New Beginnings

I've taken nearly a 10 month long hiatus from the blog.  The first reason was obvious... last summer's scorching temperatures left me with nothing but dust and dead plants.  Even the grass blew away, literally.

The second reason was our move.  While Eric and I had discussed it in the summer, we didn't know we'd be jumping ship so soon.  I found our new piece of paradise while I was checking real estate listings one evening.  This little beauty has 6.25 acres -- approximately 5 of them are open field, and the rest is wooded.  We have room to spread out and I can have shade and full sun gardens.  A gardener's dream.

The previous owner was a landscaper by trade.  He created a wonderful framework of trees and shrubs, and hardscape, for me to begin with. The gardens were somewhat neglected, but I'm finding it enjoyable to bring them back to life.  It feels like a secret garden that I've discovered and am in the process of restoring.  Okay, it's not nearly to that ruin, but it sounds romantic.

I have done a considerable amount of work already, and have a lot of plans for what's to come. I would have taken some before pictures but I couldn't find my camera.  And then when I found it, the batteries were dead.  I'm all up and running now with fresh batteries.

In honor of being the proud owner of a new garden, I have relaunched my blog with a new name.  I hope you will join me in this adventure in "Taming Rugged Acres".

I found these great planters at Ikea.  To give you an idea of scale, I placed my little model in front.

I brought these planters from our old house entry, and I'm using them in virtually the same location.  I thought I'd get rid of these, but after popping in these great New Guinea Impatiens, I see how lovely they look.  I also realized they are almost the same color as the stone foundation and porch.

The beds are all outlined in a lovely stone edging.  The hostas you see here, I added last weekend.  There was not much in this bed except for a couple of shrubs and some Sum & Substance hostas in the corner.

The other side of te porch.  Lemon Lime mini hostas and Drinking Gourd blue hostas, along with a classic -- boxwood.

This stacked rock surrounds a small parking area we have off the driveway.  Even it is lovely, planted with a tree (not sure what kind), a lilac, and some dogwood trees.  I am turning this into my perennial garden and the idea is that it takes on sort of an English flavor, being packed and diverse.

The lilac... my assumption is this is "Miss Kim".

Yellow baptisia that I planted.

All of the gardens on the south and west sides of the house are planted full of this groundcover sedum. It is really quite beautiful.  I love the shade of green.  Great choice for the sides that get deer tracking through, and are in the most sun.

The front porch.  I love formal and symmetrical arrangements.  Simple and elegant.

These are the hostas he left behind.  Again, giving you an idea of scale with Tyler in the foreground.  I am pretty sure these are Sum & Substance.  I bought one and it looks identical.

The rose and daylily garden.

My crane has a new home!  Check out the backdrop.  Borrowed views are a very important design principle.  Our gardens would not look so great without those hills in the background. 

The shrubs surround the pool area.

WEEDS!  The rose and daylily garden looked just like this, as did several others, but I painstakingly cleared them one weed at a time.  Can't use roundup because these beds are filled with tender japanese maples.  This bed has daylilies in it so I definitely want to try and keep them.

I have always wanted a stone stairwell and now I have one.

Those sticks you see toward the middle of the photo is the start of an orchard.  Apples for sure, and I'm starting to think there are peaches in there.

One of my stand-by ideas, taking a hanging basket and popping it into a planter.  Looks full and lush right out of the gate.

Drought Survivors

Many of you probably saw my Facebook post about my garden of the month award. Don't be fooled; the drought has taken its toll in my gardens in a big way. What I haven't posted are the depressing sights of hydrangeas burned to a crisp. Coneflowers that have scraggly blooms and whose leaves have basically melted off. The poor daylilies that not only lost most of their foliage and had naked stems, but which had also fallen victim to a munching rodent, desperate for some form of moisture.

One thing for sure is that this garden sign at my entry has me standing outside in triple digit degree weather, hand watering one garden while the solitary sprinkler we own works on another part of the yard.

Despite the near and eminent death of some of my flowers, I wanted to share what is surviving. First and foremost, the boxwoods look fantastic. Glossy green foliage holds up in harsh conditions, including harsh winter winds, and now extreme drought. The key to my garden having as much life as it does is in the fact that I have a boxwood in every garden. Many of them are a mature size, so they have a lot of presence with the absence of other foliage. It's almost like what they do for the garden in the winter.

Next in the roll call of survivors is Annabelle hydrangeas. They have laughed at the temperatures and have not once been caught wilting. My blooms are already done and they have dried to a fantastic chartreuse green. If you live in the area, stop by for a bouquet. They are hanging over the sidewalk and need to be trimmed back.

Another noteworthy item are the liriopes. They have remained full and lush and appear unphased.

An unlikely candidate for the list, given the state of the other "natives", are the tiger lilies. They have very small blooms, but they aren't melting and the foliage is nice and fresh looking.

