Huge Flowerbed Photo Shoot

These pictures were taken without the UV filter on my camera, because I dropped the thing a couple days ago, and managed to get the lens cap wedged into the filter. I've since gotten them apart again, but I was eager to get my pictures taken before the light went away.

This is the front corner bed. This has the most plants in it right now, but only because all the hyacinths are long gone, and the stuff in the other bed hasn't spread out yet, like it eventually will. I have several volunteered pansies that just came up on their own this spring, which I'm not at all complaining about, plus the two huge mums on the side of the brick post, and the clematis .. part of which is dying out for some reason and I've yet to really get in there to find out why. Oh, and irises, and somewhere back tehre are a few remaining gladiolis, but they're not blooming yet. I didn't bother taking pictures of them because they're not as interesting right now.

My hanging pot with pretty purple petunias in it. Eventually, these will just drape over the edge, and be a wash of color until the summer heat kills them .. but I'm going to try to put that off as long as possible, because aren't they just gorgeous!? I love the dark purple throats contrasted with the paler outsides.

More petunias .. I just got two plants of these Lemon Zest petunias, because they will spread everywhere if I let them. I really love this sunny yellow, and for some reason was on a huge yellow and purple kick this season.

One of my 4 Gerbera daisy plants, this one has spiky flowers, not the usual smooth ones. I had forgotten what color it was, because it had all but died when I had to wait so long to get the plants in the ground. Jason's momma convinced me I should try planting them anyway, and this little bugger's healthy as can be!

This is Blue False Indigo. I have a picture of what it -will- look like in a little while, because I found the same plant at Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens. This was blooming when I got it, but like the others that had to wait, it got a bit shocked. It's coming back nicely though.

I have the hardest time remembering what this is, for some reason. Probably because I have had hyacinths for two years, and have a hydrangea in the back. But it's a hibiscus. And I'm hoping it's going to do better. It still has a lot of buds on it, and I'm trying to keep it, but I'm afraid the poor thing is struggling. It's got beautiful yellow blooms though .. I told you, yellow and purple kick.

What's left of the plants from my Aerogarden I put in this little planter I've had forever .. but I'm unsure how they're handling the transition from water only to actual dirt. If they don't live, that's fine. but I figured I'd try to keep them if I could. If they don't make it I might get a couple plants from the garden center to replace them in this planter, because I really like it.

This is another plant I saw at Daniel Stowe. This one's called an iceflower, and it gets all drapey and mound-y. I figured it'd probably do alright planted in the small iron cauldron I have .. so that's where we put it. So far so good. We'll see how it does as it gets bigger.

I have a couple impatiens plants in the front of the corner garden, a bright white that's oh so pretty with the purple and yellow everywhere else. Their leaves browned a little .. I think I watered them with sun on them once, but they're still doing fine. I like them better than vinca, which is why they got planted this year.

My little garden gnome sits between a pretty purple Angelina (I think that's what it's called) and some other daisies I had in the original batch of plants. I have a white Angelina too, in the front bed. This one's much smaller, but seems to like where it's living. And of course, it has the gnome to keep it company.

This is the daisy on the other side of the gnome. It's flowering again, so I think I managed to rescue this one. I have another in a smallish planter that I don't think is doing as well and may need to be replanted. You can also see the cauldron beyond the daisy, in which the iceflower is living.

These pictures are of what I've heard called moss rose and portulaca. I love this plant, and I'm really hoping these little guys grow up. I got plants that seemed to have multiple colors of blooms, rathing than sticking with just one color. I have more of these in pots in the other bed, too.

Two different colors of cock's comb live in this planter which Jason bought for me a couple years ago which I usually can't find anything to put in, along with the other daisy like the one that sits near my gnome. The daisy isn't doing as well as I'd like, but I haven't given up hope.

The front garden doesn't look as impressive right now, but I'm hoping it'll improve as everything gets bigger. The bushes .. which look a little sad and scraggly I know, were about twice the size they are now. We gave them a severe haircut because they were over the bottoms of our windows, and just way bigger than I liked. Of course .. just today the lansdscaping crew is going around doing everyone else's bushes. But since I have the flowers planted, I'm glad we did ours already. They might trample my beauties!

I love verbena. I would have liked some other colors, but when we got this at Lowes, this was the only color they had. It fits with my purple and yellow theme though, and with three plants of it, it's going to be a lovely addition.

I got this little thing simply because of how utterly adorable it was. Jason called it a balloon flower, and it's the most precious thing I've seen. I had to have one. And since it likes full sun, I figured why not. And .. why yes. It -is- purple!

One of the few things that isn't purple, white or yellow in the garden, but I just loved the look of these. I forget what they are, but they look a little like petunias, only smaller. They do have yellow throats though .. so does that count for my theme?

A larger version of the purple Angelina in the corner garden, this one's white, and about three times the size of the purple. I just love the dainty-looking flowers though .. and they're a lot less dainty than they look! Watering this beauty doesn't knock the blooms off like it does off my poor hibiscus.

My two pots of portulaca/moss rose. These are looking stronger than the ones planted directly in the corner bed, but that coupld just be because the mulch covered some of those. I love the pink and brown pots though. I set them on some bricks to keep them from sitting -in- the mulch, and the bricks give me a place to step to reach the water spigot. Bonus!

One of my other Gerbera daisies. I have a total of 4, but only two are blooming right now. This one has the normal type of flower .. and look. It's white! I have another like this in the corner bed that isn't blooming again yet, and another in this bed that's a vibrant fuschia. Hopefully that one will start blooming again soon. It took the longest to recover from the near-death of having to wait to be planted.

Two years ago, I planted calla lillies. Actually, I planted a bunch of lilies, but only the callas ever came up. Last year though, nary a bloom. And I was just praying I would get a bloom this year.

Look! What's that! IS that a bloom? Why .. yes! Yes, it is. I looked out my window just yesterday and realized that what I thought was a leaf had some red on it. Red? Huh. So I wandered outside to take a look, and discovered .. that's not a leaf...

.. it's a bloom! I didn't even remember what color my callas were, and it appears they are a summery, almost tropical sort of yellow/orange with a lovely red edge. Hooray!

Last, but certainly not least is my wind-chimes and birdfeeder. This birdfeeder is a replacement for an el-cheapo plastic one that I broke trying to clean it out. The feeder doesn't like the seed blend I have, though, so I have to kinda futz with it. I might get some thistle or something a little smaller for the top part - it's a double feeder! - and just keep an eye on the bottom. I tell you one thing, the birda are definitely happier with this one than the old one.

So, that's my flowerbeds.

I also have an amazingly beautiful hydrangea in the back 'yard' .. and I say yard lightly because it's barely 8'x12' .. and a ton of day lilies that spread over to my garden from my neighbor's, which I don't mind at all.

The flowers start off beautifully pale cream, and slowly as they mature become a lovely blue. I love this thing. Last year it didn't do well at all. We had that hard freeze that killed it back something awful. But this year we're doing beautiful, and I couldn't be happlier. I'm gonna cut some of the blooms to take inside I think.

There's the lilies. They aren't all putting up flowers yet, though a few are. Ashley's are already starting to bloom. I might dig them up to separate some next year, and I may plant them on the other side of my privacy fence .. maybe. I dunno.