Surprise Finds

The plants I'm about to show here were not in the original plan of my garden but when I saw them I had to have them. In 2011 my family and I had Christmas in Florida and I saw these gorgeous plants that I thought I could never grow in our area because of our hardiness zone. I researched them and saw some pictures online. To my amazement, I saw some at Lowes Garden Center and could not resist I will caption them.

First up is the oleander bush. Very airy evergreen bush with hot pink flowers (also comes in other flowers as well).

Oleander

Berries, Berries, Berries, Holly Berries :-)

         I love the sight of berries on any holly, especially during and after a dust of snowflakes; they standout so beautifully. Also, holllies scream holidays! Since I moved my trees around, I had a large hole in my front yard that needed to be filled. I had set my heart on a holly because of the deciduous plants in the area where I removed my tree from. I was looking for an anchor for the area that would ground all the other flowers and also act as a sturdy backdrop to all the plants. 

        Today I finally bought one. I immediately asked my hubby to plant in the ground because of how late it is in the season. It's already made a difference in the way the area looks. I hope to dress it up in Christmas lights in the next few years :-)!

        I chose Nelli R. Stevens holly because of it's dark green color and fullness. Even though it does not get bright red berries, which I preferred, I could not go with the othe hollies as they either have too many spikes or don't look full.



       I have a total of four hollies; three of them are in the backyard and I think that this is enough. Hollies do get big (15x10) so  I have to be careful they don't take over my yard. In my previous house I had one and it grew so beautifully so I had to have one in this house. I am looking forward to the next five years when they are almost fully grown.



My current Nelli R. Stevens holly in the backyard



This is the Nelli R Stevens I bought.

Fall 2012 is here!!!

For more pictures view my fall garden slideshow:)

Here is my red maple in the front yard. This red maple never 
disappoints especially with sun shining on it.

Corral Bark Japanese Maple

Well,  the election is over and I hope you did exercise your right to vote! I am a political junkie so I was glued to the TV hoping not to miss a second of it. But once the election was over I had no excuse to be inside so I decided it was time to get started with my fall schedule. I must say I am enjoying Fall as ever and I am trying to do as much as I can before it gets cold. 

Everywhere I look I see beautiful oranges, reds, yellows, fallen leaves and fall blooms. I love this season the most not only because of the vibrant colors but for it's very mild weather as well as I enjoy walks as well. 

This weekend was awesome with temperatures in the 70s. I took advantage of it by taking walks and doing some work in the garden. I actually did more than I intended because the weather is so encouraging. My garden work included moving around some plants around and snapping some photos. 

The whole move was started by the need to move my dynamite crape myrtle from an area of the yard that gets very wet during spring and never gets completely dry in the summer. I ended up moving a whole lot of plants.  

Below is my corral bark Japanese maple. I love this tree for it's color but not it's form. It was in my front yard and I just moved it to the back of the house where I can enjoy it from inside. Right now it's got a gorgeous bright reddish/orange-ish color. Soon it will turn to a bright yellow to end the season before it leaves fall off completely. 

In fact my corral bark is not the only tree I've moved around. I've also moved three other trees and they include my blood-good Japanese maple, my Dynamite crape myrtle, kousa dogwood and my lace Japanese maple.

I've  also had tons of plants that I've moved around ranging from perennials to bushes. I still got some planting to do before this is all over. I am waiting for the end of season sale.

 I did not realize how beautiful this blueberry bush get when I first bought. I bought it only for the blueberries and instead this year at least I did not get any because I was away during blueberry season but I enjoying the changing colors starting with the burnt orange of the end of summer to the bright red you see in the picture above

Corral Bark Japanese Maple

Garden Mums

I wish I could put these in the ground this week but I am still waiting on Greenscapes to come and clean up the grass that is choking my yard. They have finally promised.

Wildthing Autumn Sage

Azalea Pink Ruffles

Azalea Pink Ruffles

Lace Japanese Maple

I love Wild Autumn Sage

This plant has given so much life to my garden and it's so easy to take care of. I am sold on it. It has been blooming since beginning of summer and it's still going. When I first planted them I was not sure how well they were going to do and now I can't imagine my landscape without them.

Another sage that is doing well in my garden is this pineapple sage. it is now growing in my planter because I had bought it as a herb and since it's flowering so beautifully I've decided to plant it in the ground. It attracts a lot of butterflies.

Can you see the yellow butterfly in the sage? There was quite a few this year!

Summer Has Come And Gone!

What a summer it was! Growth everywhere and I am very happy with all the blooms in my yard, not a boring moment at any point. Summer started with the peonies and ending with a great showing by my wild sage, and they are still blooming as I type this. 

The Giddy Garden Gnome: Tidying Up

The Giddy Garden Gnome: Tidying Up: Yesterday was a yard clean up day. We've had rain for most of the week and I was unable to get out to mow what little lawn we have so it wa...

My Garden Album

Spring Is In The Air - 2012

Spring has sprung in my garden. Judging by how much my knockouts are blooming I can say this is turning out to be a very beautiful and busy season.

Spring 2012 did not start very well though because of a very early spring rainfall and unseasonably warm winters. My house sits at the bottom of a sloped street and water coming down from up the street had turned my yard into a soggy-plant-killing yard. Many of my plants died because of this!

But on a bright note, we decided to install a temporary fix which so far has proven to work. As you can see shrubs and flowers that survived the monsoons of early spring are doing very well. I have added a spring 2012 page for your enjoyment, be sure to check it out! Enjoy!

Spring - A Time Of Renewal!

I walked around my garden this morning and I was pleasantly surprised to see so much new life! My garden is bursting at the seams with either new growth or blooms! Everywhere I looked there was either a bud, new leaf or a flower. See if you can ignore the leaves that are still falling and enjoy new growth :)!

Asiatic Lilies

Hostas

Hostas

English Boxwood

 I loved the color of the English boxwood, it is bright and crisp and looks edible.

Gerbera Drakensberg Pink

Corral Bark Japanese Maple

 What a pleasant surprise when I realized that Corral Bark Japanese Maple actually flowers!

Crape Myrtle New Leaves 

Azaleas spell spring!

My Hostas 

First Semester Of My Garden

The first semester of my garden was off to a great start. I have to give my garden a passing grade. My garden was finished just before the fall last year. I've watched everything blossom from camellias to loropetalums. I've updated my winter and fall pages to reflect some of the changes I've witnessed. I've also done some spring shopping to fill some of the gaps that are still wide. I saw my peach tree produce some beautiful flowers and purple leaf plum was full of flowers signaling the end of winter. Please take a look at the Fall Garden and my Winter Garden for latest pictures. I've also added new page for some of my newest plants.

Winter was unseasonably warm this year so, what I see may not be normal but we will see! Please enjoy and share!