Now, granted, I do have a partial sun situation, with my own special micro-climates, but I think these are some plants to note for your own gardens. I am waiting for a big break in the weather to see how I can increase my liriope collection.

June Blooms

I've been outside today adding some new items to the gardens.  Wine Country Gardens is having a sale on annuals, so I couldn't resist.  Fourteen herbs and two hanging pots later... 

They are also having a daylily sale, buy one get one free.  So I resisted the urge to buy a new variety of daylily that I don't already have and stuck with one that I do have, Mauna Loa.  This will help give my gardens a nice full effect when they're all in bloom.  It's a gorgeous orange color with a tinge of golden yellow mixed in.  This is the only nursery where I've found Mauna Loa, so imagine my surprise when I saw them at Lowe's a few weeks ago.  Same price.  Except now I can get one free at WCG.

By the way, if you have never walked/driven (via golf cart) through WCG's daylily field, or haven't done it in a while, I recommend this for a great outing.  Go first thing in the morning when it's still cool outside, and you can have the field to yourself.  Acres and acres of daylilies, all different colors and types (that's why they offer the golf cart).

Here are some pics of what's blooming.  Actually, it's not much, since it's been incredibly dry here.  No rain to speak of in four weeks.  I've resorted to watering by hand.  We really need to get a new sprinkler!

Annabelles have huge, showy, pure white blooms.  However, I don't recall them ever being this large.

The Annabelles draped around the porch.  A nice visual cooling effect in the hot weather.

The front porch entry is flanked with identical pots.  You can do wonders with the clearance section at Lowe's.  Geraniums for 99 cents and a Spanish Lavender for $2.00.

The PeeGee hydrangea blooms are fading to pink.

The dry creek is looking a little dry.  Where's the rain???

This is my FAVORITE daylily!  When we moved in, I found it near the fence line, in the shade, not blooming.  I think I found it once in a photo on a website and asked the webmaster what it was called.  They emailed a response, but of course, I deleted the email and forgot to write it down. Good luck finding it again!

The wild back garden has spots of color here and there.

Atlanta Full House -- this daylily came with me when I moved from my old house.  Light yellow with a green center. You can find these at Wine Country Gardens.  It's so dry this year that it only has one stalk of buds.  I have less time than usual to enjoy this one.

 

Welcoming Two Newcomers

Earlier this spring, I wrote about my obsession with fig trees.  I'm proud to report that I am now an owner of a fig tree.  A Chicago fig, to be exact.  It's only a couple feet tall, but it's a manageable size.  And the price was right.  Ten dollars for an experiment isn't bad.  Figs are unknown territory for me.  Well, really all fruit bearing plants are new territory and this is my first real season growing them.

Here is my fig!

If you look closely, that little round nubby thing by the stem is a fig in the making!  There are about three of them. Impressive for such a young tree.

There is another newcomer to the garden this week.  This is going to sound totally garden geek, but I have been wanting a crane garden statue since I installed the first phase of my shady dry creek garden.  It just begs for one.  Sunday night I decided to do a Google search to see what I could find.  I've been regretting a pass up purchase from a few years ago when we were at Sam's Club and they had a pair of cranes for what I thought was an expensive price, only to find out it was a steal of a deal.  I got to page three of the Google search and there it was -- and for the right price.  Who was selling it, you ask?  Kmart, of all places.  My hubby works at Sears, which is part of the same corporation, so he gets a discount.  Add that to the near expiring Shop Your Rewards points and a gift card with a small balance left on it, and yes my friend, I've got a crane for next to nothing.
 

Introducing the Crane!

The rest of the pics are a progress report on the latest changes.  Photos taken today.

The Annabelle Hydrangeas are doing fine after their aggressive winter pruning.

 

 

 

 

Hydrangea "Pee Gee".  Striking in full bloom.

Coreopsis that climbed up the chicken wire trellis I made for a clematis.

Lavender is just starting to bloom.  I need to harvest a few tablespoons of flowers to try out those lavender cookies I read about in BHG a few months ago.

I think it's a little early in the season for these "Roadside Orange" daylilies to be blooming, but I'll take it.

The backyard garden that transitions from the house to the woods is definitely a little wild.  What started out as a sparse planting has naturalized, and needs some taming.  Not to mention dividing.

 

Unstoppable Annabelle Hydrangeas

Annabelle hydrangeas are spectacular shrubs.  They are reliable, easy to grow, and put on a great show every year.  I have three of them surrounding my porch.


Every year, my Annabelles host soccer ball sized pure white blooms.  The blossoms are so heavy that the rain makes the entire plant fall into the sidewalk.  It takes both my husband and I working at it to lasso and hitch them to the porch railings with thick rope.  He keeps asking me to move them, but I love how simplistic their blossoms look against our white railing and Victorian-styled house.  I had better start coming up with new and better excuses because the shrubs' height well exceed the height of the railing every year.  I also promise I will try to find a way to keep my Annabelles in check... next year.

