Rainy, windy days stuck inside do prove useful for getting caught up on life. One thing we've done a lot of around here this spring and summer is just watch things grow. It's hard to imagine what to do with your yard before you've spent a year watching what's in it. As the summer gets ready to come to a close, this seems like a good time for a photo dump of the wide variety of plant like we have in this yard. Hopefully next spring and summer, we will manage to get a better handle on it!
The biggest landscaping story has to be the abundance of forsythia. It seems to go on forever, and grows about a foot a month. I'm not sure we'll ever be able to tame it!
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| April: In full bloom, along the red fence Badly in need of a prune! |
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| April: The yellow wall along the side fence in the back yard. |
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April: But wait, there's even more around the north side of the house.
We may soon do away with these shrubs in favor of a driveway expansion. We certainly have plenty elsewhere. |
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| May: trying to tame the yellow beast and give the little lilac a place to grow. |
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May: I believe we filled up close to 40 yard waste bags this spring.
This does not include the piles of branches we have been burning in our fire pit all summer! |
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| May: It seems we could have created another whole hedge from what we got rid of. |
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May: We could actually see the ground underneath for about a month.
It's since grown back with a vengeance. |
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| April: Mystery plant sprouting up along the north fence in the back yard. |
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May: It's filling in quite nicely, and helping to disguise the less than
attractive cinder blocks on our neighbor's side. |
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May/June: I'm pretty sure the stuff on the right is some kind of weed.
Goldenrod maybe? I will be hacking that down next year for sure. |
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| July: Just in time for the 4th, the day lilies reveal themselves. |
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July: This mystery plant has cool purple bell shaped flowers,
right next to the day lilies. |
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May: This large lilac was in full bloom, just behind the red fence in the corner.
We can see it from our bedroom window. |
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| May: Azalea in full bloom. |
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| May: Another Azalea on the patio. |
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May: I planted the new bleeding heart from my friend Leah. It got a little dried out looking recently.
I hope it comes back ok next year. |
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| June: These shrubs are giving the forsythia at the garage side of the house a run for their money. |
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June: A giant hosta emerged in front of the red metal fence.
Above, is our second large lilac bush. |
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June: 10 days later, the rose bush that is squashed in the
corner of the fence by the lilac was in full bloom. |
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June: There are offshoots of the bush in the corner,
but they got pretty overtaken by the day lilies a few weeks later. |
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July: Hostas and Sedum on the front corner.
Next year, hopefully we will add some evergreen ground cover to this area. |
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July: Hosta just starting to bloom.
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| June: Shriveled poison ivy along the sidewalk outside our fence, after two applications of poison. |
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June: Sidewalk after Greg finished clearing away all the dead stuff.
He managed to do it all without getting a rash, and he is allergic! |
