The Garden In May, Part II

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Welcome to the backyard, the most challenging part of the garden.  It is big, it is shady as well as very sunny in parts, and it is the playpen of Madison, our Westie, and Lily the lab.    It is a joint effort between my daughter and me and we argue consult constantly on what goes in and what comes out.   We have learned to compromise and to pick our battles.  Some of them carry over from one year to the next, but we are still friends...until the next battle.

The grass is the biggest headache in the back.  We have drainage problems due to a sloping yard that guides the water down to the creek on the other side of the fence when we have big storms.  We can only plant fescue in the Fall,  so this year we will have to live with big empty patches.  It irritates me to no end but life is not perfect.  Neither is our yard.

The hostas are the stars of the year.  They are on steroids! Keep in mind this is only the second week in May.

The New Dawn rose by the bird house.  No tenants this year.  Coco, has done a good job of keeping new parents away.

Confederate jasmine planted three years ago.

The peonies have also had a good year.

A closer look of the birdhouse.

This year's project is the path to the fence which gets very muddy when it rains. Those are flats of sedum I purchased at Lowe's.  We'll see how they do.  I've left the right side open so we can have access to the other side of the fence.

Madame Mere's private garden.

The climbing Japanese hydrangea with Mountain Laurel in back is by the gate that separates the front and back garden.  It leads to MM's apartment from the outside.

And here's Coco, whose help in patrolling the yard and keeping it free of bunnies is indispensable in the preservation of this garden, particularly the hostas.  We are lucky to have a fence and a Westie to keep the deer away.

Next up, my domain...the front yard.

A Tour Of The Garden In May, Part I

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All my hard work of past years has finally been rewarded this Spring.  Don't get me wrong, a beautiful garden is a work in process and takes years to develop.  It is not a one time thing as I've discovered, but years of trial and error, hard work and learning from your mistakes.  You can get a landscaper to come in and do it all for you, but my daughter and I love to garden and we wanted our garden, like the inside of our house, to have character and to be "us".

This year, the peonies take center stage.  The profusion and the colors are staggering.  I don't even cut them anymore.  I don't have enough vases in the house and the place already looks like a funeral home!

The photo above was taken AFTER I had already placed some in containers for arranging.

 The first to come out, the biggest and, always the most reliable, is the Sarah Bernhardt peony.  No wonder it has won so many prizes.

I have already cut over 20 of these for both my living room and Madame Mere's

This other is Duchesse the Nemours.  There are two plants, one white with a yellow center and the other a blush pink, also with a yellow center.

Here's the light pink in a vase

There's also Festiva Maxima in white and a dark red which did not do as well and was not as profuse as the others.

The tea roses have also been fantastic, so far.  I have been on top of them treating them for pests which come in every size and color here in Georgia. Let's see who wins this battle.  I would put my money on the bugs, they always win.   I usually give up and swear I will never have another rose in my garden again...until next year.  I have finally compromised and grow only three bushes in front of MM's window.  She keeps guard.  Everyday.  Like a hawk!

The photo above was taken in the afternoon after a brief rain shower.  They never look this good as we get into the hot summer.  We will see how well we do this year.

The photo on top is the New Dawn rose, a prolific climber, now in its third season.

Stay tuned for the rest of the garden...

All photos have been taken by and are the property of Lindaraxa.  

A Rose By Any Other Name

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"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" is a commonly quoted part of a dialogue in William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet, in which Juliet argues that the names of things do not matter, only what things "are".

In Act II, Scene 2 of the play, the line is said by Juliet in reference to Romeo's house, Montague which would imply that his name means nothing and they should be together.

Juliet:

O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.

Romeo:

[Aside] Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?

Juliet:

'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.

The roses in this post are from one of my David Austin roses, "Heritage."  Rose is also the middle name of my daughter, Christina Rose, and my granddaughter, Taylor Rose.  Both are named after my mother in law, Rose, a great baker and gardener and a wonderful grandmother.  It is also the middle name of Princess Margaret Rose, Queen Elizabeth's sister.  I love the name and I think it makes for a beautiful middle name, when appropriate,  don't you?  Tell me, is there a favorite middle name in your family?

