January- Time to Paint the Garden!

This has been a time of great loss for my family.   I'm thankful for my beautiful mother's life.
Through the year we've also lost my mother in law, a sweet elderly friend and my husband's best friend.  
...I'm not going to write about it.

Because it's January!  
Time to PAINT the Garden.  

Oh! how I love to paint my garden.  (It's always much more beautiful in my dreams.)  Reality requires work.      

How to paint a garden?  Use the months of January, Feb and March and April to dream about what your window vignette should look like.  Imagine each window as a frame to a beautiful, ever changing painting.  With God as the artist, it is always a masterpiece.

Imagine paintings changing season by season, day by day.    Add in bark and evergreens for wintry days plus lots of color for spring and summer.  

Yes, my garden is still an all you can eat buffet for the many critters living nearby, deer, squirrel, fox, groundhogs, and raccoon.  Last year, we caught three groundhogs in Have-A-Hearts. Then turned them free miles away in the woods (last spring). Could the same ones return? or do we have three new Groundhogs?
My dad and mice- too funny!
...when dad caught a mouse in his Have-A-Heart, he painted their toenails with bright red fingernail polish (toes peeking through the cage below).  
Even when driven miles away, red toed mice would show up again and again in our have-a hearts.
Wonder what those mice thought?

Did I mention I haven't been taking care of my garden?   This just happened last year, despite my neglect.  Beautiful!   

My husband watered

Guess who I discovered in the shower one early morning!?

  
I saw wee bits of nature while at my parents home in West Virginia.  
It's not a stretch to see where ideas come from.  

Petunias *sigh*

I've been away all summer and came back to these perfect petunias! 

No care- how did this happen?

Dreaming of Lavendar Gardens

Brutal Winter go away, I'm dreaming of Lavender Gardens.

Andrew Lawson  Beautiful!
Lemon kniphofia spike through a line of silver foliage plants, including lavender, 
lambsear?, santolina and larger-leafed brachyglottis

Beautiful!  This garden takes my breath away.  My garden inspiration for my dry hot patch of weeds behind my art studio.  Looking forward to big laughs ahead!
Will use multi-lavendars, with lambs ear. not sure what the lambsear-esque plant is. Don't see santolina? help?

Lavender Phenomenal YES!

Lavandula angustifolia Violet Intrigue- YES!

L.x intermedia 'Silver Edge'
love this!  may use rather than lambs ear.

Lavandula x intermedia Grosso
LOVE!

Lavandula x intermedia Phenomenal™
LOVE!!

Lavendar- care- Take care to not cut into old brown wood.  Lavendar will not produce new shoots from the old wood. Shear to a few green leaves above brown stems.  Keep your lavendar hedge full and as level as possible.

Lavender Phenomenal is a new and improved Lavender with bright silver foliage

Notes to Self - March

to plant from seed this year...


grasses  

1.
Blue Fescue
deer res.
18 inches tall 

From White flower farms inspirations   www.whiteflowerfarm.com

Not all perennials are good candidates for starting from seed. Some need to be propagated vegetatively- by division or cuttings- in order to produce cultivars or cultivated varieties that will be identical to the parent plant. But seeds of the flowers listed below are gardener-friendly. They are easy-to-grow choices that reward a little bit of effort with a lot of garden color.
Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia) — From summer to frost, the 2-3" gold-petaled, daisy-like flowers with dark centers add easy care color to the garden. Plants grow 25" tall. Direct seed in the garden spring through midsummer.
Blanket Flower (Gaillardia aristata) —With its spectacular, 3-4" yellow and red flowers, blanket flower provides plenty of color on 25-30" plants from June to frost. Easy to grow, they can be direct seeded in the garden.
'McKana's Giant Mix' Columbine (Aquilegia) —Large, spurred blossoms in shades of white, pink, violet and blue sway gracefully above a mound of ferny foliage. May be direct-seeded May through July for flowers the following spring.
Sweet William Mixture (Dianthus) — Large clusters of small, carnation-like flowers in a mix of white, pink and red on 15" tall plants add color to a sunny spot and provide blossoms for cutting. Can be direct seeded.
'Russell Mix' Lupine (Lupinus) — The tall spikes of flowers in this fancy mix bloom in pinks, blues and reds in June and July. Adaptable and easy to grow, the seeds of these 3' tall plants can be sown directly in the garden.
Purple Coneflower (Echinacea) —Blooming from midsummer until frost, this easy to grow perennial bears large, rose-pink, daisy-like flowers. Plants are heat and drought tolerant and have few insect or disease problems. Easy to direct sow.
Shasta Daisy (Leucanthemum x superbum) — Perfect for a sunny spot, these 18-20" tall plants are covered with white daisies with yellow centers in summer. Tolerant of tough growing conditions, their foliage is almost evergreen, especially in warmer areas. Can

Dreaming of a garden...

