What Does Your Garden Look Like from Inside?

I've read articles about the concept of extending your home into your garden, and making sure the view from your home out into the yard is pleasant as well.  I thought I'd see what there was to this and take a few photos.

Luckily, my house has strong architecture that I can lean on, and we live in a rural setting with a lovely backdrop of trees, so most of the work is done.  In a subdivision setting, there are more things out of your control, such as your neighbor's refusal to maintain their yard.  Yes, I speak from experience.

What I found most interesting about this study is that what I can capture with the camera lens was only a fraction of what you actually see, but it made me study the views more and think about them differently.


I'm standing in my mudroom door looking out at the porch.  I love how ferns look on a wrap-around porch; they are icing on the cake.  I also love the diminishing railing line with the decorative cutouts fading away.  The rocking chair beckons you to sit and enjoy the view.

I don't know about you, but the chair was specifically talking to me... so I sat down and took another picture, looking out the other side of the porch.  I like the cozy feeling of a space with a ceiling.  One thing I would like to do someday is plant a hedge of hydrangeas, or some other blooming bush, along the edge of that tree line on the right, and curve around just to the corner of the street, to hide my neighbor's workshop.

Sometime last year, I realized that if you are standing directly in front of our front door, and it's open, you can see straight through the house.  I think you can see part of this view from the street, which might explain the sometimes slow traffic drive-bys in summer.

 

This is the back window, the one you saw through the front door of the previous photo.  It's a great view.  It got even better last year when Eric and his dad chopped down a bunch of trees.

This has already given me ideas for a handful of changes and projects I'd like to start to enhance my view from the inside.  I encourage you to try this too.

What's Blooming

I found some plants for the big blue ceramic pot at the corner of my porch.  I loved how well my urn turned out that I decided to repeat it here.  When you pull into our driveway, you'll be greeted by an urn spilling with yellow calibrachoa, and in the distance, you'll see the same splash of color repeated.  I especially love how the yellow contrasts with the blue.

For as long as I can remember, I have loved old-fashioned cabbage type roses.  Imagine my excitement when I discovered this one at my favorite local nursery.  This is a Knock Out variety (Rosa 'Radtkopink'), which means it's hardy and continues to bloom until frost, unlike it's ancestors, which only bloom for a few weeks in spring.

Here are some other things blooming this week.

Wild columbines are native to Missouri.  Every gardener should have at least one plant.  When they bloom, it signals that the hummingbirds are here.  This is one of their earliest sources of food.

I wish my alliums were doing better.  There is a lot of foliage, but only three blooms.  I think they need more sun.

I got these dwarf iris from my mom.  They start blooming around Easter.  I've been going under the assumption for years that these are Easter Bonnet iris, but when I google this name, I see a different image.  Maybe it's a generic name for lots of dwarf varieties.

I couldn't resist; a close-up shot of those fantastic Knock Out roses.








This clematis has just started to bloom.  It's covered with buds.  This was a gift from my friend Rebekah.

Beautiful & Functional - The Story of a Dry Creek

When we moved into our house, I noticed that there was a lot of erosion on the side yard.  It's pretty steep, like most of our yard, but that's the tradeoff we make for the spectacular view out back.

One day, my dog Hudson dug a huge hole at the bottom of the side yard while on the hunt for a mole.  I had always wanted to create a bog garden, so I took advantage of the freshly dug hole and expanded it slightly.  I decided to carve a creek into the hillside so that it would naturally fill the bog.  I can't say the bog was a success, but the creek was a stroke of genius.

I went with the existing contour of the side yard as my guide for the shape of the creek.  The creek isn't very wide or deep, just enough to hold water and direct it.  It's about 18 inches across in most places.  It was fun getting the shape and depth just right.  In a rain storm, I'd grab and umbrella and a trowel and go dig out the edges of the creek to improve the water flow.

The creek is in almost full shade, so I had to be creative about my plantings.  The photo doesn't do it justice, but it is has lots of textures and contrasting foliage colors.  The bright chartreuse spots are Creeping Jenny, a ground cover that can take foot traffic.  It keeps that color all season long.  A fantastic little plant.  The way it has sprawled down the creek gives the space motion.

I'm also using Purple Palace Coral Bells, which have a burgundy leaf.  This color against the Creeping Jenny is fabulous.  I'm just now getting a colony of ferns started.  For some reason, I've struggled to get them started.  Literally five feet away, there are so many ferns that you can't see the ground below them and they're coming up in the grass.  That's probably due to micro-climates, which is a topic for another day.

What started as a problem spot turned into such a great focal point in the side yard.  You can see it from many angles, including the street.  It actually redirects a good portion of the yard runoff water into the woods and keeps it away from the foundation of the house.  Erosion is still a problem, but I can't imagine what it would be like without this little creek.

Something borrowed, something blue...

In keeping with the hype about the royal wedding, I'm going to make the old adage of weddings the theme of today's post.

