Gardeners! Share your garden photos and garden chatter here.

[SquarePeg]

Okay, we can file this discussion under the Strange Coincidence file.

A landscaper I've been chatting with about replacing the overgrown hostas and hydrangeas in the front garden texted me some mock-ups this morning. (Her sketches and some names of shrubs and flowers.) One I'd never heard of was called "Baptisia" - when I looked it up, it's AKA Blue False Indigo!

So, that's getting a thumbs up from me.

I am going to reject her butterfly bush suggestion (had one in Georgia, it was gorgeous, but I'd rather replace the idea with a native - Swamp Milkweed comes to mind).

Also rejecting peonies - I spent too many hours staking the ones at my mom's former house, dealing with the ants they attracted, etc., to ever be interested in having one. Yuck!

It also comes in other colors with cool names. I want the pink lemonade!
Not my photos..



I’m not a big peony fan. They’re gorgeous, but I can’t bring them indoors because the smell triggers my allergies and my scent sensitivities. And they make a huge mess when you don’t cut them and bring them in. So I’ve given away the two that were on the garden side of the backyard and I’ve left one on the side of the yard that I rarely go into.

Swamp milkweed is beautiful. I could send you some seedlings. Mine have reseeded and spread all over the butterfly garden. Lmk if you’re interested. Not sure if it will ship well but it does transplant easily.

 

[KJ_North]

 

[Rickbb86 1]

Veg patch coming along nicely.

 

[snowbear142 73]

No pics but we trimmed the rhododendron and a bit of the lilac, and got the bleeding hearts out of the containers. We pulled out some of the lilies and dug up a few dandelions. I may start cutting sod between and around the peonies, tomorrow.

One of the old wooden planters fell from the deck rail. I'll have to get some decent wood and replace them.

 

[AliDee]

No photos as we just moved houses and I'm trying to sort out what to do with the yard to make it look cuter. It's like a creative project though, so I'm definitely taking inspiration from this thread!

Also does anyone happen to know any good landscape planners or apps of sorts that could help with general visualization of everything?

 

[terri60]

Swamp milkweed is beautiful. I could send you some seedlings. Mine have reseeded and spread all over the butterfly garden. Lmk if you’re interested. Not sure if it will ship well but it does transplant easily.

Thank you! I have three already in my back yard, and are slowly spreading like yours, so I'm good.

I planted one lone one in the front garden late last summer after jamming it (still in a pot from the store) into the butterfly cage with a fat cat on it.

Once the chrysalis was in place, I ripped out a hosta in the front and planted it, still in bloom.

Wasn't sure it would return this year after the rough treatment, but it's out there now coming up nicely. Hardy things; they don't call them weeds for nothing!

 

[SquarePeg]

Thank you! I have three already in my back yard, and are slowly spreading like yours, so I'm good.

I planted one lone one in the front garden late last summer after jamming it (still in a pot from the store) into the butterfly cage with a fat cat on it.

View attachment 297273

Once the chrysalis was in place, I ripped out a hosta in the front and planted it, still in bloom.

Wasn't sure it would return this year after the rough treatment, but it's out there now coming up nicely. Hardy things; they don't call them weeds for nothing!

I think most plants are much less delicate than we think they are. If you’re on Facebook check out Jess and the account is called: You can do it gardening. She rips plants out of the ground, cuts them in half with a shovel, throws them into a pile of dirt and they come back and grow. She’s based here in New England, but most of her advice is valid for zone 6.

 

[terri60]

I think most plants are much less delicate than we think they are. If you’re on Facebook check out Jess and the account is called: You can do it gardening. She rips plants out of the ground, cuts them in half with a shovel, throws them into a pile of dirt and they come back and grow. She’s based here in New England, but most of her advice is valid for zone 6.

Interesting! My zone is 6b, I'm told.

I don't do FB anymore, so you'll have to share the wisdom here.

But yeah - I've been surprised before by things that came back after I thought they were totally gone. (The poor old clematis in my north-facing front yard being the exception - it all died and stayed that way.)

 

[Photo Lady]

 

[Inphoto59]

Cactus

 

[SquarePeg]

Garden updates -

The front fence beds are in full bloom. The roses look great from afar but up close the leaves are a mess. Sawfly larvae are eating them. The catmint can really stand up to this dry sunny salty bed by the sidewalk.

Drift roses. Pretty sure there’s a bunny den under there. We can coexist as long as they don’t eat every single thing.

The blooms on the Scentsation honeysuckle have started to open and the smell is heavenly!

The Major reporting for duty!

This Zéphirine Drouhin climbing rose is making its way around the front windows.

Foxglove, new this year, got crispy in the full sun out front so had to be moved. Finally got a few blooms.

 

[SunriseAvenue]

Also does anyone happen to know any good landscape planners or apps of sorts that could help with general visualization of everything?

There are some garden planners (here is a list that could give you directions) but normally I think you'd be fine just drawing it by hand and taking things like flowering time and height of plants/flowers under consideration, especially if you want pretty colors combinations and surely you don't want them taking sunlight from one another while growing@

 

[Photo Lady]

 

[terri60]

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Beautiful! Everything looks so lush and healthy.

 

[terri60]

Garden updates -

The front fence beds are in full bloom. The roses look great from afar but up close the leaves are a mess. Sawfly larvae are eating them. The catmint can really stand up to this dry sunny salty bed by the sidewalk.
View attachment 297345

View attachment 297346

Drift roses. Pretty sure there’s a bunny den under there. We can coexist as long as they don’t eat every single thing.
View attachment 297344

The blooms on the Scentsation honeysuckle have started to open and the smell is heavenly!
View attachment 297351

The Major reporting for duty!
View attachment 297350
View attachment 297348

This Zéphirine Drouhin climbing rose is making its way around the front windows.
View attachment 297347
Foxglove, new this year, got crispy in the full sun out front so had to be moved. Finally got a few blooms.
View attachment 297349

Curious - catmint has been recommended to me, and when reading about it apparently it's a big draw for neighborhood kitties, who glory in it as if it were catnip! Yours look unmolested by this love. Have you ever noticed any cats rolling in it?