Sunday, April 17, 2016

the west and north sides


Just a note about the images of the Big Backyard...the distances look greater than they do when actually standing out there.

So while I have made gardens in the Little Backyard (the roses, althea, and the large shrubs were already here) and the Big Backyard (ditto with the long day lily bed), I have done almost nothing to the west side and absolutely nothing to the front besides neglect it to the point that two of the roses died as well as a big althea and another is dying.

Standing in front of the barn looking at the west side. There are two oaks and a large white crepe myrtle (the one with the climbing roses in it that the arbor is next to) which keep this side in near total shade except in winter when it gets afternoon light. It's mostly ferns, english ivy, and azaleas. The one big oak had half a dozen small scrawny struggling azaleas under it so I built the curving bed around the other oak and moved them there where they promptly died. Bought new azaleas on sale which were so pot bound that out of 10, only 6 survived and only one of those remains planted there. The red crinum lilies that I dug up from the city house are in there now but one clump will be moved over to the shop. The chinese fringe flower shrub was already there as well.





Standing at the end of the driveway looking at the west and north sides.


Across the front which is also mostly in shade except out by the street...roses, yellow bells, purple coneflowers, crepe myrtles, altheas (also called rose of sharon), two huge yew trees one on each corner of the house, chinese fringe flower shrubs, yellow butterfly iris that I need to move, society garlic, gerber daisies, ruellia ground cover, easter lilies, ferns, red tip photinias which are so large they block the view of the house from the street. I put in the beauty berry in front which doesn't show up in these pictures).



The northeast corner.


The east side, the most neglected side, also in near total shade except in winter from the cypress and red bud in my neighbor's yard though it does get some morning light...another crepe myrtle, althea, and shell ginger. I pulled out the common cannas that were here and moved the tall ferns there on the left that were originally in the Little Backyard where the yellow butterfly ginger is now. They are just now coming back from winter.


When we moved in here with the exception of the yellow bells and the easter lilies and the day lilies almost every single thing that blooms the previous owners had in the yard was either red, pink, or purple.


Well, I hope you enjoyed the tour of the yards. I'm headed out now to get those azaleas in the ground.  If you missed either of the first two posts you can see them here - the Little Backyard and here-the Big Backyard.




8 comments:

  1. Again- your yard is beautiful. And the fact that you get sun in parts of it makes me a little jealous. Winter we get some sun because the pecans have lost their leaves but now we are growing back into our summer green canopy. Oh well. I can still grow plenty of ferns and camellias. My lilies don't get much chance to bloom and my bananas never will but I love it all anyway.
    I need more birdbaths.

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  2. It's a never ending project, and your gardens involve a lot of work. And make you happy.

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  3. It looks absolutely idyllic. It reminds me of my Grandparents farm. They lived in Yamhill, a tiny little 2 street town. Their 40 acre farm was about 6 miles out. I remember many of the same plants growing around their house, but I never knew the names for them. They had a huge Ponderosa Pine in the front. Loved to hear the wind whistle through that tree!
    Thanks for the tour, you have made it all so lovely there. When you need a break from work, it must be so nice to sit out there and see all that beauty.
    And thanks for the memory, I loved those days.

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  4. Your garden and landscaping reflect your artistry and enthusiasm for growing things. Wonderful pictures.

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  5. Just staring to see everything going to full bloom around here. I went to a crab apple arboretum today in full bloom.

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  6. I like your inclusion of Minnie in the photos. :)

    I've never heard of an althea -- but a Rose of Sharon, now THAT I know!

    It's a beautiful yard! So lush!

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  7. I hope your azaleas didn't wash away! Oh, do we have a mess here in Houston. They're muttering about Allison-level flooding, although Allison did better than the 12-20 inches they've predicted. I was watching radar last night, and it got pretty impressive over your way, too.

    Your yards -- all of them -- really are so lovely. I'm glad to have seen them, although my land-envy did pop up a time or two. I know myself well enough to know that tending so many plants would stay pretty low on my list, but I'm always willing to admire someone else's work.

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  8. I love your yard. Growing up in Maryland, my mom planted beds and had pockets of color around the yard. In the summer I would clear the dinner table and do the dishes so she could be out working in the yard. Many of the plants you mentioned we had in our yard;)

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