Sunday, June 18, 2023

My Spring Perennial Garden



With summer only a few days away, I thought I'd better get around to posting my spring garden!  Oh, the life of the gardener!  We're always too busy working in a garden to find much time to enjoy it, let alone take photos and blog about it.

Because this post is so photo heavy, I will come back later with photos and stories of my vegetable garden.  Speaking of the vegetable garden,  we are experiencing a terrible drought right now.  It hasn't rained a single drop in over a month.  Everyone is starting to really get worried.  I don't water the perennials ever, but I do have to water my vegetable garden which takes up a lot of time everyday and cuts into other things I need to do in the garden.

Yet even without rain, the perennial garden is looking beautiful.  There is only now a few signs this drought has taken upon them;  mostly in raised bed areas.  Prayerfully, we will get rain soon!  Now, onto the garden tour shall we?
                                                  Daffodils and Crocus

 April starts the season with daffodils and crocus. We did get a huge snowstorm right when the daffodils bloomed.  The daffodils survived the snowstorm, but got all knocked over with the heaviness of the snow.  Eventually though they straightened themselves out and looked beautiful again.




I promise you, I had more than one loan crocus bloom in my yard. 😂. It's just that this crocus bloom was very special to me this year because we had a very long winter and everyone was getting pretty depressed that spring was never going to come, and then one day, I saw this little guy, and well, he gave me a lot of hope that spring was near!



                                    Tulips

Onto May, when the tulips bloom!  This year's tulip blooms weren't that spectacular, as the deer ate a lot of them, but they did leave me a few to enjoy!

                          Spring Ground Covers
I have such a love/hate relationship with the ground cover lamium.  It is so beautiful, yet so invasive.  No matter how many times I rip it out, it takes over again so quickly and sprouts up everywhere.  But it is a beauty, especially in spring when not much else is in bloom.  I love the contrast of the lamium with the chartreuse sedum and yellow flowered ivy ground cover (also very invasive).
Cat Mint is also an abundant ground cover in my garden.  This guy seeds everywhere, including rock walls as pictured here;  but it sure is pretty and the bees love it!
This next ground cover is pretty but has been a nightmare of mine for years (I'm really not making a good case for ground covers in this post, am I?  ðŸ˜‚). It is probably the most aggressive ground cover I've ever grown.  I planted just a few plants on a dry hillside and it took over.  Now you might think that's great, but  weeds still get in and it's hard to dig out weeds in a thick ground cover.  So I have been diligently removing this ground cover from the hillside for the past three years and replacing it with Hosta.  I only have one or two sections left to go!

The name of this plant, if you want an aggressive ground cover that will grow anywhere, is "Herman's Pride Yellow Archangel Lamiastrum".  I have it growing in dry shade, and it's still super aggressive. 
Lily of the Valley with Hosta in the background.

                                      Bleeding Hearts

My shady property is loaded with these self-seeding bleeding hearts in both pink and white.


                                  Lilacs

I didn't have the greatest lilac season this year;  probably due to the late spring snowstorm, but a couple of my bushes did bloom sporadically.


                                      Hosta 

I love the way hosta looks early in the season when the buds are just pushing through the ground, before heat and slugs destroy their leaves.  This blue hosta looks gorgeous when contrasted with the plum tree and various ground covers.
                                   Viburnum




Vibernum bush in background with Goatsbeard and blue Hosta in foreground.


  
   
               Ornamental Onion




                                       Iris
Iris with Columbine Siberian Iris

Cushion Spurge mixed with hosta and iris.
                     Dames Rocket


I had such a good crop of Dames Rocket.  It's a biennial and seeds wherever it wants to.  I just let it grow where it wants because I know when it's done blooming it will die anyway.

                                 Columbine
                                      Peonies




Peonies, Iris, and Dames Rocket



White Wild Geranium in foreground with peony and iris in background
Pink Argyranthemum in foreground with peony and iris in background.
                                      Poppy
                                    Foxglove


I hope you enjoyed my spring garden tour.  I will be back next week with a tour of my vegetable garden.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous blogs HERE!

38 comments:

  1. What beautiful photo! How you must enjoy them firsthand!

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  2. You have a amazing garden. I love all the purple and pink hues. And the cat mint!

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    1. Thank you Nancy. All the pastel colors will turn into hot colors midsummer.

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  3. Your garden is lovely. I can appreciate how much work you put into it.

