I know I have been MIA for a while on the blogging front---time flies! I noticed while checking the blog for info on one of my tree posts that it has been four months since posting. Facebook has allowed me to post just bloom pictures every day and many of my non-blogging friends seem to really enjoy it. It is time to update the blog with this year's garden progress report.
Without further ado- let's see how the gardens have changed over the past few years. We moved here in 2010 - so we are starting our fifth year living on Lake Greenwood and enjoying retirement. With phone in hand to take photos that match last year's post, I set out in the yard.
The photo below is a side by side of the left hand side of the backyard from 2010 and then one year later 2011. Besides plants being added, weeds, deer, voles and chipmunks help change the landscape. Many plants are lost to the elements...never to be seen again. Just a good reason to buy more, right?
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| 2010 & 2011 |
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| 2010 & 2011 |
The beautiful Japanese maple 'Garnet', almost invisible in the picture from today, has filled in nicely.
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| 2014 |
Apparently last year I did a panoramic shot of the whole back garden. What I find interesting is the later blooms this year. It was a hard winter, many plants didn't bloom. Some plants died back to the ground and took a long time to show signs of life. Many of my hydrangeas didn't bloom this year as we had another cold snap after buds were starting to emerge.
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| 2013 Panorama view |
From the water the views early on were pretty stark.
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| 2010 & 2011 |
A step to the left corner, the view back up to the house across the yard shows the lower gardens.
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| 2013 |
The amazing change this year is how slow the elephant ears are filling in. The garden bed with the elephant ears is filled with daylilies-- many of which had the buds eaten by Bambi and her momma. I have bamboo stakes posted through the garden and fishing line wound around like a spider web...to deter the deer. Some puppy dog went through the lines and broke many of them....now I have to restring them. The deer found the open spots-- and tasted many daylily buds.
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| 2014 |
Walking down to the water and checking out the bank....another blank palette a few years ago.
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| 2010 & 2011 |
Add a few colorful chairs and more elephant ears, some grasses (ignore the weeds!!) and the bank is colorful and filling in nicely.
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| 2013 |
This year, again, check out the difference with the elephant ears from last year to this year. The shrubs along the steps are really getting big!
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| 2014 |
The front was raw when we first moved in...lots of construction destruction, compaction and lots of gravel.
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| 2010 & 2011 |
The Chinese Fringe tree, Chionanthus retusus is getting really tall. In 2013 it didn't bloom, it did this year, but at the upper reaches of the branches....hard to photograph. Last year the Lantana took a long time to bloom.
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| 2013 |
This year the Lantana is blooming! Now if the Daylilies, Hemerocallis 'Sammy Russell' the Lantana AND the new Tiger lilies would all bloom at the same time..... I would have a nice show of color..all hot colors.
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| 2014 |
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| 2013 |
This year I added some Sun Coleus in a large container...adding some color along the drive.
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| 2014 |
The front garden is still a work in progress-- some of the Gardenias are doing very well, and some, not so much.
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| 2013 |
The Loropetalum 'Daruma' are very happy under the bay window. One perennial that I was very happy to find is Japanese Aster, Kalimeris pinnatifida, it is a nice pop of white sprinkled through the garden.
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| 2014 |
Check out the difference in size of the Cercis canadensis 'Ruby Falls' from last year
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| 2013 |
To this year....what a beauty!
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| 2014 |
Another shot of the Japanese Asters, Becky daisies, and Coral Bark maple.
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| 2014 |
The side yard is mostly shade. It is the 'Green and White Garden'
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| 2010 & 2011 |
This garden is Deutzia gracilis 'Nikko' blooming white tiny flowers in the spring, a couple variegated Hydrangeas (which are not going to bloom as all the buds from last year froze) and this year I added the white and green Caladiums. It is an easy garden bed to tend to.
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| 2014 |
The favored plant in February and March, Edgeworthia chrysantha was quite full last year.
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| 2013 |
The winter took its toll on it this winter. As it is a zone 8 plant and we had single digit temperatures, I am lucky there was only a little dieback.
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| 2014 |
Another area that took a hit with the freeze was this Hydrangea area.....
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| 2013 |
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| 2014 |
The lower side is slowly getting swallowed up with honeysuckle vine, blackberry brambles, and other wild things from the woods.
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| 2013 |
This winter I am getting in there and cutting it back.... not now, too many bugs.
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| 2014 |
So now we are back to the front -- my view from the front door.
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| 2013 |
And this year's view....and no, the shutters aren't painted and put on the shed yet.
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| 2014 |
I will be back on a regular basis....I promise. Can't wait for our Portland Fling. Hope to see you there!
©Copyright 2014 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford.
words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.
Wow, Janet--I love seeing how your garden is growing! I've missed your posts, and this was such a great way to catch up. Your gardens look fabulous! can't wait to see you at the Fling!
ReplyDeleteThanks Julie. You are one of the few who has seen it first hand. Thursday will be here before we know it!
DeleteI love how it is all filling in - gorgeous! Thanks for the tour.
