Spectral Elegance first scape


We had to place leaves around these plants earlier to give them
some protection from freeze. It worked. Think I will leave it there.

"Also, know that there is a lot of ugly here. We don't tend to everything."

HA HA! Heck, we don't wanna see that now do we! And who would take pics of it anyway? LOL!

(thinking of the neighbor's yellow truck in the background of pics one year, and now a another junker - thank goodness it is black and disappears into the foliage this year)

Just took some more pics this morning - will share in the morning. I am in and out today. Gorgeous day here.

I just put potted forget me nots on the front wall for sale. Do it every year. They are 2 weeks early and in bloom already. POtted 2 wks ago. Honor system. Sell about $100 worth every year. Helps pay my helper!

Yeah, that's funny, but I am talking serious ugly. Untended areas near the woods are
weed havens as are some other spots. They do get weed eated occasionally.

I am in and out today too. Wow, congrats on selling your forget me nots. Honor
system? How does that work? I think I need your helper.

The photo below is an experiment. Most of the color in the garden
comes from spring plants. Then, it becomes mostly green. So, to
incorporate plants that bloom during the summer, other than the
usual annuals, and of course daylilies, we did this.

Our crape myrtles reseeded themselves to give us plants, and DH
rooted cuttings from our old yellow privet, so we combined them to
create a border at the back of the garden area. DH is the one with
the green thumb. I'm just the plant plunker decider person.

So, yellow privet hedge with crape myrtles every so feet. We may
have some adjusting to do with how close they are, or it may not
work out at all.

It looks great.

Newyorkrita said:It looks great.

Tyler rose growers have small untended kiosks lining the state highway into town. Bundles of dozen roses at a set price (used to be $2 per doz) and a metal can with a slotted lid. You stop, pick out which and how many, then leave the money in the can. One form of the honor system, anyway.

I wish we could do something like your Honor System. I don't see it working in our area of the world. We have too many crack heads and just plain stinking thieves! They will steal anything they can sell for aa $1.

I've been potting up many extras of plants and baby trees this week. I plan on having a combo plant/purse/daylily sale in May. I think my daylilies will be blooming by then. I hope to have it the week of the 10th of May. For two years, 2010&11 I collected purses from thrift store, ebay, yardsales and most anywhere i could find a great purse cheap. I probably have over a hundred stored in tubs. I think they will sell even though they are used they are in excellant condition. Some are actually unsed.

Shirlee, I like, really like, the hedges and crepe myrtles. It will be so pretty when the CMs bloom.

The Honor System simply blew me away reading about it.

Debra, just as Mona said, that would not work here either. One person would take all
the roses, and then go sell them somewhere else. This has gotten worse during the
recession.

Mona, the crape myrtles turned completely brown from the freeze. They were the worst
plants affected. They are putting out tiny new buds, a few so far, and since they bloom
on new growth, maybe we will see bloom. Don't know though. Haven't had this
happen before. They leafed out way too early. They are brown in that picture above.

Here's a picture of the CM parents that gave us the seedlings.


I hope your sale goes well. Let us know how you do with that.

Another photo from the back side of the Crape Myrtle parents.
There's a purple in there too, so we don't know what color
the babies are until they bloom.

Guess I am lucky to be living where I do!

I put stuff out on the wall honor system all summer and fall. Sometimes freebies, sometimes up to $25 daylily clumps. I know that locals get frustrated when I am not open, and I am not an open nursery, so I do this to help those driving home on the way from work, or those that just see my design sign and don't exactly know what is going on (always plants in the driveway to use for estates)

I have had a few thefts and it ps me off that someone would steal plants. Money is safe as it goes INSIDE the mail slot at the door.

Last week I had lily of the valley out there, in the fall, lots of free gorgeous summer phlox plants. Always have extras of fulva and kwanso free.

Shirlee,

I'm simply stunned at how beautiful your gardens are. I have enjoyed so much enlarging the pictures and pretending to take a walk through your gardens. I love the yellow shrubs with the crepe myrtles. I have a lot of crepe myrtles. I love it when they bloom during the summer when not much else is blooming. You have very nice seedling beds. Please post often, I will be watching, even if I don't comment.

Dot in Texas

I really really like the look of crape myrtles, both blossoms and foliage. And I really really REALLY hate the suckering. If you dig one up and don't get every last piece of root, it will come back until the end of time! Still have pieces coming up under my fence roses where the contractor didn't dig deep enough or wide enough to get an old stringy clump out. Two old skinny ones by the back porch keep throwing up shoots from the base that have to be cut off every year. At some point, the plan is to remove and replace, but, for right now, the two screen my porch from view of the back neighbors in most months. If 'they' ever come up with a variety that doesn't do this, I'd have bright red ones lining the whole house perimeter!

I guess I'm just lucky or for me unlucky. My crepes haven't suckered so for. I've got to move one because it was planted before I planted my Forest Pansy redbud and the FPRb has overgrown the crepe. So, I'll see if it suckers after I move it. If it does, I'll transplant that to another area and hope it continues. Of course, I won't have anything ese planted in the old spot so it can sucker all it wants for me.

Your crepes are beautiful Shirlee, really beautiful!!! I love that near red color they are. The lighter pink one that appears to be growing up and out like a smaller shrub, do you know what variety it is. I'd like one like it in my garden. It doesn't appear like it would get 15ft tall like mine do. I do not cut the tops out of my crepe myrtles like most do around here. We call it the crepe myrtle flat top when landscapers and owners alike cut the tops totally out ever winter so the crepes will stay the same height. It's one of those things in our area where people will get angry over which way is correct. I find it funny!!!

Thanks Dot, glad you enjoyed the virtual walk through.
Yes, the colors of Crape Myrtle are a welcome sight from all
the summer green.

Debra, we have a few that sucker a lot. I assumed they wanted to be
shrubs, not trees. They won the battle. It surprised me that they
produced seedlings.

Same with some flowering cherries. Got
seedlings from them as well, and a couple of those seedlings are
weeping types. One bloomed this year, the blossoms are a bit
smaller than the parent tree, but nice enough.

Mona, I don't know the names of any of these. Bought them at one
of the box stores, and the tag said Crape Myrtle, pink, red, or whatever.

All of these grow very tall, whether they are shrub or tree form. I personally
like to see the trunks as I think they are quite attractive with the peeling bark.
Some of the shrubs respond well with trimming or suckering, and others not so much.
I haven't seen any around that have been cut with flat tops.

The people three houses down just flat-topped theirs. Makes them look really weird. I much prefer them to be left natural and only minimally trimmed

Once mine get big enough, I usually cut out all but 3 -5 main trunks and keep them trimmed of any side growth and that's it. I love my crepe myrtles. In fact, I love most shrubs. They are so easy.

The rhododendrons are beginning to bloom.

A red one, don't know the name.


Photo from a prior year. These are over 20 feet tall.
A bit of the red one pictured above shows in this photo behind
the purple ones.


Clematis Belle of Woking looking somewhat better.


Another view of clematis. Mulch soon to be added to beds.


Main center bed.


Predicted temps to be in lower 30s for next three nights.
Rats, here we go again.