I love seeing how everyone combines plants and colors, designs their beds, and orchestrates their cottage gardens to fit into their settings for visual appeal. We see lots of wonderful pics of individual blooms and plants, but I'd like to see how they look in their homes among their neighbors. New gardens, established gardens, works in progress, before and after pics, all welcomed!
Great Idea!
The bed above, where I use all my "salsa colors", runs from the north corner of the yard toward the east corner, so I call it my "Sunrise Garden". For some reason I associate bright citrus tones with mornings and the sunrise, and that's the garden area most visible from my deck where I like to have morning coffee and watch the hummers and butterflies. I was standing in the north corner looking east in the shot above. In this one I was standing sort of in the bed above, looking to the north, toward what I call my "Sky Garden".
Thanks, Meredith!
So much is blooming now, and I have a penchant for "biting off more than I can chew", as far as the size of the garden is concerned, so there's always work to be done- a bed that needs weeding, mulched, trimmed, etc. So often I don't post pics because they're just not perfect enough, but I've decided not to care this time, and show ya'll my weeds and work to be done too, LOL. There's just too many pretties among all of it not to share :-)
This shot was taken standing in the north corner of the fenced in back yard, looking toward the west. You see part of the blue, white, and yellow "Sky Garden", and the pink bed beyond it that is in the front of the house.
This one was taken from the deck, looking down at the Sky Garden. It seems I usually just have 1 or 2 of the 3 colors I'm using in that bed in bloom at the same time, but its coming along. The blue Globe thistle is about to bloom as well as some blue balloon flowers, annual forget-me-nots, Nigella, and Convulvulus. Hmmm...I wonder if anything yellow or white will be blooming? LOL Part of the bed by the fence you see I just stripped the sod from a few weeks ago and the weeds are coming back full force. I'll be getting that mulched soon!
Zooming in a little:
One of the paths in the Sky Garden, looking toward the pink bed.
I'm standing in the pink bed, looking toward the Sky Garden for this shot.
This is part of the pink bed, where I've been battling with Oxalis madly this spring (...and not winning, from the looks of it!). I use crimson, burgundy, and touches of blue, white, and lavender in that area too. Lilies are budding nicely, and the Red Cascade rose is getting unruly.
I'm standing at the lower part of the pink bed for this pic. We're sitting right on a hill, so all the beds are at various elevations. From a distance it kinda gives a terraced effect.
This is another part of the pink bed. I have this bad habit of making beds too big, too crowded to work in, and therefore difficult to get the whole bed in a pic. The slope of the land and some big woody plants make that challenging too.
Everything looks awesome to me! Sorry I interrupted before. I love your lilies and from the looks of how many you have you don't have to deal with Lily Beetles. I went out to retreat mine, I had some good size larvae on one plus an adult. They all got chopped with my pruning shears. It's so depressing because Lilies are one of my favorites and I am seriously thinking of getting rid of most of them. I also have to treat my Hardy Hibiscus or the get eaten to stems by saw fly larvae. I have to go back to work for a bit but I will be back to post pics. : )
Gemini, what is the name of your lilies? They would be perfect for one of my pink, blue and white (plus a little purple) beds. Thanks
Marilyn
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! I especially love the picture taken on the hill. it almost has a 3-D look to as if you can feel the different depths. What is that fuzzy yellow cat-tail looking plant in the first picture? I think I'm coveting it. LOL.
Coincidentally I took my first pictures today. I had wanted to wait until the weeding was done and blah, blah, blah, but let's face it...if I wait that long everything will be done blooming.
You talk about making your beds to big Neal? LOL! I call this one simply 'The Big Bed.' It's twice as big as my entire front yard! The following pictures are all of the same bed, just taken from different angles. This first one is as close as I come to getting the whole bed in one shot. It's shaped like a triangle and here I'm standing at the front 'tip.'
There's really no theme in this bed. I guess it's truly a cottage garden as it's just kind of a hodge-podge. I'm a sucker for these peach lilies....
Facing the other way.....
The poppies and clematis are winding down.....
Taken from the opposite side of the bed.....
A bit further back.....
This shot captures a good portion of the entire bed with my little Giraffe House off in the background.
This concludes the tour of the big bed. I'll post pictures of the others as I take them.
Thanks everyone for sharing...Better Homes and Gardens eat your heart out!
La, yours is a big bed done right! You had presence of mind to allow space to get in there...I always say I'm going to do that, LOL. All so gorgeous and neat, and I love they way you've used woody plants through it. That yellow spike is Eremerus (Foxtail Lily). I got mixed Spring Valley Hybrids from Brent and Becky's half off sale a few years ago- here are the ones in the front yard that are much happier (they've finished blooming now).
