New and Unread Tree-Mails
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Name: Ginny G Pella, Iowa (Zone 5a) Plant Addict!!              Legalily Aug 8, 2016 6:02 PM CST |
In March of 2011 we moved from the North side of town (slightly less than an acre yard was fully landscaped with border gardens and I was on the local garden tour twice) to the South side of town in the country with 12 acres. The new yard consisted of a few daylilies along the drive and front walkway (most the color of Stella de Oro at different heights), a Little Miss Kim Lilac, and the entry had 2 PJM Rhododendrons, 2 Panicle Hydrangeas, 2 Palace Purple Coral Bells, 2 Boxwoods, and 2 blue hostas. The back had 3 overgrown ugly rose bushes and a small deck in the hot sun with no way out except through the house. I intentionally left all of the Stellas at the old house since I was tired of those and like yellows better. Needless to say I was not the happiest of campers when I saw the yard. Before we sold the old house I proceeded to split and pot over 300 perennials (mostly daylilies) and moved them to the driveway of the new home (kept them watered all summer - hottest summer in years!!!!) to put in "holding gardens" until I could put them in their permanent homes. The raccoons destroyed some but most of them made it! I am still working on the permanent homes part!!!!! I only moved 1 tree (Japanese Maple) since it wasn't doing well at the old house anyway! I am going to post my pictures in "gardens" and hopefully add to it each day. I have early pictures of most areas and then what it looks like this year. Hope you enjoy them - my family and some friends roll their eyes when I share   This garden is what I call my Woodland Garden. It is the first to bloom in Springtime and reminds me of tromping in the timber. I have Virginia Bluebells, Sweet Woodruff, Bleeding Hearts, Yellow Trillium (I also have white but no picture), May Apples, Jack in the Pulpit, Wild Ginger, Pulmonaria, etc. etc.  I had a Dutchman's Breeches but didn't bring it along because they don't transplant well  New owners didn't even know what it was! Should have brought it anyway       One of the first transformations was the front entry (North side of house). It has definitely evolved! I got rid of the blue hosta (gave them away), added another PJM Rhody and Palace Purple Coral Bell to make them odd numbers, and since the hydrangeas and boxwoods were split as one and one I let them stay. Then I proceeded to plant in the plum and yellow green colors. These are what I call the East side (to the left of the front door):         And the last one for today is the West Entry (North West side so gets more sun). This is the only garden that was professionally designed and the retaining wall was built, but I planted it and "added" to it. This year I added Going Bananas daylilies across the front for my yellows but no pics yet! This garden was started in 2014:       I'll try to add some more gardens tomorrow if that's ok and you promise not to roll your eyes  Be a person that makes others feel special. |
Name: Jeanie Minnesota (Zone 4a) Replace your lawn with a garden!           foraygardengirl Aug 8, 2016 6:40 PM CST |
| You are doing wonderful work there, Ginny. Beautiful colors and shapes. I would love to see more! And I want one of those "pull weeds" signs :+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+: Old gardeners never die. They are just pruned and repotted. |
Name: Char Vermont (Zone 4b)           Char Aug 8, 2016 6:55 PM CST |
Me too! Absolutely beautiful Ginny.  |
Name: Ginny G Pella, Iowa (Zone 5a) Plant Addict!! Legalily Aug 8, 2016 7:37 PM CST |
foraygardengirl said:You are doing wonderful work there, Ginny. Beautiful colors and shapes. I would love to see more! And I want one of those "pull weeds" signs  My sister gave it to me along with all of the antique garden tools with bird houses I have around. So far the sign hasn't worked Be a person that makes others feel special. |
Name: Teresa South central KY (Zone 6b) Consider the lilies of the field         bluegrassmom Aug 9, 2016 3:59 AM CST |
| Ginny, thanks for the cyber tour of your progress! I bet your other garden was a showstopper! It takes time to get a nice garden going but yours looks great! I have an old dinner bell, iron wheel, grinding wheel and other things scattered at my house too  I love vintage. Those are family heirlooms mostly. |
Name: Jeanie Minnesota (Zone 4a) Replace your lawn with a garden! foraygardengirl Aug 9, 2016 6:30 AM CST |
Legalily said: Well, you have to keep trying Only problem is that I don't see any weeds at all! :+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+: Old gardeners never die. They are just pruned and repotted. |
Name: Teresa South central KY (Zone 6b) Consider the lilies of the field bluegrassmom Aug 9, 2016 6:34 AM CST |
| I need the signage. Garden of Weeden!! Yes, she is making me feel inferior |
Name: Angie Concord, NC (zone 7)          Hemophobic Aug 9, 2016 6:51 AM CST |
| Beautiful garden, Ginny. Thank you for sharing your photos. I didn't roll my eyes even once!  I think that if ever a mortal heard the voice of God it would be in a garden at the cool of the day. ~F. Frankfort Moore, A Garden of Peace |
Name: Ginny G Pella, Iowa (Zone 5a) Plant Addict!! Legalily Aug 9, 2016 9:19 AM CST |
