Under the Watchful Eye

Whenever I garden in the front yard I have to decide whether to let the dogs come out with me. For the most part they will stay in the yard unless there is another dog or one of the neighbors out. If I have lots to do I will leave them in and have the front door open.

Newton is my watchdog, my shadow, my buddy.

This time of year I have to decide how much to pull up and how much to leave for the first frost. As with everyone else who has impatiens-- if you let them reseed they will fill the garden. The Caladiums and impatiens were out-reaching each other to be the tallest.

The bunnies ate most of the petunias, so the rest were removed. I keep adding a little area of mulch at a time as I clean up the summer foliage.


I did find that the bunnies leave the zinnias alone, nice to know item. Sometime next weekend I will be bringing houseplants in, either to the garage or the house. Have given a few away already. Moving next summer I am into the culling frame of mind. The epi is coming with me though...still has five big buds getting ready to open. This summer was a big bloom cycle for this one. Hooray!

Land in Between

There is a narrow strip of land in between our driveway and my neighbor's driveway....which is my mom's house. It is a pie shaped piece of land that at the street is as wide as my mailbox and opens up to be about 15 - 20 feet wide at our gate. When we moved here there were a couple of old pine trees in the middle. As fate would have it, we had them taken down the week before Hurricane Isabel hit our area. They took other trees out as well. It was fortuitous to have removed those as they were riddled with an ant colony in the center. The prevailing winds would have knocked these trees down on our garage/ house. After the removal of all the roots, I needed to plant a garden of some sort there. I did a raised bed with a Crape Myrtle in the center--Lagerstroemia indica 'Tuscarora'.

To keep the area planted with similar colored plants, I tried to stay with the dark pinks and reds.

You can click on the collage to see more detail. Included in this planting area is a Hibiscus moscheutos 'Luna Series' which is dark pink. I love these dinner plate sized blooms. It is the same color as the Crape Myrtle. By the house is a Gardenia 'August Beauty' and a lot of volunteer impatiens. The red and pinks of the impatiens echo the colors of the Crape Myrtle and the Hisbiscus.

Additionally the Pineapple lily is in that bed. It is really changing as it blooms!
I have a Pennisetum and a couple Carex in the bed as well. The fencing is not to keep the bunnies out, but to keep the stampeding dogs from running through the plants and breaking them.

Up by the mailbox is one Artemisia 'Powis Castle' and the new Pennisetum 'Fireworks'.
In front of the Artemisia is a sweet little Portulaca...great blooms!


I am quite pleased with how this section of the yard is looking right now. Hope you enjoyed the mini-tour!