Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Critter Farm Spring Garden Report #1: Flowers


Warmer weather has returned to Oregon! We had an unbelievably hot and beautiful weekend that lured us all outside to bask and delight in the sun. It's been good for the spirit, good for my smile, and GREAT for the garden!! It is amazing to me how different a garden can look in the sunshine. Have you noticed this? I could hardly take two steps without wanting to stop and take a picture of something that caught my eye. So, do you want to see what's growing and blooming in my garden right now?

Ok! But first....
Let me take you back to December 20, 2008:

And here's Sunday, May 17, 2009. What a difference five months can make:

Spring is, without a doubt, my favorite season now.

Lilacs. I love lilacs more with each passing year. This white one has a scent that is delicate but potent and the blooms are quite different than my other two varieties. These blooms seem much more compact and sturdy:

This guy, though, is putting on quite a show this year, too. The dark purple color is stunning:

This light purple little one is still quite young and is trying awfully hard to keep up with the older, bigger kids in the background:

I decided to turn my former half-wine-barrel-turned-fish-pond into a planter this year. I added a few climbing sweet pea plants and a trellis:

I'm hoping for some incredibly striking blooms and a delightfully spicy scent from this heirloom variety some time in the near future:

If all goes well, I won't forget to water my pretty new barrel planter. This is the second sweat pea variety I planted in my barrel:

The Columbine seems significantly taller than last year:

My shade-loving hostas are growing well despite the direct sunshine that this time of year can bring to this section of the garden:

I've noticed that this bed needs some of my attention. It is filled with a variety of lovely shrubs and bulbs, but things have become quite overgrown and messy looking. Who mixes chives with blueberries and bluebells anyway?:

The peony bush is about to burst into bloom. Giant, gawdy pink blooms will upstage everything else in the garden in a week or so:

The Foxtail Lily's blooms are developing nicely:

Perennial Cornflower, Centaurea Montana:

The Snow in Summer is very happily cascading over the rock wall:

My Clematis loves the country life, it would appear. I've had it in this pot for about five years now and this is the first year it's grown so tall. It's over eight feet tall at this point:

Next up: A tour of the veggies and herbs I've got growing. Or maybe I'll show the fruit first. I just don't know yet. It'll be a surprise, ok?


December 21, 2008:

Bye, bye winter, you JERK.

15 comments:

  1. Ha Ha Ha!!!! Bye Bye winter (you jerk) for good for me...famous lasts words!!
    Your gardens are spectacular Danni...how do you keep up!

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  2. I am so impressed, I can't begin to tell you. I had no idea you had such a green thumb. The winter/spring comparison is jaw-dropping! Now just make sure Pete and Reggie don't ever find their way into this paradise.

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  3. I originally came by to see something nice. But you ruined it by posting blooming lilacs. Since mind are just now budding. And while it's been warming up on this side of the mountain, it's supposed to hit 28 tonight.

    So I am NOT going to say anything nice, just stare at your gorgeous photos and pout. Maybe even shed a tear. :)

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  4. You have so many of my favourite plants & flowers. I'm envious! I just realized this year that Spring is my favourite season too. So much new growth, beauty, and hope for warmer weather & good things to come.

    Enjoy your little Eden.

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  5. Your flower garden looks *great!*
    It would appear you are like your clematis: enjoying the country life.

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  6. "What a difference a day", I mean five months, makes! Beautiful lilacs, and when the Sweet Peas bloom . . . what a delightful present to your senses it will be.

    Happy Springtime!

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  7. I love your garden. You have so many more flowers than I do. I have always wanted to grow some of those blue cornflowers. I think they would do well here.

    And what is the name of that bush that is growing around and behind your Snow in Summer plant? I inherited one of those when I moved here and I don't know what it is, but I do know the deer think it is delicious!

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  8. Oh now, Meadowlark, don't be sad...when my lilacs are all spent and brown, you'll be the one posting photos and exclaiming about the scent in your garden! (28 degrees? Really? Ugh.)

    Hey, farmer jen, the bush that is growing around and behind the Snow in Summer is called an 'Emerald 'n Gold' (Wintercreeper) Euonymus. Supposedly, if given a structure, it will climb, too.

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  9. Thats one good looking garden you got going on there. And I think I can smell those lilacs all the way over here...that is one of the flowers that I miss most here at the house.

    Everything is so green and vibrant. So full of color. Spring is the best. All the new growth and just the idea of renewed strength. Seeing those flowers coming back larger and larger every season.

    Speaking of growth...is that vine still gone that we cut down last year? And about a week you say before those peonies pop open? Really? Only a week? What about those sweet peas? Maybe a few more before they spring into action???

    I have a few hostas that I need to move. They are getting sunburned. Lime green is quickly changing to lime yellow.

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  10. I think your garden has said goodbye to Winter.Spring is such a beautiful time of the year and you have a really lovely garden that just shouts "SPRING".
    Do you fertilize your Lilacs? They are blooming so well. I don't have much luck with them here.

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  11. Yes, frugalmom, that ucky scale-infested vine is still gone. I'm afraid to plant anything new there. I am totally eeked out by scale. blech. If I had to place a wager on the peony, I'd say a week or so, but it may be stubborn and hold out for 3 weeks.

    Hi farmlady - I do NOT fertilize my lilacs. I learned my lesson on that at my old house - I fertilized those babies real good and then, the following spring, I got the most lucious, beautiful healthy looking leaves imaginable ....and not a single bloom! I was so disappointed!

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  12. Your place is looking so gorgeous! And I love the lilacs...I had one small white french lilac on the side of my house in Tennessee which grew intertwined with an elderberry. I miss that fragrance!
    :)

    Robbyn

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  13. Everything is beautiful, but those lilacs, especially the white ones make my heart go pitter-pat!

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  14. OK I am still laughing at the "bye, by winter, you JERK" comment. Ha ha! I needed that...your plants are lovely.

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