| I do my "walk about" in the evenings and on weekends and pull weeds as I go. Unfortunately sometimes I miss the blooms because I am always looking down! I'm adding a couple more gardens this morning. The Lilac Garden was started soon after moving because I LOVE lilacs. Unfortunately it is in constant overhaul since the lilacs stop blooming so soon (except my one everblooming one). I have different blooming times, colors, and sizes, but not many pictures yet!!!!! I'm now adding other things to bloom all summer.     This garden is what I call my Bath Garden since I can see it from my bathroom window in the morning when I get ready! People ask why I would put one on the West side of the house next to the timber where you can't see it and this is why. It is also one of my "holding gardens" from when I moved plants to this house and some have not yet found permanent homes elsewhere in the yard.      Also, my mother passed away in April of this year and I have started a memorial garden for her on the right side of this garden in front of the split rail fence. I brought back a start of one of her peony bushes, short iris, and rock from her Colorado home and with memorial gift certificates to a local garden shop purchased two rose bushes (her absolute favorite flower) and will also purchase some pincushion flowers to add since they are also her favorites and she was a professional seamstress, and have added purple and yellow iris and daylilies which I split from the other half of this garden to add to it. It is from my mom I learned to love gardening and the outdoors! My parents were Amish until I was born so I think we come by it honestly   Be a person that makes others feel special. |
Name: James Jacksonville, FL (Zone 9a) (Heat zone - 8, Sunset zone - 28)             JamesAcclaims Aug 9, 2016 9:23 AM CST |
Legalily said: WOW! Looking great! Keep up the wonderful work! Coming along quite nicely. I love your "pull weeds" garden stone! I am not an early bird or a night owl--I am some form of permanently exhausted pigeon |
Name: Jeanie Minnesota (Zone 4a) Replace your lawn with a garden! foraygardengirl Aug 9, 2016 10:55 AM CST |
Wow Ginny, you are ambitious. So sorry for the loss of your mother, but I love what you are doing as a memorial.  Teresa, I also like that "Garden of Weeden" :+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+: Old gardeners never die. They are just pruned and repotted. |
Name: Ginny G Pella, Iowa (Zone 5a) Plant Addict!! Legalily Aug 9, 2016 11:08 AM CST |
On the back of our house we needed a retaining wall because of the hill. Several years earlier my husband and his siblings (they owned a small trucking company and had a flat bed truck and loader - sure helps!) gathered large boulders for free from a new road project going in next to our town and there were still several left that we brought to our "country home". I mentioned to my husband one day that we should use them for the retaining wall and he immediately got out his tractor loader and started stacking them up with nothing preplanned and NO WEEDS PULLED OR WEED BARRIER! I immediately got rid of all the weeds and then, after seeing one in Colorado, decided hmmmmm, planting pockets! The first picture also shows that there is nothing at the top of the boulders which then became my West Garden. So this is the progression of my Boulder Garden as some of the plants are no longer there (they die once they're history and get replaced  by something that can toughen it out a little ): In the background off to the left of this next picture is what my Bath Garden looks like in full bloom.  This next one is when I added the West Garden at the top and our Border Aussie loves to be a part of it!     The next garden then is the West Garden which is just below that bathroom window! So I can look out in the morning and see the grasses and daylilies and a couple of lilac bushes along with the Bath Garden - it's no wonder I'm always running late The large square window is where the viewing is done!    I'm also adding a couple of pictures from the wild grassy area at the bottom of our back yard. I'm trying to gradually add things that can spread, Baptisia, Coneflowers, Shasta Daisies, and Joe Pye Weed. There is a lot of Queen Annes Lace everywhere , along with the poison ivy  I want to add some Butterfly Milkweed and other prairie plants and grasses, but just don't want to burn it all off and start over! And of course there is always good winter interest!  Be a person that makes others feel special. |
Name: Ginny G Pella, Iowa (Zone 5a) Plant Addict!! Legalily Aug 9, 2016 11:13 AM CST |
foraygardengirl said:Wow Ginny, you are ambitious. So sorry for the loss of your mother, but I love what you are doing as a memorial. I used to say gardening was cheaper than therapy but I'm not so sure anymore! Be a person that makes others feel special. |
Name: Jeanie Minnesota (Zone 4a) Replace your lawn with a garden! foraygardengirl Aug 9, 2016 11:52 AM CST |
| Oh it's definitely not cheap therapy, but it is very effective. And there are visual and environmental residual benefits :+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+: Old gardeners never die. They are just pruned and repotted. |
Name: Betty MN zone 4   daylilydreams Aug 9, 2016 12:06 PM CST |
| Love everything you have done at your place it is beautiful including the winter picture. Sorry to hear of the loss of your mother, the memorial garden is nice. If you want to be happy for a lifetime plant a garden! Faith is the postage stamp on our prayers! Betty MN Zone4 AHS member |
Name: Ginny G Pella, Iowa (Zone 5a) Plant Addict!! Legalily Aug 9, 2016 12:17 PM CST |
