fyi the ball shaped burning bush is not my doing!

Geez, I barely see a single weed in there! How do you do that?!

Looks good! I like your pathway, and I love the boxwood hedge. I've been having an internal struggle with my inner gardener ever since I started gardening between the part of me that loves wild cottage gardens and the part of me that loves formal, neat gardens. (Due to my laziness, the cottge gardener seems to be winning!)

I like the little corner with the salvia, dianthus and agastache. And love the color contrast between the hydrangea and ligularia!

Thanks for sharing. It's always fun to see everyone's gardens.

Dee

Your plants look great. Really love the bed with the Centranthus. That will bloom all summer if you deadhead. Sadly, mine disappeared this year.

Nora Leigh does fine on a bit of shade. It's an exceptionally hardy phlox.

Still consider myself relatively new to this

===>>> you are going to have to re-evalutate your self opinion..

you know how to do the edging thing???? with a straight shovel.. etc???

absolutely stunning.. thx for taking the time to take, upload.. and post these great pix ...

did you ever solve that weird corner of the patio with the lower level window right there???

ken

You're quite a gardener! Everything looks healthy and happy and that's a huge accomplishment. I covet your ligularia! (can't grow it in my garden)

Cameron

No weeds because we just mulched. They are hiding down there I assure you.

Ken, the weird corner is the one you see with the salvia, dianthus, and agastache.

I have edged quite a few areas but I had help this last month in re edging the beds.

Dee, I always drooled over pics of cottage gardens. However, when it came down to my own yard, I realized I jus could not stand plants flopping over each other or invading others space. So I have come to the reAlization that I will never be a true cottage gardener. I just whacked back campanula alba for being a little too rambunctious even though it bloomed like crazy.

Plants are still pretty small so it remains to be seen if my placement is correct. I cannot wait for agastache heat wave to bloom. Hardly see agastache around here probably because of clay soil but I have had good success. Got them for 99 cents too.

Thanks to gardenwebbers for being enablers! Feel free to critique.

miclino wrote:

After seeing Rouge 21's pics, I had to plant an Eryngium big blue.

And it looks really good i.e. that so striking, so unique shade of blue is coming into its own. Maybe post a close-up of it when you have time.

It is nice to get feedback that someone does get an idea or two from something I have posted. Lots of what has gone into my garden the past couple of seasons is due to pictures and reports from GW.

experimental bed for the plants that don't fit anywhere else :)

I so know of what you speak!

Thanks for sharing your garden photos. Your beds look very nice. My 'Globemaster' allium comes back every year. They are the stars of my early spring garden. They are bulbs which multiply over the years.

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Nice pics. Any suggestions for a shorter allium that does as well? This one is somewhat out of proportion with my small beds.

Here is a close up of eryngium big blue. Not the best pic taken with phone. It does sort of glow though.
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By miclino at 2012-06-25

Close up of corner bed with sedum autumn charm which has great variegated foliage and creamy white flower heads later on. Also sedum purple emperor and sedum dazzleberry the new introduction.

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By miclino at 2012-06-25

mnwsg wrote: My 'Globemaster' allium comes back every year. They are the stars of my early spring garden. They are bulbs which multiply over the years.

I have no allium but your picture is final confirmation that I must get some. I will put this on my 'to plant' list this fall. How early do they show their stuff in the spring? I ask as my gardens have much more sun earlier in the season before all the leaves are fully developed on the trees. Do some alliums bloom earlier than others...say in mid May for zone 5?

You've done a lot of work. Everything looks so neat and healthy. Lots of color, plenty of structure. That Ligularia / Hydrangea combo will be interesting to see develop. Love your hardscape. Thanks for posting your photos, always fun to see what everyone is working on.

RE: Alliums. They generally multiply. Different species and varieties bloom at somewhat different times, from about Mid-May to about Mid-to-Late-June here for me. Generally seem to be pest proof, but I lost an entire large planting, over 100 bulbs, of the expensive Globemaster to voles a few winters back, just made me sick when I saw NOTHING coming up in the spring, then realized the entire bed was undermined with vole tunnels. I don't know if they ate them or just chewed them up tunneling through.

The species A. aflatulence is about the earliest of the larger, purple globe types. Gladiator seems to bloom a tad earlier than Globemaster if memory serves, but not by much, a few days. A good later one towards the end of the allium season is A. christophii or 'Star of Persia' which can have basketball sized heads and which multiplies incredibly freely, since it self-sows seeds and those seedlings will bloom the second spring.

Only downside with ligularia is that the slugs seem to love it. They haven't killed it yet though.

Miclino, I do not know how tall your allium is. Allium aflatuense(aka hollandicum) Purple Sensation can be 1 m tall, smaller heads but in richer colour.

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Thanks denninmi for that information re 'alliums'.

I am thinking that by the time they are to bloom there will may not be enough sun to support them. Earlier in the season i.e. daffodil time and maybe up to mid May the garden receives tons of sun but when those trees are completely filled in...not as much. I guess I could experiment with a few planted this fall.

Are they deer and squirrel proof?

Wow! Beautiful combinations, nice variety of foliage/colors. Can't wait to see it as it matures. Great job!

I love the Eryngium. Thanks for sharing.