Archives for June 2016

I try to buy shrubs that will earn their keep by blooming.

Some really lovely ones are out now.

The Abelia is not found in many gardens, but it should be.

Fragrance is so lovely, I just want to stand there and sniff, as if I can store up the memory of it.

Beauty Bush is another great bloomer.  Some years there is winter kill, but the last winter was mild so the shrub was ready to go.

Not really a fragrance to speak of, but great impact in the garden.  Smothered with blooms.

Of course, there are the weigelas.

These two finally had a show this year.  Rabbits and snow were hard on them other years.

And the variegated willow (Salix integra ‘Hakuro-nishiki’) is especially pink this year.

Every garden should have a few special shrubs.

 

Last fall we extended a garden bed.  I wanted a little more interest along the path.

We dug up the bed, and brought lots of compost in.

At the one end of the bed there is a catalpa tree I grew from seed.

I wanted to have a place for smaller hostas and beautiful ferns.

With the locust shade tree, catalpa, and blue spruce, I’m hoping it’s shaded in a few years.

I put in a few daffodils last fall, and a few other perennials I came across this spring.

And I had some dahlia bulbs that looked dead, but I planted them in the sunny end of the bed.

They’ve all actually started growing!

Last year I divided some hostas, and kept them in the vegetable garden for the winter.

The golf cart sure comes in handy to transport them to the bed.

I laid them out first to see where everything should go.

I realized the catalpa tree end is still pretty sunny so I saved some room for different perennials there, for this year anyway.

A good day’s work.

It’s always satisfying to see a new bed freshly planted, full with expectation and promise.

 

This year the viburnum beetles have done a lot of damage. Maybe the mild winter didn’t kill enough eggs.

The snowball bushes and the high bush cranberry shrubs are looking pretty bad.

I have resorted to spraying, so that slowed it a bit, but there are still caterpillars.

Only one consolation.

The cedar waxwings and other birds are finding lots to eat.

I think these birds are so beautiful.  I was glad to get a few pictures.

You can see how much damage the shrub has.

Hopefully the shrubs will put out some new growth again.