My Driveway Timber Garden is part holding and part permanent and a little that was original with the house (2 daylilies on the driveway). My earlier Woodland Garden is in amongst and under the Timber Garden and the daylilies are going to be moved out of the shade one of these days! I added the Pagoda Dogwoods (one was transplanted from the other house) and they are starting to create the shade I want for a total shade garden! This area started with a pickup load of composted manure from a local dairy farmer - good stuff! I would have more Asiatic lilies if it weren't for the rabbits and deer nabbing the blooms right off the tops!     These are the original daylilies with the house so NOIDs:     I have now added a path behind the garden by the timber so I can get to the back yard easier!  The other holding garden is what I call the Driveway Shade Garden (which gets afternoon sun), also started with composted manure! This is getting pretty close to being done, but I need to keep the rabbits out better! They completely cleaned off my Toad Lily and Hellebore and something I can't even remember what it was   and the Black Snake Root and Astilbe are hiding in the back. I love the way the Annabelle Hydrangeas set off the daylilies!     Several of these areas also have trumpet Daffodils in the Spring but I just haven't gotten pictures  The Driveway Back Garden had absolutely NOTHING when we moved in. Now the Iris and Peony start in Spring, followed by Daylilies, Russian Sage, some ornamental grasses, and as of this summer, White and Purple Coneflower, Coreopsis, Daisies, Salvia, Penstemon "Husker Red", one Foxglove (always wanted to try one!), etc. etc. It also has a lot of sedum groundcovers since it is on the hillside - husband just got tired of mowing it so more flowers      You never know when you'll be given another clean slate    I also decided to not purchase the expensive outcropping stones for the back stairs and use stepables instead! I love the look and even the dog doesn't seem to bother it!    Be a person that makes others feel special. |
Name: Ginny G Pella, Iowa (Zone 5a) Plant Addict!! Legalily Aug 9, 2016 4:25 PM CST |
JamesAcclaims said: My sister said she got it at a craft show - my guests love it! Be a person that makes others feel special. |
Name: Ginny G Pella, Iowa (Zone 5a) Plant Addict!! Legalily Aug 9, 2016 5:06 PM CST |
I'm really trying to get this done today, but we'll see how it goes! This garden is what I call the Flag Garden since it has a flag pole that holds the American Flag. It is also sometimes referred to as my Goat Cart Garden, but either way some things didn't make it and as I said before, if you can't tough it out you're history in my garden I HAD an aster in this garden but the bunnies keep eating it and it isn't even 1/2 in tall this year  Next year I might have to be more aggressive about controlling the bunnies  This garden starts off with lilacs and iris and allium in the Spring, then the daylilies, hydrangeas, catmint, coneflowers and grasses, and finishes off with a perennial sunflower, Helenium Sneezeweed, and sedum. I have a short balloon flower but it hasn't done so well:  In this picture you can see a tiny sliver of my Lilac Garden on the left, the Driveway Shade Garden followed by the Driveway Timber Garden and the Back Driveway. In front of the garage is where we have 3 Prairie Fire Crabapples and they are gorgeous in the Springtime! We overlook the river bottom in the distance so we love the view!      And then there is the Grandchildren Garden. I had one at the other house, each grandchild went with me to the local daylily farm and picked out their daylily and then came back and helped plant it. They all made me stepping stones with their handprint and name and decorated them. That was up through grandchild #8. When we moved I made sure I took starts of all of their daylilies. There was already an area that had been used as a place for the previous owners play area, so this now became the new Grandchildren Garden. I left spots for the additional grandchildren that have since been added  The grandchildren gave us the ring for the fire pit for Christmas 2014, so in 2015 the rest transpired (still needs mulch on the one end but I'll get there sooner or later ). The fire ring needed to be leveled and have bricks around it, so we had some extra landscaping edging and made a "bench", added some wood benches, some Redbud Trees, and then 5 more grandchildren added their daylilies! We have one more granddaughter left to add one! They also get to add decorations to their daylily area and we found some garden art to add. The newest garden art is painted with car paint so I can leave it out all year!         And in 2016 we added a Fairy Garden!  Short some mulch but getting closer!  And this is the Fairy Garden (I think I'm having as much fun as the grandkids on this one! ). Part of the fun too is riding on the gator with grandma and grandpa as fast as it will go down the lane!!     Gotta go for now but I've saved my favorite new garden for last and will have to wait until tomorrow to post it. Be a person that makes others feel special. |
Name: Shannon Burkeville,Va (Zone 7a) The House on the Hill Gardens   Shannon Aug 9, 2016 5:30 PM CST |
| Wow all your gardens are Amazing Love your plant combos Thank you so much for posting the pictures..Looking forward to more The horse is God's gift to mankind. ~Arabian Proverb |
Name: Jeanie Minnesota (Zone 4a) Replace your lawn with a garden! foraygardengirl Aug 9, 2016 7:13 PM CST |
| Just about unbelievable what you have done. I'm in awe, truly. :+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+: Old gardeners never die. They are just pruned and repotted. |
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