ReplyDeleteThanks Cynthia, it is filling in many places... other places I am using containers!
DeleteIt's so nice to see all your long views to get a sense of your garden, Janet. Your garden is really growing! What pretty views you have. See you in Portland soon.
ReplyDeleteThanks Pam, I seldom share those long range shots. I am always surprised at the growth of the trees, they seem to be slow growing but the pictures say otherwise.
DeleteJanet, your garden has really grown! You are so good to do before and after photos. I always forget the before shots. Finding a balance between wildlife and plants that we love is very challenging but you are plugging along beautifully! Looking forward to seeing you at the Fling!!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Karin. I also have had presence of mind to write down all the plants I have added since moving here! The balance between wildlife and plants is a big challenge! Thursday night!!!!!
DeleteWhat a transformation! I think you have accomplished so much in such a short time, Janet. I'm reminded of the old saying about "first year it sleeps, second it creeps, and third year it leaps" --your garden is really leaping! I couldn't help but think when I saw the photos of the front that it must be difficult to garden on such a slope. I'd probably take a few tumbles down the hill while pulling weeds:)
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing you again in Portland later this week!
Can't wait to see you too Rose! I think of that saying "sleeps, creeps, leaps" often. It is really true. As for my slope, I have fallen more than once. I had to stop wearing Crocs and put on sneakers -- I would slide out of the Crocs and slip and fall.
DeleteJanet what a change through the years with all your incredible work and a bit of Mother Nature. I adore Ruby Falls and the water front.
ReplyDeleteThanks Donna, it sure is a big change. I really love Ruby Falls too, would you believe the deer ate a lot of the leaves on it? Rotten creatures!
DeleteWell Janet, you come back with a bang! LOVE, love, love your before and after pictures! What great changes you've been making. Everything looks great.
ReplyDeleteKim and Victoria, thanks so much. I did something right with the photos each year for sure!
DeleteI love seeing these progress reports. Whenever we feel that things are moving too slowly, it helps to look back and see how far we've come. So glad that you are coming to Portland! See you on Thursday.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see you too! You are right about the photos marking the changes over the years. So glad I have been taking pictures every year. Really helps!
DeleteI love the picture time capsule of your garden. It really shows how much your gardens have grown and changed. Your beds are looking wonderful Janet. I love your Cercis Ruby Falls. I am such a sucker for dark foliage. Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteLona, a time capsule is a good way to describe it. I love dark foliage plants too. The deer have been nibbling on the Ruby Falls a bit....argh!!
DeleteJanet, you were absolutely brilliant to photograph your garden from the same spots each year. You can clearly see the progress so easily. I have kept photos but they are scattered and often from all different angles and spots. half the time you can't tell it's even the same yard I'm photographing. Loved seeing these shots of how everything is progressing. We had a hard winter here too, everything seems to be about 2 weeks behind schedule. I expect your elephant ears will come back strong with just a little extra time.
ReplyDeleteThanks Marguerite, I am SOOOO glad I have been taking pictures each year. This year it was good to take my cell phone with me around the yard and zero in on the correct spot to stand and photograph. I agree the elephant ears will catch up eventually.
DeleteYour garden just looks fabulous! It's always so rewarding to see how much progress our gardens make when we're able to compare them to previous years photos. I have loads of kalimeris, too. It does well in dry shade. :o) I love that giant pot of coleus! What a cool sight every time you come home!
ReplyDeletetbanks Tammy.
DeleteSo good to see you back, I somehow lost my subscription and only linked in again by being reminded of your lovely garden by another post. Its amazing what you have achieved on such a tricky site is such a comparatively short space of time, not least because of having to contend with the deer. Your garden is definitely establishinga definite ccharacter, I love all the layers of woody plants with perennials. Mt edgeworthia has proved tricky to get established, I threatened it with a move and it seems to have listened, now all I need is flowers!
ReplyDeleteHi Janet, sure didn't stay around long did I? Think I am back now. Hope your Edgeworthia did well this summer.
DeleteSo glad to see everything growing, so much effort put in this, and now nature is rewarding you with this amazing relaxying views! Love to see progres!
ReplyDeleteI really like this one, would you like to follow each other? Let me know!
http://savicious-photography.blogspot.com/
thanks for visiting Savicious. Love your photos!
DeleteIt is fun to see the before and after shots. I know it is instructive to you too. You can see all your hard work paying off.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lisa, I like having the before and after shots as a guide to see how plants have done.
DeleteJust look at how nicely everything is filling in. Your home is in a lovely area too. I know what you mean about dry shade. The trees do take up all the water. ~~Dee
ReplyDeleteDee, thanks! Yes, dry shade it really tough to work with...the icing on the cake of shade and deer resistant plants..add dry conditions -- oy!
DeleteYour garden has really come along beautifully. I love your big Lantanas that are just an annual in my garden.
ReplyDeleteJason, I have some lantana that are annuals too, but we are lucky to have a couple varieties that are hardy here in SC.
Delete