Sunday, March 23, 2008

The Weekend Edition

Here's a view I'm very pleased with, although the photo doesn't quite capture the thing that's causing me to smile. After the weird rose dieback issues I was having last month, all of the roses have put on huge flushes of new growth. From the back deck, the red new growth looks like masses of burgundy flowers. In fact, my roommate admitted that she had been admiring the"flowers" as she ate breakfast on the deck. So now I'm very relieved that all seems to be well in rose-land:






















As I was posting my old pictures to my brand-spankin'-new archives, I noticed that almost none of my pictures had been taken from the most common perspectives around here-- the comfy chairs on the back deck. (And do me a favor and pretend you don't see a garden hose, please...I was feeling lazy.)































Verbena and succulents. I like the light:

















And to answer my burning question of whether the blooms of Chinese Witch Hazel would match the redbud blooms...not so much. But I'm crossing my fingers that next year the Double Knockout Rose in that corner starts blooming before the Witch Hazel is done-- I bet those two would look good together! I guess we'll wait and see:






















Green, white, and blue under the mesquite:
















A question from Diana about the pink verbena prompted me to try to find the tag that came with it to verify its identity. I took one look at this pile and, er, gave up. One of these days I'm going to figure out how to be more organized in the garden, or at least wash the mud off these tags so I can handle them inside the house. Maybe I'll tape them all onto looseleaf and stick them in a binder.

What do you do to keep track of what you buy and plant?

8 comments:

ron st.amant said...

Well things look spectacular! and so much better than what OUR backyard looks like at the moment with 3 feet of snow and dog poop...oy when the snow melts the first spring poop patrol is a full days work :(

Lee17 said...

Hahaha! - I LOVE the pile of tags you have there! How do I keep mine organized? EXACTLY like yours - in a big messy pile in an old plastic pot in the garage ;)

Anonymous said...

Your garden looks so nice. I bet it is pleasant to sit on the deck eating breakfast and admiring everything.

I don't keep my plant tags, but I do write the botanical name and expected size in a notebook along with a quick note about where I planted it. If I'm smart I blog about it, which helps me remember.

Diana said...

I don't - that's why I'm going to keep coming back to your blog to read your comments!!! No - I JUST started to keep a notebook - I'm just going to jot down what I bought and where it went - roughly. We'll see how long I can keep that up or whether or not it's actually useful. Cross your fingers. Your back patio view is lovely, as are the collections of pots scattered about.

Jenn said...

I think your verbena is a lantana. The leaves don't look right for verbena, and lantana is a reliable bloomer.

I have about the same storage for plant tags that you do. I do manage to get them into a recycled ziplock bag, which tidies them quite a bit.

In my last garden, I had photo albums - you can find ones with a closed bottom to the sleeve and these are great for slipping in the plant tags, although I did need to snip the angle off the bottom for fit - this garden, however, is all in pots (we are renting) and I haven't gotten that organized.

There. How's that for sentence structure? yeesh.

Lori said...

Ron - Thanks! I don't miss the dreary northern winters, that's for sure. And your yard was quite pretty last summer, and with Shell around, I'm sure she'll work miracles this summer, too. :)

Lee - Great slackers slack alike? ;)

Pam - Thanks! I love hanging out on the back deck from November through April, but it does get too hot in the summer since it's closed on three sides. But I should have a great view from the front porch after the next few months, since landscaping the front yard is my next project. Lots of sun for roses! And I confess that when I forget plant names, I tend to wander around your or MSS's blogs to see if I can find whatever plant I've forgotten the name of. ;)

Diana - Hee! I do that too. We're so sneaky.

Jenn - I would have thought lantana too, except all of my lantana dies back to the ground in the winter and this is evergreen. Ah, well, whatever it is, the butterflies still love it. Also, I need to try this photo album idea of yours. It sounds like something that even a slacker like me could keep up with. And I imagine that you could stick index cards in with the plant tags for any extra notes you wanted to make. Thanks for the idea!

ron st.amant said...

Yeah, but we sold that house in November *cries*...I don't really miss that house, except that I'll miss the big yard and beautiful gardens...I won't miss MOWING that big yard mind you, but I will miss watching Gracie eat raspberries off the bush, and the dogs chasing moles...*sigh* our yard is dinky now, but I'm sure Shell will make what he have look pretty.

hanako! said...

What a lovely scene to view from your porch! I look out to our yard and see fenugreek infiltrating the lawn from the neighbor's garden, weeds, and half-dead Bermuda grass. Oh, and a large dirt mound, but you have to peek around the corner to see that one. I also love the big pile o' tags-- I made a concerted effort to label and baggie all of my seed packages because otherwise... yeah.

I bet you get lots of butterflies in your yard. That has to be super rewarding :D