Sunday, August 19, 2018

My End of July Garden 2018

I know what you're thinking:  "It's almost the end of August and I am first posting my end of July Garden pictures now?"  Yes,  I am.  It was a crazy end of July/early August in our household.  My kids were visiting us, we had a out-of-town romantic rendezvous, a wedding, plus a heat wave all rolled into a two/three week period.  I haven't even stepped in my garden in three weeks, I've been so busy.  I can only imagine the weeds and other mess waiting for me.  The weather is suppose to cool down this week, so I'm hoping to get outside and clean the beds up a bit and take more photos.  In the meantime, here are some late July garden photos I've haven't shown you yet:

At the end of July, Day Lilies are the stars of the garden, and they were beautiful this year!





 This red day lily with a bright yellow throat is my favorite daylily in my garden.  It is so vibrant and produces so many blooms.  I've bordered my lower sun garden with this daylily.


In the next two pictures you can see what it looks like as a border plant.



I also have this light yellow daylily bordering the other side of the same garden.


This is a garden I just finished renovating this year, hence all the empty space.  That was what was left after I removed all the tall phlox and weeds.  Next year, I will add more flowers.


This purple daylily really surprised me this years.  It too had many gorgeous, large blooms on a single plant.






This years my feathered friends gave me the sweetest gift:  they planted sunflowers outside my kitchen window.  Every time I looked out my kitchen window I saw their sweet faces smiling at me.  Even my daughter and husband commented on what a blessing it was.  My daughter could not believe that I didn't plant them myself, they looked so perfect.  Now their blooms have faded, but I'm enjoying watching all the finches eat their seeds.



I have to show you this unique marigold I found at a nursery this year and I absolutely love it!  It's colors are so unique for a marigold:  they look like fall colors.  They produce a mix of golden yellows, oranges, and red.  They even change color as the bloom ages.  I got to my local nursery late this year, and there wasn't much left.  I only bought one pack of these because that's all they had.  I have enjoyed them so much, next year I'm going to the nursery early and buying a lot more!


Here's the same marigold, but in a golden tone.


The gardens in front of my house.  This is my next project I will be tackling.  I want the gardens in front of my house to be mostly annual beds.  I know it might be costly so I will try and grow a lot from seed, but I feel the front garden beds should have the most "wow" impact and annuals give the most color all season long.


Begonias always grow well for me.  I love the way the first garden bed that greets guests to my home turned out this year.


We will be re-doing this front porch next year.  The roof needs to be replaced and we are considering screening it in.  Jackson will love a place to curl up outside but be safe from all the feral cats in our neighborhood.

I always use begonias and coleus in this garden bed because they grow best in the partial sun.



For the first time in the 25 years we lived in this house, I put a hummingbird outside my dining room window.  I use to have a seed feeder here, but it left such a huge mess of seeds all the time, plus it attracted possums and raccoons.  They would then dig in my garden for more seed droppings and destroy it.  The hummingbird feeder only attracts hummingbirds (and unfortunately ants), but it has been such joy watching them come to the feeder everyday!

I also have a question I'm hoping a reader might answer.  I planted Morning Glory seeds throughout my gardens and they all grew green and lush, but none of them bloomed!  Not a single one!  I planted this Morning Glory so it will cover some ugly utility pole on my house wall, and it grew and covered the hall wall beautifully, but it still did not bloom.  I've never seen Morning Glory grow so tall before.   It's almost up to the roof of my house!  Does anyone know why it never bloomed?  It's an annual in my zone, so I'm expecting it to die over the winter and not come back.


I love how my wheelbarrow turned out this year.


I used more coleus and begonias for the pots on my side porch.


I normally have a wreath on the wall in this spot, but this year I chose a bird house.  And of course the birds promptly filled it with twigs.  No occupants though.  I put a round container of shade pants on the table below it.


This is a side garden at the front of the house I was working on, but had to stop.  My husband said he needed to dig in this area, so I will leave the rest for next year.  You can see where I stopped where the paper is exposed.


This unusual lavender bee balm is in this garden.


Other late July blooms were Purple Liatris.


The Black Eyed Susans started to bloom in late July and are currently in full bloom now.  I will take pictures today!  You won't believe the difference from this photograph to now.


And the Black Eyed Susan's favorite companion:  Purple Coneflower.  It's also in full bloom now, and a Goldfinch favorite!


Have a Great Day!  Amy

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13 comments:

  1. It's truly amazing! The work you have put in to achieve this just boggles my mind. In these pics I see the difference between us, I see gardening as a chore and I think you enjoy it, hence the reason mine looks NOTHING like yours!
    Well done, Amy.
    Hugs, x.

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    1. Oh, thank you. I have my days ( a lot of them actually) when the last thing I want to do is garden. I love the result of gardening far more than the work. I also love all the creatures gardening brings to the yard.

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  2. I have been waiting for a garden post! your work is paying off, the garden looks lovely.

    Why not try some hydrangea and dahlias in your front bed? Annuals are expensive plus a lot of work each year. There are some lovely new hydrangeas out there with long bloom times. And I am won over by dahlias. Someone here in our town plants a row of them and she has blossoms for 2-3 months. They do have to be dug up in the fall and over wintered, but after planting they require no work at all.

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    1. Thanks so much. Dahlias are a great idea. Hydrangeas grow too big for these beds, they would overtake them in no time and out grow the space. But I love the dahlia idea. I will have to order some this spring.

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    2. There are some new small hydrangeas that don't grow more than 3 feet tall and wide. Little Limelight is one of them, Bobo is another small hydrangea. I have both in my garden and they are blooming profusely. I live in a similar cold zone with a long harsh winter and then a short hot summer.

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    3. Thanks Julie, I will look for those breeds. Although, I have tried bushes before that claim to grow small and then they end up growing two or three times the size it claimed on the label. I don't know if it's my soil or what, but everything tends to grow big in my garden.

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  3. The Lilies are beautiful Amy and loving that pretty Marigold you found. What a unique color! I have only ever seen them in yellow or some type of orange.
    How fun that the birds planted more sunflowers for you to enjoy looking at!

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    1. Thanks so much! Yes, I'm so grateful for the birds this year!

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  4. I have collected day lilies for many years and am always on the lookout for new varieties. Loved seeing yours!
    Visiting from Tuesdays With a Twist.
    Blessings to you and yours!
    Marie @ http://asatisfiedspirit.com

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    1. Thank you! They are one of my favorite perennials because they are so low maintenance!

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  5. Thanks so much Marilyn! That's so exciting! I will check it out and put it on my "Where I've Been Featured" page!

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