I love this garden and can't take my eyes off of it.  It isn't my garden, but one I found years ago and kept a photo for research  ( apologies to the owner of this garden)

inspirational  - from Missouri Gardens

Guesses?
Front  
Purple phlox and 
maiden grass 
or lily in the front

spires to the left are purple Salvia or  Purple Sage, or Veronica
low yellowgreen plant?  
lambs ear  
coreopsis
yellow sun- coreposis? 
feathery leaves


around the first curve, 
catmint or lavendar?  --------yellow low color? sun- coreposis? feathery leaves
low lambsear
dianthis
something feathery and bluegreen- 
I have this but the name excapes me...
second layer is
bigger droopy leaves, middle row - a peony
red behind - barberry
maybe catmint?
yellow gold feathery med height
orange lily
larger mass of feathery yellow greens
blackeyed susan
feathery type grass?
russian sage behind
behind is some yarrow (yellows)
not sure what is next hidden?
tall something (butterfly bush next to fountain grass)
something blooming med in front
something low and green in front
five things not sure of?


silver blue 2 to 3 feet tall plant not sure of?


rudbekia (husband is very allergic- but I love)
blue green feathery not sure of med height
Annebelle hydrangia
iris in front of




lambs ear
salvia
Mums
grass
diantis or
butterfly bush
butterfly weed

Physostegia virginiana 'Pink Manners' 

white yarrow
veronica
cosmos

juniper
dusty miller
Coreopsis Sienna Sunset
maiden grass

Lady's Mantle  Cranesbill

Campanula persicifolia Grandiflora Alba

Coreopsis Sienna Sunset

When to Prune

Knockout Rose - prune in early spring, thin out branches, feed

Forsythia- prune right after blooming, trim way back

Spirea-  prune after blooming, trim and shape

Hydrangia- depends upon type - some bloom on old wood, some on new wood

Russian sage -  classified as a woody sub-shrub. Many people prune them annually to keep short, like perennial flowers.  Some people trim in early spring to keep winter interest

Monkey Grass- ok to trim in fall or spring

Hosta- divide and separate in spring or fall

Boxwood- anytime- likes fertilizer in the spring - also mulch

Rhododendron and Azalea - prune after bloom,  feed in spring

Spreading Yew (Taxus repandens) is low growing with attractive arching branches, and won't grow out of bounds like other yews.   selective pruning 

http://www.thegardencontinuum.com/blog/bid/38277/Landscape-Field-Videos-How-to-Prune-a-Yew

Selective pruning- yes

Sheared- no

 get rid of Virginia Creeper

http://landscaping.about.com/od/vineplants1/p/virginiacreeper.htm

cut the vine's trunk (near ground level), then apply the strongest concentrate of glyphosate (Roundup) you can buy to the fresh wound. An organic method of killing Virginia creeper is to dig it out, but this is easier said than done, as the plant spreads via rhizomes.

Lambs ear, cat mint- silvery prune all the time

Peony-  After first frost, cut stems back to two inches above soil line. The first winter, apply a 4- to 6-inch layer of  mulch, prevent roots from being heaved out of the ground by alternate freezing and thawing. Once your peonies are established, annual winter mulching is not necessary. Remove protective mulch in the spring.

Maiden grass- ornamental grasses with narrow, graceful leaves that move gently in breezes in the garden. It is a warm-season, clump-forming grass Maiden grass has narrow leaves about 1/4 inch wide with an arching clump 48 to 60 inches tall.  Prefers a full-sun exposure in a moist, fertile garden loam. It needs to be divided every third/ fourth year to keep the center of the clump from dying.

 

Lavenders are usually planted in large clumps of one variety, where their soft shade and cool, subtle foliage provide quiet dignity through the summer. In one of our trials, we discovered that a perfectly delightful effect can be had by combining several varieties whose disparate heights, colors, and forms flow together to produce a garden that is interesting and informal, but very definitely Lavender. Of course, there is no 'right' way to combine them. Two plants each of 3 hardy varieties: Lavandula angustifolia, L. x intermedia 'Grosso', and L. x i. 'Provence'. Six plants total. They will cover about 20 sq. ft. Pot-grown. Exclusive.

http://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/83282-product.html

Height: 2-3'

Fragrance: Yes

Deer Resistant: Yes

Exposure: Full Sun

Blooms In: June-July

Spacing: 18-24"             prune after blooming . do not prune woody stems.

do not prune in winter . mistake to separate older lavenders.

Notes to Self - 3

Last year was a challenging year.

Tasha Tudor inspiration-
Love this idea!
Tasha Tudor plants three of the same plant in three different spots, then she moves the ones that are not flourishing to the area where the one plant is thriving.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the back patio- I hate the color of my walls
puzzle- how to draw eye away from nasty color?

****Not my photos****  small pieces of online photos

Watched  Garden Smart this AM on Public Television-
some notes from the show
layers
full sun  (size and light) balance
tall junipers  (spiral)  to anchor and add height-
boxwood- dark greens- winter gem
spirea  - double play  - bright chartruse

barberis (bright aurea golden barberry)

weigelia- wine and roses- nice plant with lots of blooms

red barberry (I don't like the reds?what to substitute here? - but it helps make the yellows pop)

add in annuals for color in the front  -
wave petunia - purples and reds
bright reds

Make sure the soil is good
buy 8 to 10 annuals to add bright color each year

till clay to loosen add organnic choice top
till into clay add mulch
drip irrigation system
time release fertilizer 4- 12 months release
water and temperature

Add finishing touches like a fountain.
to the entryway
adds a nice sound.

container gardens to fit space add colors to go with house
how to hide an ugly wall?  Houzz
I LOVE this idea

http://www.houzz.com/vertical-plant-wall