And although you can't see it because she wouldn't stay still, that is Coco Rose in her new rose collar. 

All photos Lindaraxa

Lindaraxa's Garden In May

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I can't keep up with everything that is blooming in the garden this month. I am like a kid in a candy store!  I am sure the neighbors must think this is the first house I have ever lived in my life.   Every day something new comes out and I am out there morning, noon and night marveling at it and taking pictures.   More often than not, it is something I have never seen before. 

As a city girl for many years and a commuter business woman/mother of two for the rest, I haven't done any gardening since I left Connecticut in 1995.  Then I had what everyone has up North:  lilacs, azaleas, rhododendrons, pachysandra, a pear tree here, an apple one there:  maybe forsythia, oh yes!  and peonies and many ,many roses, always my favorite.   Except for the latter, beautiful but a real pain in the neck, all those other plants sort of took care of themselves.  A little fertilizer and pruning in the Spring and Fall and, voila! flowers in the Spring.

This is different, though.  The previous owners obviously were serious gardeners,  for the amount of perennials in both the front and back gardens is non stop...week, after week.  I have a feeling it stops in about a month when the heat and the humidity become so unbearable that everything wilts, including me.  The house had been empty for a long time and I am sure most of the plants have not been pruned or fertilized in awhile.  As bushes finish blooming I fertilize and trim a little.  Most of the pruning will be done in the Fall, hopefully by someone who knows what they are doing! 

In the meantime, take a look...I am blessed!

I have no idea what this is.  I think it came from a bulb and it just started blooming this week.

This is gorgeous!  and separates our house from the neighbor's.  No idea or how long it blooms.

Along the front of the house next to the path that leads to the front door I have New Guinea impatients in pots and on the ground...just in case.

This little fellow was having a banquet under my neighbor's oak tree until he saw me coming.  See ya!

In the front garden by the street...no idea.

Day lilies...got one! (my daughter told me) These are under the cherry trees, tons of them, together with some beautiful evergreens and perennials yet to bloom.

Lantana! (my neighbor told me) by the side of the house.

The gardenias here have more blooms than any others I have seen.  Welcome to the South.  Eat your heart out Northeners!

More gardenias in the back

No words are necessary....

These we planted... just a few roses to see how they do.

I know what this is but I am having temporary amnesia

On the right of the path, we have planted oregano, two kinds of thyme, lavender and rosemary.  The rest of the herbs are in pots on the deck.

My daughter's attempt at a wild flower garden...work in process.

My daughter came home one day last year with this birdhouse.  Someone was selling them from the back of their trunk at the Walmart parking lot. It has now found a real home although, to date, no tenants.  The azaleas are looking much healthier now that they have been fertilized.

Look at the details, the dog, cat, shoes and the work on the fireplace.

At long last, the hydrangeas.  I hate blue flowers but have to admit they are gorgeous.

Not the intense blue we had by the lake but still....

See? we have cleared the back.  Well, my daughter has.  She did so much work for the last month!

The king of the weeds, or perhaps a sunflower! BTW, those weed looking things in back are supposedly wild flowers, or so I hope.  There are dahlias too somewhere.

These guys came out last week on the side of the house and they almost gave me a heart attack.  I was weeding and pruning and picking up debris after a rainstorm when out of the corner of my eye.....this huge red flower!

I would love to hear from you and perhaps get a pointer or two on some of these blooms.  I intend to do a lot of reading about perennials and by next Spring I promise you I will be rattling off their names like a real pro!

The sous chef wouldn't let me sign off without showing you her grass! It's come a long way and I am so, so proud, although I have to admit we have a great service that got rid of the weeds and fertilized.  Next, aeration!...another work in process.

On a later note....look who just got busted!

All photos Lindaraxa