It's still December: let's continue to celebrate our gardens

We came from here:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1059873/#top

Please show us photos of your gardens - all of them!

I want my garden to look like that!! I'll have something like it by next summer. But I'm having a hard time waiting. The ground is too cold to plant anything. So its wait, wait and wait. Darn

We planned and planted, moved plants time and again for 18 years until it looked like the above photo and still I wasn't satisfied so I did over a portion of what you see in October and November. Maybe this time it will come out the way I want it to be.

The garden pictured here hasn't changed much at all since we installed it in '95.

That is beautiful. I promised my DH, sort of, that I would finish my garden and then sit down and enjoy it. Well I will try. I actually want to be satisfied so I can sit down and really enjoy it but every time I sit down I see something that has to be moved.

Many of us do exactly what you do, Sharon.

It reminds me of a Rudyard Kiping quote:

“Gardens are not made by singing "Oh, how beautiful," and sitting in the shade.”

Here is a front view from the front sidewalk. Peace Rose in middle flowerbed.

Partial view of back landscape looking south toward Koi pond.

Nothing to sneeze at Sharon
beauty

.This is March 17th here

Nearly the same spot April 16

I would just love to take a walk through all of your gardens. They look so inviting....

this is a May July August collage of the same area

Sharon - fantastic! What a joy to see! You do superb work and I adore that first shot and the look of the garden.

Jo Ann - looks like that garden remained sound asleep in the first two photos and then really woke up!

This message was edited Dec 23, 2009 8:47 AM

May to July is a leap.I agree.
I didnt have a series of photos for June.
I have relocated my Fusion Crismas tree , to my garden.
I might leave it there until I grow vines on the trellis.

We all need something we can see from our windows that brings a smile in winter. More power to you, Jo Ann.

Thanks from my best supporter and enabler Pirl.

If we can't enjoy ourselves and create something to give us a smile then what's the purpose of living?

Gorgeous gardens, Sharon!

Wow, Jo Ann, your garden really peaks in July. Beautiful.

May and June arent bad its just that I put a lot of late bloomers in the area that spring.
I will pix from the same spot this year, should see more hardy geraniums and Lischenes( sp) my GF gave me seeds.

It's hard to get your garden to cover all the months. Do you have the book Time Tested Plants, by Pamela Harper? That really helped me. But mine still peaks in June, with the irises, and I need more late summer plants (phlox!).

You've done a fantastic job, Jo Ann!

Thanks,I cant begin to tell everyone how much pure joy I get seeing the changes from one year to another. I must have planted 6 JI's in that area too so this spring will be a treat.

Even a rainy June, as we just experienced, was pure pleasure.

Very nice Jo Ann. I was having the same problem only my garden was peaking from late June into July. I added some Virginia bluebells, columbine, iris and some pulsatilla in 2007. Then I decided I need color to go later into the fall and in 2008, bought more dahlia tubers and mums. I also had some a real nice trade from a very generouse DGer and put in a couple of Japanese Anemones. I am anxious to see what the JA's do in the Fall of 2010.

Thanks for the mum remark.
I just remembered the mums I put in for fall color.

Joann, love it but it would drive me crazy to wait. In the SW we have about 10 to 20 days of winter and then the sun starts shining again. Two years ago we had 100 degrees first week of April. Just really never know when to plant your tomatoes. We trim back and feed our roses first week of February. Do not grow many bulbs here because the blooms only last one day because of the heat. We had high winds last night and my property in on a slight curve about 1/4 of the way down. So I have all the leaves from above me in my front landscape and street scape and the front street. My neighbor stopped by and wanted to know if I had pi**ed off Mother Nature.

Have a wonderful day. I have a little grocery shopping to do. I cannot believe I waited till today but oh well.

Carolyn - I also went with earlier bloomers for spring, and then dahlias for summer and fall. At least the dahlias take us into November with their blossoms. It would be so nice if some lilies could wait to bloom for October and November.

