Eight Years -Showing Warts and All

It has been a couple years since I did a yearly review of the gardens. Some garden areas have been successful and others have gotten quite overgrown.  Last year was not the year for tending to the garden and it is obvious to my eye. Below are comparison photos from 2017 and 2018. If you would like to see earlier years you can see 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.

In the photo below it is great to see how much the Japanese maple, Acer palmatum 'Glowing Embers' has grown. It is in the left side of the garden. 

2017

This past spring I added a garden along the wall, post on it later. The wall and the new garden seem to point to the 'Glowing Embers'.
It is funny how much the white Caladiums stand out along the pathway in the woods. I need to put more in next year.

2018

A little more of the center of the garden. The burgundy tree in the center is a Japanese maple- Acer palmatum dissectum 'Garnet'. The shape is finally coming back, a November 1 snowfall a few years ago took a third of the crown.

2018

Along side the house is always in a state of 'maybe it will be better next year'. The deer had found the hydrangeas last year and ate them to a nub. Around the propane tank is a very healthy stand of  Sweet Flag grass, Acorus gramineus 'Ogon'...home to many of my snakes and a favorite place for our little Liebling to "hide". In between the hose spigot and the propane tank is the A/C condensation pipe outlet. During the summer it is a constantly moist area. I like to use the downhill side of it to have my plant nursery. Any time I am pruning I will stick a few branches in the soil in that nursery area. I have had some success with a few Hydrangeas and Camellias and boxwood.

2017

This year you can see more growth on the Hydrangea macrophylla 'Madam Emile Mouillere', a white blooming mophead. Downhill from this hydrangea is a variegated one- it was also in the photo above, barely. Apparently variegated hydrangea are especially tasty to those pesky deer. Last year the hosta in front of the variegated hydrangea looked like celery stalks sticking up through the Sweet flag grass. Uphill from the Sweet Flag grass is a substantial stand of Deutzia gracilis 'Nikko', a deer resistant low growing shrub. In the spring it is very attractive if a late frost doesn't kill the blooms. The rest of the year it is a space filler.
You can see we have had to patch the turf again this spring. Slowly but surely it is filling in. We have eliminated more of the turf in the front yard.

2018

From the front door you see more Sweet Flag grass on the right side of the walkway. To the left there is a Cercis canadensis 'Ruby Falls', one side is always "pruned" by the deer and the other creeps across the walkway. A Loropetalum chinense var. rubrum 'Daruma' is in front of the front window. In some of the next photos you can see how much it has grown.

2017

This year's view shows some of the mulched front. With the dogs running out front, the trees creating more and more shade, and winter moisture killing the grass, we finally figured out that we needed to take a different tack.  So far I have added two more Japanese maples, 'Red Dragon' and 'Butterfly', a Camellia sasanqua 'Leslie Ann', and a small Cryptomeria. There is a lot more room to plant. Oh. the possibilities!

2018

Magnolia grandiflora 'Little Gem' has grown!  A few winters ago we had a pine tree hit it during an ice storm, spurring it to fill out and grow taller!

2018

Another view of the front yard, here in 2017, I have help from Liebling, our German Shepherd puppy. She will be 2 this August. See the large Loropetalum by the front by window? It was only supposed to get four to six feet tall. Each year it is cut back to the bottom of the window.

2017

Similar view this year, you can see the edge of the mulched area. See how much the Loropetalum is now? Yikes.  At the corner of the house is a Coral Bark Maple, Acer palmatum 'Sango Kaku'. It really has been a show stopper in the fall and winter with its leaf color and the coral bark.

2018

This spot is the uphill part of the front yard next to the driveway, planted with a few roses, lavender, irises, and a flowering apricot, Prunus mume 'Hokkai Bungo'. I enjoy the fragrance of the cinnamon scented blooms in the winter.

2017

This year you can see some of the lavender is missing. A peony or two have been added and a Calla lily, Zanteschia aethiopia. Some of the iris were uprooted by the marauding Armadillo. We have deer, rabbits, Armadillo, chipmunks, and voles to battle.

2018

A bright spot in the woods as you continue to walk up the driveway is an anise shrub, Illicium parviflorum 'Florida Sunshine'. I liked how it glowed in the woods so much that I bought three more, working my way up the driveway, three on the left and one on the right.

2018

A semi-new garden up at the street is shaping up. I do not have irrigation there, so the plants need to be drought tolerant and resistant to the deer that graze through. A few of the plants include Yucca filamentosa 'Color Guard', Hesperaloe parviflora, Lagerstroemia -a Red variety of the Black Diamond Crape Myrtle series, Amsonia x 'Seaford Skies', and lots of Nassella tenuissima - Ponytail Grass.

