunately, due to dear hubby's too over zealous use of the edger, my beautiful flower was cut down. I was SO disappointed! Thoughtfully, he offered to make it up to me by purchasing 4 new Foxgloves to replace the one that perished. I'm not confident that they will grow since the area doesn't seem to usually hold enough moisture, but am willing to give it a try. 

Spring Cleaning

It was a beautiful day on Sunday, so I decided it would be a great time to start cleaning up the garden. First, I repotted the Crown Princess Margareta climbing rose so that the bud union is under the soil instead of inches above. I had first potted the plant in haste and didn't realize until later, when it started to rain, that it was not planted at proper depth. I also planted a Jackmanii clematis behind it. I hope that the orange of the rose and the purple of the clematis will be a knockout combination.

Next, I attacked the half moon bed in front of the garage. There was a bit of weeding to do and C helped me cut down the large overwintered fountain grass with our nifty electric hedge trimmer.

Before:

After: 

The peony that was transplanted a year or two ago has sent up some shoots. I am hoping that it will flower this year. 

Most of the Russian sage were hand trimmed, as well as the lavender. The Autumn Joy sedum and the Artemesia seem to be doing well. There seems to be signs of Rudebeckia and Echinacea Prairie Splendor as well. The scented lilies which can be seen in the background in the image above seem to be multiplying too. I'm pretty happy about that since they are so fragrant!

 The sedum were planted in front of the house in a bed created by the walkway which is usually filled with weeds. I don't normally like sedum, but they look better than weeds! I only had two flats which I cut into eight 5" x 5" pieces. I definitely need more if I want to cover that area!

Next, I cleaned up some of the catmint and planted some marigolds next to them, thinking that the purple and orange combination might be pleasing... hm... that would be similar to the rose and clematis combination I have in the back. In the picture, there are also irises and an Eremurus (foxtail lily). I had originally planted more than one, but since their roots are so fragile, it seems only one survived. I really should plant some more. Their height and foxtail-like flowers make statement in the bed.  Fortunately, there are two more that I planted a year or two earlier, a little further back. 

At the other end of the bed above, I was happy to see that Achillea millefolium 'Oertel's Rose' (yarrow) is coming back strong and has even spread a little. I planted some more of the marigolds nearby to fill in some of the empty space. Originally daylilly Stella d'Oro were planted there, but they didn't seem to take off.

A picture of the overall bed from the south before the cleanup:

After the cleanup - a view from the west:

Next project - the bed in front of the house. Thanks for reading! :)

Bluebird House Workshop

Just took the Bluebird House Workshop led by Tom Sheppard, Chief Park Naturalist of the Hunterdon County Parks & Recreation department. The workshop was informative and Tom Sheppard was very helpful and attentive in helping everyone build their birdhouses. I definitely enjoyed the class!