The red asian lilies wrapped up their bloom last week.
Along with another asian lily bunch.
The white asian lilies are the last to bloom and still have a few buds.
We also have a few Elodie bulbs in front from 15 years ago that bloom lightly. T I should refresh those. They have been gorgeous over the years.
The beauty and scope of the plants up north continue to amaze us, and sometimes surprise us. Wide swaths of woodland ferns, wildflowers, ground cover, wild strawberries, wild roses, you name it. But no hope for a structured garden – unless that is how we want to spend all our time up there, which we don’t.
Last year I set up two raised bed gardens as our year 1 test garden. I was so unprepared for the results. The asclepias and the asparagus seem to have survived. Beyond that, let’s just say I wish I had that money back. I cannot keep pace with all the things that continually take over that space. And I have learned that is not bad. It’s just different.
The wildflowers are happily blooming right now. Here’s a truly delightful clump of wild daisies – right next to the “delightful” crop of woodland plants that continually take up residence in the raised bed gardens.
The daylily seedlings I planted in spring do not seem to have survived, but perhaps next year I will be surprised. The iris I planted did survive, so maybe. But I am not optimistic.
Two new wildflowers to us right now are orange hawkweed, and spreading dogbane. Here’s a picture of the spreading dogbane.
It smells glorious, and the bees love it! We just need to keep our dog away from it.
Final consensus for this year – I’m done “planting” up north. We’ll continue to see what’s already there, and see what comes up next year.
We have two large pots of shamrocks I have over-wintered for years. I bought them as tiny potted plants at St. Patrick’s Day. They grew, and grew, and grew. I divided them and gave some away. Finally I decided the pots were the perfect size, and that’s what we have had for years.
The purple shamrocks are especially pretty in the garden. The leaves and flowers get so full they cascade over the side of the pot. It is quite a treat.
The green shamrock can be seen next to the magenta asian lilies.
Quite a few years back I planted forget-me-nots. We had lost my father-in-law and a beloved neighbor within weeks. It was a tough time. Gardening lends itself to seasons of expression.
Every year the forget-me-nots have come back better and better.
I have read, however, that they can be invasive. So although we let them mature and bloom, I am careful as to where I let them seed. I would not, for instance, plant them and leave them to naturalize up north, but here I can keep a close eye on them. I pluck them after bloom except farther back among the asian and day lilies, so they only seed in that area. They bloom first, but I love the lacy look that even the drying seeds form among the lilies.
The first hosta to have scapes, and blooms, is looking good next to the pink asian lilies.
The magenta asian lilies are very full now.
And the red asian lilies are starting to bloom.
The daylily scapes are coming up!
Always a wonderful sight!
If I could only choose one perennial, it would be daylilies – followed very closely by hostas, then asian lilies, then sedum.
These are Purple d’ Oro. Cannot wait, but we have to! Beauty takes its time.
Day 3 of the asian lily blooms – one more apricot bloom.
A bunch more pink blooms!
Still waiting on the red blooms
And the white ones are weeks away.
The squirrels have been very naughty. They dug up one of my daylily seedlings that I nurtured for 2 months from seed.
Was not happy about that. Repels granules are now on the way. So sorry squirrels …
But not these two. They are good 😉
It has been a long wait for the lilies to bloom this year. But yesterday, the first Asian lily bloomed in our townhome garden.
This morning, another very welcome set of new blooms
And yet another set will soon follow
A very wonderful time in the garden!
Something about the garden at the townhouse has me restless right now. I should be content to sit in the lawn chair on the patio and enjoy the view. The garden is lush and full. But I’m restless, looking and saying it needs adjustments.
Up north this would not bother me at all. But the scope here is so much smaller, drawing attention to planned symmetry and proportion that seems to be stretched this year.
Maybe it’s because I’ve been looking at new gardens, the refreshes that we’ve done in the association. They are at the start of their life and nothing is crowding anything. Nothing is blocking the view of anything. Their full potential is ahead of them.
That’s part of it. But there’s more. Things are looking good in parts of the garden here, but “missing” in others. Moving the aureomarginata out of our garden here last fall, and into other association garden refreshes, left an odd empty space now that the tulips and crocuses are fading – one I don’t like.
There are hostas I wish I had moved/divided last fall that are now overgrown in their current space and that I wish we had divided last fall and put as a post-tulip layer in place of the aureomarginata, like the ‘Rainforest Sunrise’ out front.
Under the tree is bothering me too. It feels hodge-podge this year. I love the ‘Rainforest Sunrise’ hosta there, but other hostas there feel crowded and random.
Maybe it just needs some daylilies to start blooming 😊
And then there are irrigation patterns that I need to consider, like how the sprinkler hits daylilies that have gotten tall. And there are mysteries – like why two ‘Just Plum Happy’ daylilies aren’t doing well this year, but everything around them is.
This weekend I know one decision for certain will drive some planting. The lavender I planted last year definitely didn’t survive.
There are two to be pulled out that will make way for the remaining two daylily seedlings from last year’s Purple D’Oro’ seeds. The other two I planted here are doing fabulously, and the two available spots are right around the corner, making a nice pattern.
Wait! Back up! Is that a new “mini rock feature”! Why yes, it is! The old two pavers at the bottom of the downspout were not enhancing that space, so I gathered a number of rocks we have collected and previously scattered in the garden, and put them together for a new look. Really liking that. We’ll see what else this weekend brings for ideas.
The clematis are beginning to bloom at the townhouse. First the white ones bloomed, and now a new pink volunteer we haven’t seen blooms on before is starting.
I had a few volunteers over the past few years that really took off this year, so I had to buy a couple extra trellises. Not easy in the current shopping environment, but it turned out ok.
Last weekend we went up north. I tell you! It’s amazing how fast things grow up there! You might say it’s wild – lol! The ferns that were fiddleheads last time were waist high!! We have thousands, and unfortunately some have to get cut back so we have a homesite/campsite that is reasonably free from ticks.
The butterflies and bumblebees were enjoying the dandelions. It was a fabulous sight to see. We don’t prevent dandelions up north so they have a nice supply of food.
A walk through the farther trails taught us we have an abundance of wild roses we didn’t know about, and even some scrubby maple trees. (I thought we were too far north for maples.)
By far, however, the big news is … the baby daylilies are doing well up north!! The deer are leaving them alone so far, and they are holding their own with just the natural rain. I am hopeful! The asparagus also survived the winter, and it looks like one asclepias. I cleaned up the raised beds, and put more black dirt in one. Man, I wish I had that $300 back! I don’t like the steel and boxy look nearly as much as I thought I would, and they heaved in the center so they look weird, but oh, well. Live and learn.
The fact that daylilies are doing well up there makes my harvesting decisions much easier going forward. It means I will probably harvest seeds from our townhome gardens again this year, and sow some in the ground up north as well as start seedlings in the winter again. Probably.
It’s also about this time of year, as the summer garden comes into full form, that I start to realise what fall divisions will be needed. The townhouse garden is getting pretty mature, and I will need to divide and split quite a bit this fall. This ‘Rainforest Sunrise’ hosta has definitely overgrown the space.
I love the coloring, and the leaves are a bit more tender, so I will keep the divisions at the townhouse.
I’m tempted, however, to try some of the ‘Blue Mouse Ears’ hosta divisions up north, as the leaves are deer resistant.
So many ideas … but a bit of time to chew on them. For now, the daylily seedlings are all planted except two, which will go into the townhome garden in the next day or so. The lavender seeds are starting to sprout in pots – we’ll see how far they get – and the tulips are fading back and making way for the Asian lily blooms to come center stage next.