2018

Walking to the backyard from the bottom of the front hill. Viburnum tinus 'Spring Bouquet' on the left and Morella cerifera, Wax Myrtle, on the right. Not pleased with the Viburnum, going to cut them back a good bit and see if they shape up any better.

2018

In the lower part of the yard, last year's photo shows the dry creek bed we put in the year before. What a good asset to the landscape! It channels the rain water through the gardens and empties into the grassy flat land before going into the lake. The flat land has River Oats and other grasses that filter the water and slows it down....works like a charm!

2017

A little bit of a different angle in this year's photo. The elephant ears aren't making the showing they have in past years. I know I should have dug them up and divided them a few years ago. Oops.

2018

Here are the warts- last year's photo from the boat dock....lots of weeds on the right side. Almost no visible planted material to be seen.

2017

This year, even worse. Will be tackling it in the near future.  I just hate to get into that mess in the heat....and remember, there are snakes.

2018

Finally another view of the large mulched area in the front yard. My pitcher plant needs to be transplanted into a larger container, thinking it might become part of the garden. See my chicken? He is a water feature- trying to find the best place for it.

2018

Thanks for joining me on the yearly update, hard to believe we have been in South Carolina for eight years! I am glad I have been taking photos at the same time of year, year after year, to see the changes.



©Copyright 2018 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

It's The Little Things

Spring has finally sprung here in South Carolina. Each day is an adventure in the garden. I enjoy seeing what is coming back from our harder than usual winter. Sometimes it feels like two steps forward and one step back as a pampered plant finally shows signs of growth and then we get another overnight freeze. I have new plants I am watching and established babies that I celebrate their reappearance. 
A new plant from last year's native plant sale- Yellowroot, Xanthorhiza simplicissima is blooming and thriving...a great reason for choosing native plants.

I love fragrant plants in the garden and this Viburnum is one that really shines! Viburnum x carlcephalum had lots of blooms this year. Last year there were five, the year before only one! The fragrance is carried on the breeze and quite lovely.

Here is a native plant in the woods that I tied a ribbon to, a Pawpaw! Asimina triloba Last year it had a few fruit on it but with the drought conditions they dried up and fell off. 

Sweet little blooms under the steps to the deck. Fringed Bleeding Heart Dicentra 'Luxuriant'- a lucky Costco buy a number of years ago. 

When we moved here eight years ago, I carried two seedlings from the Red Buckeye tree in the Learning Garden in Virginia. I planted seeds the year before we moved and the tiny trees were less than a foot tall when I planted them here. This year they are well over six feet tall and full of blooms!

Aesculus pavia

Emerging blooms

Open blooms, ready for the Hummingbirds!

Every spring I find beauty in each and every fern as it unfurls its fronds. The fern below is a Royal Fern, Osmunda regalis

I have dry shade. I have been wanting some Epimedium as they thrive in such conditions. Last spring I planted one and then this past fall I planted another. The one from a year ago is going gangbusters.

Epimedium x versicolor ‘Sulphureum’

Today I finally saw some growth on the second one! Boy did that take a long time! A quick photo, a bit less than perfect.

Epimedium rubrum

 Two little white blooms, similar in appearance, make me smile. One a white Muscari and the other Lily of the Valley. 

Muscari armeniacum Alba 

Convallaria majalis, Lily of the Valley

Amsonia putting on a great show this spring. I know some people aren't fond of this native grass. They call the blooms as exciting as skim milk. (Believe that is a close quote, you know who you are!) I like this plant! Amsonia x 'Seaford Skies'

Buds

Blooms!

 Little surprises in the woods make me smile. I have a number of places on the property that this native orchid pops up. Tipularia discolor, Cranefly Orchid. Easily identified by the purple underside of the leaf.

What is my best little find this spring? The native plant sale last year had Bottlebrush Buckeyes, and I bought one. I was so thrilled to find one. I planted it in what I thought was a good spot. As mentioned above, we had a dry spell this past summer. I was afraid it died. The leaves dropped off last summer and I was not optimistic.....then on one of my walks through the garden last month I checked the little stick that remained in the ground.....

It's alive!!!

Aesculus parviflora

What are some of the little things in your garden that make you smile?

©Copyright 2018 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

Where Did The Time Go?

Three short years ago we decided to have one final Fourth of July in Virginia.  Our habit was to go up to the Yorktown Battlefield, listen to the Air Force band and then watch the fireworks.  Three years ago!  Hard to imagine.
While trying to organize photos for this post I went back through prior posts and lots of photos.  To see the 2010 and 2011 click on 2011, and for last year's post click here.

