Monday, September 24, 2012

A Glance at Fall Plantings

Another season is upon us, another season to plant.

Pansies and Ornamental Kale

Front porch pots


Mums, red lettuce, and kale



Pumpkins on sticks


Leaf lettuce


Orange Mums. Ok these are fake, this side garden is too shady for the real ones.


Some of the stubborn greens I can't bear to part with just yet. Enjoy the season.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

The Broadstreet Gardens

Broadstreet is where I reside with my husband Christopher. The house is located in a historical neighborhood. Here's a look at the gardens we created this year.


Christopher planted the front annual display, as you can See he likes color and a lot of it, too much for my taste. We had lots of compliments on this garden from neighbors and passers by who loved it. I will admit..... it was colorful. This picture was taken right before that Impatiens virus got us.  The Impatiens were repaced.



The backyard is still a work in progress, this is my design, more formal. Christopher added the light to the obelisk this year. The Arborvitae's which were planted last year give us some screening from the alley behind them. I doubt we will ever be able to block out all the buildings surrounding the garden. I like to think of it as a green space in a concrete jungle.

Christopher's front porch pots. A lady stopped by and took pictures and said she wanted her pots to look just like these next year.

 The back balcony garden is where I do the planting and designing.This is where I spend a lot of time.
You see it's on the second floor at the back of the house so it's like a secret garden.

   One of my favorites plantings: here a collar of "Red thread Alternathera" and hot pink petunias surround a red Mandevilla. The red thread became what I like to call a "Thug" because it dominated the pot, I've given it several hair-cuts.

Pink Zinnias, Lime Nicotiana, and plectranthus. This planting combination was stunning.

I like to try new plants, like this Lemon scented Cyprus and the copper petunias

Some old favorites made a come-back to my choice of plants. I wanted color this year and how can you go wrong with sweet potato vines and a Fuscia geranium. This pot also has Verbena Bonareinsis in it and the potato vines are now stretching to the floor.

 I'll have more photos of this garden in a later post, this is just a tast of the gardens on Broadstreet.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

A cottage style garden

This is a yard I've worked on for about five years, It's my cottage garden.
This style of garden works best here, the house is a 1930's arts and crafts bungalow and was originally built as a cottage. I can't think of a better place for a cottage garden.

A sunny hot south facing border of flowering trees, roses, ornamental grasses and reseeding annuals all work together to create this controlled madness. The garden is never the same year to year or season to season. The lush lawn and the neatly edged beds do give the garden some sense of order, after all we are in a neighborhood here.

 In high summer this garden is a riot of colors and textures. It's one of those gardens where almost anything will work. Layers of plants keep this garden new and fresh during the growing season. There is always a happy surprise waiting around the corner.