More Garden Photos

 Pink Petal Pushers and Red Simplicity roses with hybrid Peace between them.

New Dawn Rose and Clematis Etoile Violette

Cumberland Azalea (Azalea bakeri)

Stella D'Oro daylilies, catmint and Itea 'Little Henry' bloom in front of the Little Indians.

Little Indians bed looking up the hill on the east side.

Yellow daylilies at the base of a red maple, new houses in back.

Front bed by the driveway: creeping phlox, barberry,, white salvia, red yarrow and lavender.

Blueberry 'Top Hat' and 'Mara de Bois' strawberries.

Not much to say except that my garden continues its seasonal growth, and show you its beauty. These are photos taken from the beginning of June through last week. Now in early July the major flush of flowers are done, and the Japanese beetles are decimating the roses. The chiggers have been attacking mercilessly, forcing me to spend less time outdoors.

In another week I'll be flying out to Montana, to be Artist in Residence at Sperry Chalet in Glacier National Park. It's a good time to take a vacation from the garden to enjoy and paint the alpine wildflowers at Glacier.

Fall Equinox and New Plantings

Friday a week ago the weather changed after a front blew in, leaving no doubt that fall is on its way. With cooler temperatures, it's been perfect for work on the garden. Herb and I spent a week digging out and preparing a new bed for the pink bush roses I had ordered from Jackson & Perkins. I chose the site for maximum sun and scenic appeal from the street, but the soil in that patch was the worst I've seen so far: hard as concrete after the recent dry spell, we dug out eight buckets of large rocks before mixing lots of peat moss and composted manure. On a glorious Saturday afternoon I finally planted and mulched the new roses--voila!

New rose bed.

After that was done, I moved on to finish digging out the circle around the base of the red maple tree. I had put in some yellow day-lilies during the summer, but I needed two more plants to fill out the circle. I selected some lovely hybrid varieties on sale from Wayside Gardens--one peach and one pink. The plants arrived bare root this past Thursday, and I planted them the next day. I can't wait to see what they will look like next summer.

I also began to dig holes in the back yard for the saplings I'd gotten from the Arbor Day Foundation last spring. I'd been keeping these in pots all summer so I could water them easily, but now they need to go into the ground. The soil back there, though rocky, was not as compacted and hard as where we put in the rose bed; a couple of evenings were enough for the first two holes--for a dogwood and a redbud tree.

Showers were in the forecast for yesterday afternoon. I went out right after lunch to plant the saplings before the rain. A light drizzle began before I was finished with the first one, but I kept on working--it was not enough rain to get wet. Later in the afternoon and into evening we finally got some real showers--the first good soaking in weeks. This morning, the garden is resplendent with droplets in the sunlight!

My new saplings in the back yard.

The front garden.