We've had a late bloom and a slow start to the growing season this year. Combined with the early warm weather and very early Spring from last year, our year over year garden comparisons are striking.
The peonies bloomed almost a full month later this year compared to last year. Sadly we had some big thunderstorms the night before these photos were taken and the peonies have all fallen over. Every year I vow to stake these up so the heavy buds and blossoms don't fall over, and every year I never get around to it. Behold and witness my gardeners shame!
This entire row of peonies were planted by the previous owners. I don't love (or know enough about) peonies to plant them on my own, but this display is quite stunning when everything is blooming.
We removed a huge stand of overgrown messy lilacs from this area last year and filled it almost entirely with plant divisions and extras from one of Alycia's friends at work (thanks Sarah!). There are daisies, so-called "wild" geraniums, and irises that have filled in quite nicely. This mound is not quite complete, we're going to wait and see where there are holes and fill them with other perennials.
The purple geraniums and purple irises contrast well with the white daisies. We're fairly happy with how this area turned out considering that I have no formal garden training and all these plants were free. My joy with how this turned out balances out the gardening shame for not staking the peonies and puts me back at even.
2 comments:
On staking the peonies, I found it was worth investing in those round metal hoops. You put them in early and the peonies grow into them. Somehow it makes the staking easier. Or maybe you feel that much more guilt about staking because otherwise you have wasted all that money.
Thanks Jason. I've seen the hoops before (sort of like smaller tomato cages) but never had any feedback on their effectiveness. Thanks for the tip, I'll look into it for next year.
Post a Comment