Nice! I'll have to post pictures next year. Right now, it's a 156-square foot dirt plot with around 75 *tiny* plants in it. Not much to see right now except lupine and onions. And I think the daisies would pop up if we only had a day of sun.
Lala, what's that little conical-shaped thing sprouting maroon berries in the foreground of Post #6707769?
This message was edited Jun 19, 2009 3:13 PM
Neal are there seeds associated with that Foxtail Lily? *hint, hint*
Peony I think you're looking at the miniature evergreens (I don't know why the name is escaping me at the moment) and the "maroon berries" are Sweet William. I've never seen such a gorgeous color as that on the SW. Everyone says they look like they're made of velvet.
Oh! Two separate plants. Well, they look gorgeous together, and now that you mention it, the flowers do have a dianthus shape to them. But I have never seen such a rich, dark color! Usually just the pinks.
gemini_sage,
Beautiful gardens! I especially love the salsa colored bed! And the pink bed is very pretty too. And that Foxtail Lily is to die for!!! How long do they bloom? Sun or shade? Your gardens always look so lovely.
I'm glad you started this thread. The last few years I've started a few 'perennial garden photos' picture threads and I'm so glad to see someone start one this year. They were started in the Perennials forum before. So I'm glad I ran into your thread. I always LOVE seeing them. It's great fun to see how people put things together in different combinations and designs. It's a great way to get ideas for our own gardens. Thanks for getting this started. ;o)
Lala_Jane,
Very pretty garden! I love the clematis and poppies. I had my first poppy bloom this summer. I got 2 red poppies out of it. LOL But I was happy because I've never had a poppy in my gardens before. I hate to admit that I pulled 2 poppy plants, thinking they were weeds! ;o( Now I know....
Here are a couple photos from my gardens.
Sherry
A little closer view of one end of the same bed. A mixture of things. Lots of lilies. Daylilies just starting with lots more to come. ;o)
Sherry
One of my clematis.
Sherry
I am so jealous! I love this, I too, love to see things in their whole environment. I want to see more.
All my plants are about 4 inches and I wonder if they will every grow!
I started everything from seed just this year. I will share some pictures though later I have done a lot of work clearing the beds out. :)
Sherry your beds look so neat and orderly! I feel like I'm looking at the landscaping at a golf course or a high end hotel. With all the pretty flowers you have growing this question will seem goofy, but what did you use for an 'edger?' I really like the finished look in the first picture. I've tried that black plastic stuff but it always works it's way up out of the ground.
La, I've been considering trying some seed from the Foxtail Lilies- I noticed buggycrazy sells seeds for them and figured its worth a try. I'll be sure to save plenty for sharing :-)
Thanks so much Sherry :-) Your garden is coming along beautifully this year! The Foxtail Lilies started blooming in May and were in bloom 3-4 weeks. They like full sun and good drainage.
gemini, i like this last pic you posted...nice colors together
Great thread! I love looking at everyone's garden shots.
My gardens are new and not really photo-ready, but here's my shady spot that I tried to give a bit of a cottage look.
Thanks, Angie! That's the butterfly bed where I toss in any color, and some of the greatest inspiration for plant combinations has come from it.
Kayly, cute bed there- I love the orange and purply-two tone violas! I've got some shots of gardens that aren't quite there yet, but I'd like to have "after" shots before posting the "before" shots, LOL. Some Lilies and annuals are starting to bloom in those beds, its fun to see the growth and realize one day it's picture worthy.
I love this cloud of dainty, self sown, plants- Nigella and Silene English Maiden. They're growing around the ankles of a clump of pink Asiatic Lilies in front of a big Mock Orange. I always think of a fairy garden when I look at them.
This shot shows the Lilies:
Here you can see the combo above to the right of the bed. I realized I was about to derail my own thread with a close up shot, LOL- but I do like seeing both contexts, close up combination ideas and how they look in the garden as a whole.
I love looking at all of your beautiful pictures!!! Here is a small area near the street that has some catmint, alliums, roses etc.
Pretty combination of plants there!
Here is what we have under construction,we will be adding an 8 X 10 wood deck on end ,where the brick is.I laid a perforated tile this last wkend to pick up the water from the rain gutters,the width of the porch,it will help me water if it and when it rains,I did that in another spot it works really well.i ve got plants set aside for it .anyway here are a few pix.I really envy all those beautiful beds on flat ground !!!
pic 2
pic 3
