The weather here in CT has been pretty awful this past week, but there was time between the thunderstorms last Saturday for me to do a little garden-tending and snap a few pictures. The big accomplishment on that day was me heading to the farm stand down the street and picking up a bunch of annuals for my various planters. As I do every year, I bought many impatiens because I enjoy their variety of colors, their continuous stream of flowers, and the fact that they last well into the fall.
The above planter is on my front steps - Kathy bough me this pot from TJ Max a few years ago because she thought it would looke nice on the front steps. Before that, I was using a lame plastic imitation terra-cotta planter. There is a mix of white and dark pink impatiens in there, it should fill-out nicely.
Here, in addition to my dog's ample posterior, you can get a nice overview of what I'm trying to do in the front of the Residence of Reilly. Near the stairs are a bunch of astrids, I have a couple of large hydrangeas, and I have three of those blue plants for early season accent.
The following two pictures also show the front of the place. In the last one you can see my Rose of Sharon bush, which despite the Condo Association's landscapers who insist on trimming it, continues to thrive.
The one ongoing issue that I have with the front of the house is that I think the hydrangea bushes don't look quite as good as they should. I've seen many houses where people have a real nice look with hydrangea bushes as the focal point of their front garden, and they always seem to look better than mine. Something about my hydrangeas continues to look a little bit ragged. I thought they would fill out a bit better as the years went on, but this will be the fourth summer with them there and its still not quite working. Gardening is the one thing I have an ability to be somewhat patient about, so I'm willing to give them a little more time. But my patience isn't limitless and if they don't improve I may have to think about getting something different in there.
Lastly, before we head around to the back of my domicile, a few quick shots of the progress of the new astilbe that is doing superb on the sunless north side of the building.
Now around the back of the house. In addition to the impatiens I also like to pot some kind of droopy geranium. You can make it out in the picture below. Last year I did the same thing in the pot, but because I bought the plants on clearance and they were both pretty shriveled, I mixed in a purple and pink version of the plant. This time, because the plant was supple and healthy, I decided to do just the purple with the expectation that it should branch out in no time.
If the above picture wasn't titilating enough, it also gives you a nice view of my dog Whitman's colossal head and a sneak-peak of the king of my garden, my strapping, succulent chive plant.
The big space is intentional. Its purpose is to give you a breather from the unrelenting stream of amazingness which you are beholding, because without a break the next picture might blow your mind.
What you are seeing in this picture is my new planter that my mother bought for me for Easter. As should be apparent once, like Paul on the Road to Damascus, your vision returns after witnessing the divine nature of this picture, is a really nice mix of impatiens throughout the planter. The top is a combination of plain white impatiens and an impatiens that has a red and white flower. The bad-ass side compartments are a mix of the aforesaid white impatiens and some rich pink ones. The following picture, in addition to perhaps searing your retinas with its sublimity, gives another view of the planter.
One other thing that I'd like to point out in the above picture is the patio, which I built myself. I love the contrast between the inner brown pavers and the outer grey ones. Unfortunately, because the wood that I used to trim the area around the patio warped a little bit due to weight of all the sand and what-not that they are holding, I haven't been able to completely finish putting in the outside stones. I need to be able to cut the pavers so that they fit like I want them to. I'm going to get my uncle's tile saw from him so I can finish that job. I will most likely document it for this blog when I do so.
Back to the plants. You can see the progress of my climbing hydrangea and the shasta dasies in this picture. It's beginning to look like I'm not going to get any flowers on the hydrangea this year either, but even so, I will be able to start training the plant to grow along the lattice, and thus add to its amazingness, so I remain pumped about it.
Here is the garden area at the back of the house. Its really doing quite well. The astilbe, iris, and sedum are all progressing according to plan. I'd like to perhaps add another plant in the gap between the astilbe and the tree, but to do so I need to find a decent looking plant that can thrive so close to the oak tree.
Here is the third garden in the back yard. On the left is a hybrid tea rose which I hate and want to replace with a climbing rose. I only ever bought the stupid thing because my fiancée though it looked pretty, but if it was up to me I'd attack that piece of sickly, high-maintenance garbage with a chainsaw tomorrow. In the center of the picture is another astilbe. To the right of that is another planter with a mix of pink and white impatiens in it. To the far right is bleeding heart plant, which by this point in the year is just about past its prime.
To finish things up, here is a picture that gives a bit of a panoramic view of the backyard. The Royal Botanical Garden is likely its only equal.
Actually, who am I kidding? No post is complete without the imposing glory of my chive plant.
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