Garden Overview

 I had a request to show more of the gardens in their entirety, so the following photos will attempt to do so.

Okay, I still had to show a couple of closeups as well.

This is the entrance from the back side of the garden.  This trellis matches the one on the other side of the lot.

That dark mass in the beginning that is swallowing the stepping stones are black scallop ajuga and let's just say they are spreading really well.

I'm going to be moving a bunch of it to the left between my neighbor and myself as the grass doesn't grow there anyway.

This view shows the trellis and the shed next to it.

I added moss roses in front of the raised bed because...you guessed it...the grass doesn't grow well there.

This is in front of the shed and next to the driveway and was the first part of the garden I'd started.

The hostas here are bigger because they are older. I've also added pulmanaria and ground cover.

There were some coral bells and coleus in there but the baby bunnies seem to have claimed them.

The photo below is the central part of the garden, again with lots of hostas. This is where the trellises begin and will be covered with vines eventually, if the bunnies leave them alone.

This is the entrance from the other side of the lot.  It's still primarily hostas but adding in some ferns, lilies, coral bells and other plants that tolerate a bit more sun.

This is the entrance from the neighbor's lot, where guests are welcomed by the welcome sign and the lady in red.  Lots of hostas and ferns.  The back of the cat cage has clematis planted on it.  They're doing much better this year and I'm hoping there's enough sun for some blooms.

The photo below is kind of a side angle view to show the bulk of the hosta garden. I like doing a mix of hostas with different colors and textures. This area has some dead nettle and brunnera as well because it's much shadier.

Ok, one last close up shot of the clematis on the side of the shed. This is Josephine and she's just starting to bloom.

The blooms are so big and showy and remind me of water lilies.

Long Live the Queen

Spring blooms

The gardens are starting to look good this year as they mature and have filled in. The groundcover (ajuga or bugleweed) is getting thick and I love the color when it blooms.

One of my favorite things are the vines, especially the clematis, which I have everywhere. 

This one isn't fully open yet, but will be soon.  It's called Josephine.

I love the combinations of colors and textures, like this heuchera (coral bells) and the ghost fern.

This is in the back area and gets a fair amount of sun, but the ferns seem to do just fine.

We have a very shady lot with five trees, so mostly I grow hostas and things that enjoy the shade.

It wouldn't be June without columbines.

This one is starting to naturalize so hopefully I'll have a nice clump of them eventually.

Another summer favorite is daisies.  

This is a nice clumping variety, not like the ones I had in Wisconsin that took over the empty lot next door.  It did look stunning, however.

This is a combination of a Japanese painted fern and a heuchera. The gold groundcover is lysimachia nummularia (moneywort) and the silvery one in the back is lamium (dead nettle ).

Well, that's been my tour for the day. My granddaughter has given me the use of her camera which makes it much easier to share these photos with you.

Long Live the Queen of the Garden