Dreaming of My Garden

 

I know my garden does not look like this.  It has been nearly seven weeks since I have stepped foot in it.  For me, though, these are some of the last images I took of my "happy place".

 

Newly transplanted Japanese maple seedling

I am so glad I was fairly well caught up with my gardening chores when I had my "fall from grace".  It will still be many weeks until I will again be in my garden.

I have to think my fractured bone is mending. 

Until next spring and my ability to walk is regained, my garden is my dream garden.

What's Blooming in My Central Wisconsin Garden?

Wood's Pink Aster

Clockwise from upper left: Aster Alma Potschske, mountain mint, sedum 'Xenox', obedient plant, green seed pods of turtle head

Clematis 'Sweet Autumn'

Seed heads of echinea nitidi and the last of the trumpet vine flowers.  Saw a hummingbird today(9/24/2013)!

Aster, I think 'October Skies'

I've had this "identified as 'Clara Curtis' daisy...

...and this also.  Two completely different plants, the first is more aster-like, this one is more like an anthemis.

An unidentified lilac aster; it is tall, pale, without a differentiated center.

Rebloom on the possible Eden rose

Solidago 'Fireworks'

Gaura and sedum 'Neon'

Filipendula still looking interesting.

Late-blooming lancifolia hosta

Fall Sunday: Decorating the Garden

Using the apple green color from the trellis and metal chairs, I've added a punch of color to the dark federal parks green I painted these chairs for Handsome Son's graduation. That dark green was just too boring. This is a fun and easy way to jazz it up.

Using collected antique brick from the demolition of the antiquated chimney on the original village bank, I have dry-laid this short wall and corner pillars. Adding a capstone from Lowe's establishes a pedestal for a garden accent pot.

Solidago (goldenrod) 'Fireworks' and spireae 'Gold Mound' in the forefront soaking up the sunlight.

Hydrangea 'Quickfire' starts out white and very early, in June, and still looks nice on this last day of September.

Autumn colors of hazelnut and the rusty chair the squirrels used to dine on the stolen hazelnuts.

This Asiatic lily has yellowed, but in Piet Oudolf tradition, it looks good dead backing the 'Autumn Joy' sedum.

Aster 'October skies'

Aster 'Alma Potschke'

These are a few of my favorite fall bloomers. As you can see, I am moving along with the 2013 Garden Walk decorating. Although most of these plants carrying the show will only be supporting players in July, they add a lot to the garden now. They will green filler. The hazelnut will be green, but hopefully loaded down with light green clusters of nuts. The apple green should be just as significant a shot of green then as now. I've chosen this green apple a my accent color. I've painted plastic pots, trellis, the rims of clay pots, and those fun squiggles with it.

Beauty in Autumn

Bee working over some broccoli gone to seed in the potager.

I have to admit that sometimes I have a hard time seeing the beauty in fall. Taking a page from DebiO, a great photographer, art teacher, and joy giver to the north; I decided to see if I could digitally capture some beauty amongst the garden decay. This post is what I came up with this bright and beautiful fall day.


Purple Dome aster



The bees do like the asters. This is one tired and cold bee this morning, not even moving when I first came upon him, he finally decided to wake up and smell the pollen.


The blue skies as the perfect backdrop for my sugar maple planted nine years ago. It is a seedling of maples my father moved from his swamp to my parents' backyard when I was 12. My father taps them and makes maple sugar each spring.


Cotinus coggygia 'Nordine' dappled in dew.


I don't know what is with this celery 'Tango', but it has grown more like par-cel than celery this season.


By the way, anyone lucky enough to have their child in DebiO's art classes or actually be a student in one of her classes, you are truly blessed.

Disguising a Drain Field

I was asked to design and plant a cutting garden which would attract hummingbirds, bees, and other birds. This garden also needed to disguise a drain field, not have roots which would encroach on the proper drainage of the field, and would not hinder pumping of the tank in the future.

This rules out any trees and shrubs. It needed to hide sewer caps and to screen the view to the road. This garden was planted in late August. These pictures are from September of its first full year.

For spring color, there are drifts of tulips, about 350 in all. Tulips are followed by columbines, daisies, colorful heuchera, phlox, hosta, coneflowers, both sedum 'Autumn Joy' and 'Matrona', a few daylilies, and grasses.





The garden is 30' by 40' features a crushed granite path and a seating area. I think it is a successful way to mask a drainage field, provide long season color to a yard, and attract bird and bees.