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    1. Thank you. Yes, it's a lot of work, but I'm making it more and more low-maintenance. And I've also changed my gardening time but just spending a few hours everyday in it, rather than all day a few days a week. That is much easier on the body.

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  4. Wow, your garden is gorgeous! I can't imagine the work you must put it, but it surely must bring lots of joy, too!

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  5. You definitely have a green thumb!! I think everything looks so pretty, even the invasive plants. We have many invasive plants here in AL that are very pretty. The ones I have that don't require me to have a green thumb are pampas grass - love the plumes, yucca plants - they spread like crazy, and the Japanese honeysuckle - its aroma is awesome! Thanks so much for linking up at the #UnlimitedLinkParty 116. Pinned.

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    1. Thank you. Yes, invasive plants can be so pretty. Oh, I love the aroma of honeysuckle. Lucky you!

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  6. Absolutely beautiful despite no rain! I never tire of seeing your beautiful garden pictures! We too had no rain for such a long time and my little vegetable garden doesn't look good. I was so thankful when it finally rained a couple of nights ago.

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    1. Thank you. I think it helps to have a shady yard. So many people with sunny yards have brown grass right now, ours is still green! We finally got some rain on Sunday, it helped a lot. Praying for more!

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  7. All I can say is wow! What stunning plants and flowers. Love those bleeding hearts especially.

    https://www.kathrineeldridge.com

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  8. Amy, CONGRATS! Your post is FEATURED at the #UnlimitedLinkParty 117!

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  9. How absolutely beautiful! I keep thinking I must plant more perennials, as it becomes more difficult to start over with annuals every year. Visiting you from SSPS. Leslie @ My Gluten Free Cucina

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    1. Thank you. Oh, I wish I could grow more annuals. I created a annual bed in my front yard and put just a few perennials in it, and they took over before I knew it!

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  10. Hoping you get some rain soon; your perennials are doing amazing despite the drought.

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    1. Thankfully we got some rain on Sunday and we hoping for more this weekend!

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  11. I feel as if I'm looking at a neverending yard with a ton of blooms :) Very enjoyable to see them all. Sorry about the ground cover. My headaches are wild oat grass, which I stupidly planted myself, and Virginia creeper which came in on its own and is a neverending battle to contain. I've had the non-native bleeding hearts for many years before we took them out last year to have more just native plants. To my surprise, we have a few that have sprung up again, so for now, I'm leaving them alone. I secretly still enjoy them in bloom. I'm a little envious of the Goatsbeard. It doesn't seem to like my garden. Thoroughly enjoyed your spring garden tour, and I wish you the best rest of the week.

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    1. Thank you. I stupidly planted all my invasive plants, but, it is hard to tell in descriptions of plants which ones will become invasive in your yard. I have Virginia creeper in my lower shade garden, and although it is growing well there, it is not as invasive as some of my other ivy. Bleeding hearts are so hard to get rid of. They have such a long huge root system and you can never seem to get it all, plus they reseed. Yes, I am so proud of my Goatsbeard. It seems very happy there. I keep thinking I should buy more since one has done so well.

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  12. Beautiful! Thank you for sharing with SSPS #266! And please come again.

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  13. Your gardens are stunning! I love the color and variety! I wish I could grow foxglove. It's so pretty!

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    1. Thank you. Yes, I love foxglove, but it can be tricky to grow.

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  14. Your garden is magical and beautiful!

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  15. Such a big and beautiful garden!
    Beautiful pictures, too. My favorites are the bleeding hearts, a favorite flower of mine since my childhood.

    Cat
    https://catswire.blogspot.com/

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    1. Thank you. Yes, I remember bleeding hearts being a magical flower of my childhood too...and holly hock.

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  16. What a magical garden. You just amaze me with all the work you do to create such a beautiful space. Don't know how you have time for anything else. I miss having flowers!! With our heat it is hard to get anything to grow. I especially like the bleeding hearts, lilies of the valley, foxglove. They are so unique.

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    1. thank you. I don't have time for much else in the summer, that's for sure.

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  17. Wow ! Your garden is a treat to my eyes , I miss my spring garden. Irises and peonies took my breath away. Thanks for sharing with Garden Affair.

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  18. Oh my goodness, Amy! I sure did enjoy the tour of your Spring Perennial Garden. Stunning, simply stunning.
    Thank you so much for sharing your garden with Sweet Tea & Friends this month, sweet friend.

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    1. That's good to hear! Thanks so much, and you're welcome.

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