I came across an article about Annabelles that suggested cutting them completely back to the ground.  It promised they would spring back to life in the growing season.  Forgive me for not immediately grabbing my pruners, but I am leery of ruthless trimming techniques.  It had to simmer with me for a while, but this winter, I finally gave into the idea.  I cut them back to 3 inches above ground and I bit my nails in anticipation for Spring.  Had I killed my Annabelles? If they came back, how would they perform?

I am happy to report that the experiment was met with results just as the article stated.  The Annabelles made a mighty comeback.  They are just as tall as they have been in the past and they are on time to producing blooms.


Unfortunately, this did not solve my original problem of keeping the blooms off the sidewalk.  They aren't laying there yet, but give them another month.  I look forward to seeing their huge white blossoms (and bringing in a fresh batch of dried ones to over-winter in a vase).  I also look forward to the annual conversation with my hubby about how to restrain my beloved hydrangeas and the pursuit of a permanent solution.

$13 Iris

My post today was inspired by a thirteen dollar iris I bid on at a charitable auction last year.  Yes folks, I spent thirteen dollars on a single plant.  A single tuber.  It was a gamble.  All I had to go on was a fuzzy blown up computer print out.  It looked and sounded great.  Ruffled white iris with yellow edges called "Skirt Alert", multiple blooms per stem.  I LOVE white iris, so of course, I was eager to snatch it up.  It finally bloomed.  Drum roll, please...

 

I, for one, am disappointed.  It's definitely not as spectacular as I had hoped.  The edges are not the bright yellow from the computer print out.  It's more of a mustard yellow.  My first impression when I got an up close look was, "I waited a year for this?".  Oh well.  My money went to support a non-profit, and that's what counts.  I just happened to get a plant in exchange for my donation.

However, not all is lost!  I have some great pics to share from around the yard.

 

The pot around my porch is looking good.  The geranium is very happy.

White iris!

Iris "Variegata".  Look at that foliage!  It's a bonus that it blooms.  I ordered ten of these in the fall and they're doing spectacular.

More white iris!  I'm addicted...

Sarah Bernhardt peony

A visitor

Okay, in my opinion, this iris is nothing short of spectacular.  It is a reblooming german iris called "Orange Harvest".  The color makes it look so delicious!  I ordered 5 of these in the fall and it was a gamble.  Pictures are deceiving, as noted above.  But this is such a wonderful surprise.  Only 2 plants survived, but the mail order company is planning to replace the others.  I'm pleased as pie with this one, and now I get more joy knowing it is going to bloom again in the fall.  It has taken over a week for it to open, and today it made its debut.

I'm so loving this iris, that I have to share another pic.  The top is a sherbet orange and the falls are bright yellow with dark orange beards.  Like a beautiful sunrise or a fruity frozen drink!  The photo does not do it justice.

Holy ferns, Batman!  When I visited the Kansas City, Mo., Powell Gardens, I was intrigued by their island garden, which had a stone wall with lots of little things growing out of it.  Much to my delight, this happened on its own in my backyard.  The wall is filled with sedum, columbine, and ferns.

Another peony

A bright orange begonia on the front porch.

Edible Flowers

Several years ago, I was chatting with a friend of mine, who is also the owner of a local nursery, and she suggested that I sample one of the petals from a daylily we were standing nearby.  She said they were edible, and tasted like sweet lettuce.  I trust her, so I took a bite.  She was right; the petal was crunchy, and reminiscent of iceberg lettuce.  I share this fun tidbit with friends and family that visit in the summer, and let them sample whatever blooms are available that day.

As I meandered through my garden tonight, I was reminded of the edible daylilies while admiring the foliage of the many daylily plants I own.  I was also daydreaming of how great they're going to look in just less than a couple of months.

This got me to thinking about other flowers that are edible, and how I could extend my garden to another useful dimension.  I know herb flowers are in the safe zone, as well as pansies, roses, and lavender, but wasn't sure about too many others.

I did some research online, and it's amazing what you can find on edible flowers.  Here's a pretty comprehensive list -- http://whatscookingamerica.net/EdibleFlowers/EdibleFlowersMain.htm

Last year, I went on a garden tour, and one of the ladies had made Lavender cookies to welcome us into her garden.  They were excellent!  This year, Better Homes & Gardens featured an article on baking with lavender.  I have had lavender growing in my yard for years, and added five new plants this year, but never thought to bake with it.  Important note: you bake with the dried petals; not the foliage.  BHG.com has some interesting recipes that I'm going to add to my list of summer to do's.  In a follow up post, I'll have to report back on the results.  http://www.bhg.com/recipes/searchResults.jsp?searchTerm=lavender&page=1&sortBy=rating