First Day of Summer Stroll ... 2014

As we step out the front door....Martha is there to greet us. She's a bit bedraggled because of the heavy rains. I've brought in a few of her blooms to put on my little shelf above the sink.

 As we take a step off the porch and go to the right...color knocks our eyes out. The color combination bothers me each year. I love the pinks and purples of spring, but these lilies were here before I came....so here they will stay. They bloom for such a short time and always bring comments from people walking by. What a striking color!

 The little memory garden for Tim is taking shape slowly but surely. The bird bath is surrounded by lilies. Some short ones on the left, Callas in front, poppies to the right and the lilies of orange in the background. There are daffodils in spring, where the lilies are blooming. Some other day lilies that don't show up in this picture. The bird feeder is there and the window on the left is right where I sit on the computer.

 Then keeping on is the Mary's Garden. I have so many pretty pictures of this spot....one of my favorite in the yard. Right now it's all about color....orange and yellow. This spot changes with the summer and fall.

 Now going down the west side of the house is my herb garden. I have some lettuces growing there as well. Lettuce, parsley, oregano, sage, thyme, basil, cilantro, Russian sage, columbine, and my favorite flower of all....Japanese anemone.  

 This trellis, made by Joe, is just before the lettuce. I love the color of this clematis. It's almost covering this basket of succulents. A little bird kept flitting in and out, early this morning. A wren...wonder if she's nesting there?

 Along the back we come to a more civilized planting. No cottagey look here. The lilies of the valley are within their boundary, and these hostas behave themselves. The geese are well behaved too. The only bad behavior is something that the raccoon does. He or she is using this mulch for a litter pan. Naughty raccoon. I pick it up almost daily.

 As we round the corner by the deck...this huge hosta takes our attention. Big, bold, bright green plant. The puckered leaves fill up with water when it rains.

 Still in the back is a little garden by the deck stairs. It's back to cottage gardening. Perennial geraniums, knockout rose, Star 

Gazer lilies, hostas, Lady's Mantle, and many others. The daisies have just finished blooming and have been cut down. They were in big clumps that get bigger each year.

 Here's the little nook that I have created just for me. A little corner in the shade to just watch the birds, woods, and the plants growing. I have tomatoes in the two big containers, and going up the trellis, Purple Hyacinth Beans. The trellis was a gift from my daughter. it seems like I always show things that LuAnn has given me....my son, John and grandkids give me garden things too. John gave me two bleeding heart plants, he and the kids gave me my Lucky Bamboo, and my fern, roses and so many other nice garden things. They all know that gardening is my passion...so I'm easy to buy for :)

 Just behind the two containers of tomatoes...is this huge hosta. We are in a more behaved part of the yard once more. I didn't take pictures going up the east side of the house. No, I'm not hiding anything like weeds....I just was getting tired and wanted to come in and eat breakfast. This side of the house will be shown later. Its just more lilies and bird nest spruce shrubs.

 The front driveway garden is always changing. I love the casual feel of it. Things just flow into each other's space and the best  plant wins. 

 On the corner of the front porch is a trellis made by moi. I planted two clematis here. A Princess Diana, and a Pagoda. Smaller blooms that are bell shaped. Love this for little bouquets for the house.

 Another picture of flowers mingling...or misbehaving.

 Now, we are at the front door again. Here is the hanging basket from my daughter. It looks so pretty right now.

There are so many other things that I could have put here, but this is just a sample of our yard. Next time, we'll take an up close picture of a few things blooming....and hopefully some tomato pictures, if the raccoons are nice.
Balisha