It’s been a bit dry out there and the garden is starting to show it. But some of the summer flowers seem to be doing just fine, despite the dry air and little rain. The garden beds in the middle of the backyard seem to suffer the most. I’m beginning to consider removing those beds entirely and replace them with a suana.
It’s spring-time! The tulips are popping up and I’m quite excited. I planted over one-hundred tulip bulbs last fall and was quite eager for them to pop up and bring a splash of color to our springtime garden. We also added a patio to our front-yard and I created a new garden around it. It is mostly filled with sun-loving perennials.
We had quite the bounty this year. The new tomato trellis on the front yard worked phenomenally. Despite the drought that Minnesota was experiencing, my garden was thriving. I think it helped that the new garden is on the eastern side of the house. So, it receives excellent morning and midday light, but then is shadowed a bit for the late evening heat. This likely kept the soil nice and moist. Conversely, the backyard garden became very desert-like during the drought. I tried to avoid watering both gardens, hoping that the natural resilience of my design would work as expected. And to that point, the native flower-garden portion of the back yard was fine during the drought, it was only the annual vegetables that seemed to suffer with out water from their ambivalent caretaker.
The solstice has come and summer begins in the garden. I love watching the transition from the early Spring plants and flowers, with their vibrant greens and fresh new growth, over to the flowers and colors of Summer, brighter colors and yellow-green foliage.
Summer also brings the fruits and vegetables!
Window hostas
An outdoor display
Virginia creeper
Front-side garden
Blueberries!
Shasta daisies!
Crown vetch and creeping bellflower
Peony bloom has ended.
Shady fern
The Secret Garden
Climbing Rose
Shady side ivy
Willamette hops
Blue Moon Wisteria
Bleeding hearts on their way out.
Shady thinking spot
Mushroom logs
A bounty of kitchen herbs.
Poppies and strawberries
Poppy!
Berry bushes thrive!
This bed needs some work. The asparagus has not been doing well.
The garden is in the midst of the Spring time bloom.
The acidic garden has all of its plants in place. We added a back row of acid-loving azaleas and hydrangeas. Then a row of blueberries, followed by a row of perennial flowers.