We have had a lot of rain this spring and early summer.  Most plants are happy though many haven't bloomed like they did last year.  Here is the front garden.  My Cercis canadensis 'Ruby Falls' is quite happy.   Last fall I moved about half of the Creeping Phlox to the backyard garden.   It looks ok in the spring and then just a space filler for the rest of the year.    Am a big fan of burgundy leafed plants, so in addition to the 'Ruby Falls' I have two Loropetalum 'Purple Pixie' - one in the ground and one in the container.  Both are courtesy of Southern Living Plants and last year's Spring Fling.  (thanks Debbie Teashon for sharing the one with me).  Another burgundy leaf plant is Loropetalum 'Daruma', under the bay window.

2013

The plants in the foreground are Delosperma-- a couple different varieties.  I am not impressed with their lack of flowers this year.  There were some early on in the spring...but not many lately.  May try something else next year.

2012

The different between 2012 and 2013 from the front door shows how full the grasses have become.  The Magnolia grandiflora 'Little Gem' has grown a good bit, using the roofline of the shed as a guide makes it easy.

2013

The backyard last year seems to be blooming a bit more, we have had so much rain this year that blooms are few and far between.   This photo below is looking left.

2012

This is looking more to the right/center of the backyard.   There are a lot of Echinacea purpurea, Purple Coneflowers blooming.

2012

This year I used a panoramic shot, lots of Monarda blooming but only one lone Coneflower, though there are a lot of seedlings from last year.  Be sure to click on the photos to make them larger so you can see the details better.

2013

 Looking back up to the house you can see the Elephant Ears in a happy spot, big and lush.

2013

2012

The above and below are the same view, grasses and shrubs are a bit larger (so are the weeds).

2013

The photo below is the side yard, I had added a variegated Hydrangea to the mix.  This bed has Deutzia gracilis 'Nikko' and Abelia (I think it is Abelia x 'Edward Goucher' but not sure) are also in this bed.

2012

I wasn't happy with this bed, so this past winter I moved the Abelias to a new spot along the woods and brought the tiny Camellias out of the shady garden.  Think this is a better spot for them, they sure have grown since moving them.   The Acorus got pruned back this spring as it was looking ratty.  I did it to these first, trying to see how they fared to the pruning.  Next year late winter I will do the ones by the front door since these responded so well.

2013

See how much they filled in?  The older foliage isn't looking nice so a good haircut will help for next year.

2013

Looking up along the driveway the grasses and Crape Myrtles are continuing to be happy.

2012

You can see in the photo below that the Artemisia 'Powis Castle' isn't doing well.  I should cut it back again.  This rain has made it soggy looking.  The Miscanthus 'Little Zebra' hasn't put up flower stalks yet this year....really strange growing season.

2013

Last year looking from the other direction, the Lantana camara 'Miss Huff' is in full bloom.

2012

You can see how large the Lantana are this year, but very few flowers.  The Fringe tree, Chionanthus retusus bloomed this year, last it didn't, and has grown an amazing amount.

2013

The Edgeworthia chrysantha along the side of the deck is enormous!  If you don't have one in your garden --- you should!  (There are two here)

2013

 This is the newest addition to the family garden.  Hemerocallis 'Alexander's Ragtime Band' for our son in law Alex.  The Peony next to it is Rachel, a red peony.

2013

 This is a side view on the lower side of the house, with the family garden at the corner. Hydrangeas were moved to this location from the shady garden and seem happier.  Also in this mix are Viburnum tinus 'Spring Bouquet' and Callicarpa dichotoma 'Issai' and multiple varieties of daylilies.

2013

When I said lower side of the house you might have wondered why......we do have a slope.

2013

 Also on the lower side along the property line are a variety of shrubs.  I can't wait for these plants to mature, there are a couple blue cypress and a few yellow foliage shrubs and one Loropetalum 'Ever Red'.   When and if anyone ever builds next to us we will have a nice screening with this mixed border.

2013

A new planting area is the left side of the driveway heading up to the street.  See the two dark spots in the pinestraw?  I emptied my compost bin to those two places.  This winter I will get a couple bareroot Oakleaf Hydrangeas.   They will have plenty of room to grow to their full potential.  

2013

 I will close with a close up of my little friend.  If you look at this year's photo view looking out the front door, there is something on the sidewalk.  This is one of our many Anoles.

Thanks for coming along for a yearly update.  Have you marked yearly progress in your garden?  I marvel at the changes when you place pictures side by side.
Having just returned from the Garden Blogger's Spring Fling I have lots and lots of photos --be ready!

©Copyright 2013 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.