The Garden, Thus Far

Oh, my goodness, but there is so much color in the back yard!  Too early, though, the azaleas have come and gone, and the Dogwood was confused and put only a handful of blossoms out for our admiration.  We have dug, moved, planted, re-planted, and every time I think it's almost done, I see another beautiful plant that must, somehow, be squeezed in.  It never ends— which is a good thing.  Gardens should never be "done," just as a home is never "finished," because all things that are alive or that provide a home for active people, should change with the seasons of our lives.

So, grab your mug of tea and let's take a quick trip through the garden!  Many things have been put in new, and they must wait for their time to bloom.  Others have bloomed quite out of their normal time.  It was the crazy winter-less past few months that set everything out of kilter.

The Irises are blooming now, and these are in need of staking.  For the first time, I planted annuals in the upper terraces.  Here you can see Marigolds and Cosmos.  Enjoy the little corner of Lamb's Ear (right lower) while you can.  I think it will be going to a new home in the far, far back of the yard where we put plants that have not played well with others.

Here is one of several re-blooming Irises.  It is always a bit of a shock to see Irises blooming at the end of summer, but they brighten up the fading garden:

The delightfully light and branching Euphorbia, whose blooms surprised us by showing up in early March!  Can you see the strawberry plant creeping through the thyme below it?

And as well as the Euphorbia, the red Dianthus has been bright much too early!  I love gardening here, as the bed is behind a terrace wall and is raised enough to make weeding a pleasure.

This was the big shocker of the spring garden, though.  Both of these peonies came from the same bush, and not only that, the tag said it would produce deeply pink blossoms!  Someone forgot to tell the plant, I suppose.

Below is an example of things gone amuck.  My impression of Verbena was that of a polite, very Southern plant who did not put a toe over the line.  Perennial Verbena, however, is hot to trot, and trotted itself right into the Lavender.  In response, the Lavender moved a foot to the right this year.  I was unaware that anything could invade Lavender!

On the subject of things getting out of hand, I have other examples to share with you.  On the upper terrace, I discovered a small mound of Dianthus between the Ice Plant and this lovely Thug:

The Wave Petunias, however, we want to get out of hand.  Oddly enough, the last one on right survived the winter in a concrete container, blooming the entire time!  Kudos to Alpha Petunia!  I will post her progress this summer.  The other four plants need to put the gleep on it and start spilling over the wall!

 The Lithidora is duking it out with a magenta-blooming Ice Plant for dominance.  Manners are set aside in this contest, but I noticed how the Ice Plant simply climbs down the wall when things get too crowded.

These last flowers, identified by nursery staff as different things, depending on where I take a sample, made the sad mistake of moving forward a little too quickly, and Charles and I dug dozens of these and planted them in the back of the mass.  When they bloom, a small quite brilliant magenta blossom appears at the top of the stalks, and they are beautiful, en masse.    I often have the feeling that I am watering and fertilizing a weed, but it is a beautiful weed.  In fact, I would like to plant Queen Anne's Lace to complement it, but I don't have the wide, sunny area it demands.  So many plants, so little garden!

Tea is cold, and we have navigated only part of the garden.  Maybe we should make a tour on another day?  Thank you for dropping in on me.  I love sharing our garden!