Check out this fantastic blue glazed ceramic pot that I picked up at Bayers in Imperial.  It was love at first sight, and the sale tag helped solidify the deal.  I was there with my parents and Tyler, and since we had no way to fit it in my car, we went back to my parent's house and me and my Dad returned with his truck (Thanks, Mom & Dad!).

This pot has major potential.  It's sitting at the corner of my wrap-around porch.  I'm wondering if I can keep it outside in the winter without it cracking.

It would be ideal if I could fill half of it with packing peanuts, but nobody seems to use them anymore.  They're great for large planters because you don't really need to fill the whole pot with dirt.  You need enough for the roots, especially if you're only housing annuals, and the packing peanuts provide excellent drainage.  In this case, I could probably get away with filling the top 1/3 with dirt.

I was able to breathe new life into this old urn (which previously occupied the corner spot on the wrap-around porch) with these yellow Superbells.  They have been in the pot for a few weeks now and the blooms don't stop.  It's the first season I've tried them, and I'm so pleased, I'm considering purchasing some for the pots that flank my entry.

I bought the Superbells as a hanging basket and replanted them into the urn.  This is a great trick for getting a very established look on the cheap.

Here's something new (also from Bayers).  The shape captivated me.  I'm also a sucker for wrought iron garden supports, so this was an easy purchase.

I'm not sure what exactly to do with it since it's so narrow.  I was considering growing cucumbers on it because they might be able to climb up the outside.  I know it would be perfectly suitable for a Mandevilla.  I haven't had a chance to do a return visit to my favorite garden shop for annuals and herbs, so I'll have to go soon to see what they've got in stock.  They usually have great looking climbers.  Another possibility, that I've always wanted to try, is Black-eyed Susan Vine.  They come out later in the growing season.

At least this obelisk looks great on its own.  Eric stuck it in this pot of Mint, and I thought it looked so nice, that's where it has stayed.

I've been stalling on "borrowed" but I think I've finally come up with something.  How could I forget about our spectacular borrowed views of the hill behind us?  It adds a wonderful element to our garden and home.

Coyotes, Owls & Rainbows

While I was digging out those pesky burning bush seedlings, and trying to dodge the raindrops from intermittent bursts of rain, I heard a coyote off in the distance.  A few minutes later, I heard an owl hooting across the street.  They're regulars.  It's the first time I've heard the owl this season though.

I raced to the porch as one of the bigger rain clouds passed overhead.  I looked up to see which way the clouds were moving, as this is a good sign of how long the storm may last and how severe it will be.  Out of all this rain we've gotten, I've yet to see a good rainbow.  And out of nowhere, one faded into view.  If I were on a taller hill, or didn't have as many tall trees surrounding my house, I probably could have seen both ends.  It was faint, but it was nice to see, nonetheless.

Most people in the St. Louis area share my sentiment about the rain.  We're done.  It's time to get on with it, Spring.  The temperature was already dropping when I snuck out to do some weeding, but the rain brought it down even more.  If it were July or August, I could have stuck it out, as the sun almost instantly evaporates the water from your skin after the rain stops.  But the combination of 60 degrees, wind, rain and working in the shade are too much.

As I type this, the sun has popped out, and is blaring through my back window making it hard to see my computer screen.  I guess I'll head back out there for 15 more minutes or however long the rain stays away this time.

Plant Invasion

A couple of years ago, I noticed a number of seedlings growing underneath my burning bush in the front yard.  They start out looking like sunflower seedlings so I ignored them for the most part, thinking they were sunflowers from winter dwelling birds enjoying a treat while in the protection of the shrub.

You may not be familiar with the name burning bush, but I can guarantee that you've seen one.  They are very popular in corporate landscapes because they're so hardy. The leaves turn a wonderful crimson red in fall.  The stems are sort of square shaped, as compared to traditionally round ones.

The seedlings really started to take root last year, so I took corrective action.  I pulled them out, one by one, until the numbers were greatly diminished.  Any leftovers quickly burned in the sweltering August heat.

This year, I noticed the seedlings were getting tall very quickly.  I decided to do a search for burning bushes in Missouri to see if other people were experiencing the same problem.  MOBOT recently put this shrub on their list of invasive plants because of the seedlings it can produce.

It seems that the problem isn't widespread, yet.  I don't know if it's the micro-climates, or the maturity of the shrub that causes the seedlings, but I decided it had to go.  We live in a rural area and the last thing I want to do is contribute to the desecration of the woods from a nasty invasive shrub.  The shrub in my yard was about 6' x 6'.  And that was after pruning at least 2 feet in every direction each spring.

Eric jumped at the opportunity to assist me.  Of course this meant using a power tool and the four wheeler.  He made quick work out of cutting down the shrub and then gave it a few yanks with a pull strap wrapped around the stump and attached to the back of the four wheeler.

I now have a huge sunny planting area in my front yard, which I think I'll fill with tomato plants and some other vegetables, flowers, and herbs.

If you have a burning bush in your yard, please consider removing it and replacing it with a more Missouri-friendly shrub.  If you need any suggestions, just ask.