Lotsa Color, Lotsa Work, Lotsa Satisfaction

I forget the name of this Hydrangea variety, new to my shade garden (thank you Mary!), but it's a lot of fun to watch mature. The flowers start out a creamy greenish white, then start turning slightly pink and blue with a touch of lavender. They are supposed to eventually turn to a burgundy in the fall. Click each image to enlarge.

I've posted other photos of these Foxgloves before, but I can't help photographing them almost every day. I take 25 digital photos every day as a discipline, and these are the rockstars right now, lol. I think they're really interesting up close, and almost a perfect yin-yang for each other, white and burgundy with a touch of pink, and pink and white with a touch of burgundy. They are in two different gardens though—the smaller white one just wasn't growing at all in the sunny front perennial garden, try as I might to help it along. I finally moved it to the shade garden, next to the hydrangea above, and it almost immediately started flourishing. Mary says that she has found that Foxgloves grow where THEY want to, and I have to admit it seems they do, lol. It doesnt' really make sense that one Foxglove would thrive in the full sun, and the other one prefers partial shade, but I don't question them. I really try to listen to my flowers and do what they want.

Next to the veggie garden, outside of the fence, Mary and I have put in a cutting garden of annuals. The Larkspur are just starting to bloom, and I've since cut the blossoms off. This will help the young plants grow stronger and will also force them to grow more shoots at each pruning point, making them bushier as well. 

Another 'find' from the backyard clearing project. This is an old metal pot, which had been bent and dented through years of sitting in the old chicken coop we bulldozed last fall. The shape of it, along with the handles on the side, reminded me of some of the vintage purses I have in my collection. The bottom was corroded through in a few places, making a perfectly drained planting container. I've put in a variegated peach and white colored Impatiens, and added moss to the sides to help keep the moisture in the soil. It's sitting on a few pieces of granite I found around the yard, next to a covered swing seat/glider thing.

Hit the Jump for a few more garden shots.

The orange day lilies, in full sun, are going crazy right now. They are almost all over five feet tall, some reaching closer to six feet. Each blossom only lasts a day, but each stem may have as many as 10-15 buds. You can also see some white Feverfew, pink Campion, lavender Hosta and a yellow flower I only know as 'Backhouse' flowers. I'll have to figure out a real name for it soon, lol. This is the first year I've grown them, but they should get as tall as the lilies, and very bushy with many flowers by late summer. I'm hoping!

Another side of the full sun perennial garden. This side has a few more of the pink Campions, white Feverfew, orange day lilies in bloom right now. The Iris have gone by, as have the large Foxglove stalk, and the early summer Phlox. I've trimmed back the Phlox, and it's now sending up fresh bud stalks, yay! The Tiger lilies aren't out yet, and along the border are Nasturtiams, purple Salvia and a few more smaller plants still to blossom. The overall look of the garden changes almost weekly.

The veggie garden is really coming along! Several varieties of heirloom Tomatos, Basil, Parsley, 4 varieties of beans, round yellow cucumbers (!) and a section for cutting flowers including Cosmos and Zinnias. We're going to have quite the crop, extraordinary for a brand new garden with brand new vegetable gardeners. I know flowers like the back of my hand, but I've never grown anything edible. except for day lily blossoms, but I've never actually eaten one. I spotted a baby rabbit INSIDE the garden yesterday, so today Mary and I wrapped an almost invisible netting along the bottom 3 feet of the green chicken wire fencing. The damn little bunny jumped right through the chicken wire grid! I'd love to see the little creature as it tries to jump through now, and finds the netting impossible to get through. They can eat the extra beans I've planted around the outside, and they do, but they are NOT going to eat anything INSIDE the garden until we do. I've edged three sides on the outside the garden and mulched around the flowers I've planted there. I'll get to the fourth side as soon as I recover from the back-breaking first three sides!