Here's Red Hot lily from Dutch Gardens - always a grand performer.

I wouldnt believe that soft color from the name.

Arlene

what a gorgeous, gorgeous lily!

another of my favorites are nasturtiums. They bloom right until the frost. I already have my nasturtium seeds for next year.....

one of my favorite early bloomers... This photo was taken in late April, when we are all so ready for color.

I bought these bulbs through Viola Valley here on DG.

That blue is delightful. What is the name of the bulb? I have a friend into Blue flowers and her birthday is in March.

Sharon

They are Virginia Bluebells. I just love them. After they are finished flowering, the foliage just kind of melts away by the time other flowers come up in that area.....

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1543/

And Viola Valley sells them for like a buck apiece, too - I got some too, Carolyn. They're great - they bloom and completely disappear until the next spring. No old foliage, nada.

One last question. Should I purchase plant, seed or is it a bulb. The site you led me to sell all three. Thank you very much. Merry Christmas., We have another hour and 36 minutes. My DH will not even come close to believing what I got him for Christmas. It is his favorite candy from when he was a kid. I searched the internet and found it at "Old fashion candy from years gone by." Nothing exciting. Necco wafers. It is still available somewhere in the United States but not Las Vegas. I bought enough that he will have enough if he lives to be a hundred. My DH is disgusting. He can eat one piece of candy a day. He will love it. I bet I get something for gardening. I have been hinting for knee pads. Merry Christmas.

Necco wafers are great. I like the black ones. What fun gifts!!

He will be so surprised because the last time we found them they were at a roadside shop somewhere in Texas. Well maybe he would be more surprised if it was a Corvette but I have already told him that is not going to happen. I laugh when I see a 76 year old man driving a Corvette and there is no way my DH is going to be laughed at, so end of story. Meany.........

Actually, if I remember correctly .... I bought mine as a root, rather than a bulb.... I guess maybe you'd call it a tuber. If you get it that way, I wouldn't order until your ground is warm enough to be workable. That's the way I'd order it again - these guys have terrific products, but they ship stuff in baggies filled with peat and I can only guess what the plants would look like.

And in Las Vegas, you're going to have to put these in a area that gets a fair amount of water with enough compost to defend against your alkaline soil and water.

Sheryl, thank you so much for the input. I , after 8 years at this new property, have every inch composted and refill all the time. I also use mulch like it is free. But it does protect from the sun and reduces loss of moisture. When we built the home we had the lot graded down over 4 feet and removed all the Nevada blow sand and started with landscape soil and then went from there. The front landscape is made up with large boulders buried in the soil and placed to make various deep flower beds. What still amazes me is the small rocks under all the soil I had brought into the landscape. They just move upward and sooner or later they are at the top of the soil. I start digging a bed that was free of rocks and now it is full. Mother Nature is really sneaky in some ways.

You are all getting buried or have been already buried in snow. Have a great , warm and safe Merry Christmas. Getting ready to go see Baby Luke.He is now 7 weeks old.

This was placed on another thread and I got permission to use it. I think it is beautiful.

Sharon

Mine were little tuber-rooty like things too. I think the seed would take awhile don't you? I mean if you are going to buy them anyway, you may as well get the bulbs....

Love the postcard of the bird.

Merry Christmas everyone.

I have really been enjoying the gardens. My computer was down for sometime and I still don't have a lot of my pictures downloaded. I'll see what I can find hopefully I will have something to post. I'll start with a few of my spring bulbs and flowers. I transplanted some VaBlueBells from the local area hopefully they will be back next spring. Here they are last spring. It's not a good clear pic but you can see how nice they look with the hosta.

Sharon, Virginia Bluebells, Mertensia virginica is a perennial, not a blulb. They will need shade in your area, and since they are ephemeral plants put them close to something else to take up the gap.

If Viola Valley is selling them for less than a dollar that is very reasonable, but Viola Valley doesn't have the best rating on Garden Watchdog.

Love the bird postcard!