Despite my resolve to post regularly on things garden, I totally blew it and time marched on. But my garden did change and after a huge remodel, it's growing in. I can definitely see that experience of many past failures in various planting experiments and improved knowledge of sun and water in my yard is showing. I have wasted less money and plants this time around and most of the plants I saved in pots during the remodel have all found pretty good permanent locations. This summer should see some good growth. Right now in winter, it's all looking a mite daggy!
The new addition to the front yard is a fountain cherry that's probably going to be about 16' high at the most. It's still a sapling but has such a graceful form and is beautiful in spring covered with flowers. The old red maple has found a better and shadier location and looks much happier. I'm still struggling to grow delphiniums successfully. Ticks me off that the various gas station planters have better success with it than I do. Maybe the constant exhaust fumes are what's needed! The hollyhocks still have pockmarked leaves but the blooms are spectacular.....I'm still working on the "fillers" so that the look will seem chaotic but actually have a lot of planning involved. I think that's the real secret of an English/cottage garden look.
The lawn continues to be the bane of my efforts. Endless twiddling with the automatic sprinklers hasn'f fixed the dry patches and Truman's favorite peeing spots don't help either.
This past summer vegetables were a moderate success -3/7 came through - beets, tomatoes and green beans. Need to plant some juicy fat tomatoes next time. I managed to kill off the green peppers, corn and strawberries and the cucumbers too. The aging pear tree may have to go and htat will give the vegetable bed more sun. Let's see if this summer is a better one.
2 hours ago
3 comments:
maya
congrats! gardening is a great hobby.one gets a lot of satisfaction tending to the plants and see them grow to fruition.look forward to reading more about the vegetables that you are growing.
Hi Maya,
I am a novice gardener and still learning a lot of things. I was told by someone that `arali poo' (sorry don't know the english name) is inauspicious and should be removed from the garden. I am in a fix and don't know what to do. Can you advice?
Ganga
Hi GS! Thanks for checking in! Iwill update with some new pictures. With the weather warming up, the garden looks less scraggly and the blooms are coming in!
Hi Ganga!
Arali is Oleander (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleander). I think the reason for its reputation is that it's actually quite poisonous. The sap (milky white) causes a rash if it touches your skin and if my memory serves me right, the poison used to be a "poor man's" suicide potion.
Unless you have small kids who want to chew on leaves, I'd not worry about it. The butterflies love the sturdy sword shaped leaves to form chrysalises on and the flowers are abundant all year long (except frosty winter). It's a very low maintainance plant and is excellent for filling in the back drop. I'd keep it if I could! Good luck with your garden!
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