U P T O N K I N G
I've been dividing my time between the north house and south. The north house, I have a good deal of help keeping it up and the soil is good. The south house is just a frightful mess; poor soil, and I'm on my own.
South house first...
Bush... Is in the front. I took that pic in April. It blooms for 2 days and then nothing. The leaves turn from black to green to red to black. Oddest thing. I feel sorry for it, as it is under a giant pine tree and another smaller tree and crunched up against the deck now.
[This looks like a slightly less glam version of Ms Scarlet's Big Pink Bush™ - IDV]
The front is a bunch of garbage lilies which keep sliding down the hill in the front. This year, milkweed sprung up and as I'm all for helping butterflies and the like, I decided to keep them. The backyard too...
Although, I never took pics of the backyard. Too sad. All hostas, marigolds, strawberry and raspberry plants. And lilacs. We had a bumper crop of raspberries this year.
[These are the Hostas out the front - IDV]
Let's see... Marigolds, along the side of the deck in front, and in planters. Before and after photos. Some came up all on their own [see final photo of this post - IDV]. In the backyard, had a huge bunch by the back door. It was a good year... Lots of rain. I like it when they aren't dependent on me.
Red things: they come from a house two down... Hers are six feet tall... Mine, due to crappy soil, well... you see how they struggle. They came up on their own, and I love free stuff, so... They stayed.
[As identified last year by both The Official Plant Spotter of Hexenhäusli Device and its Extended Witchdom, nay, All of Blogdom Itself, Jon. Oh, and mrpeenee - IDV]
Pathetic sad circle garden... Rescued mums, rescued hostas, red things and yarrow from the backyard that I had to split because it was threatening the little side garden in the backyard where the marigolds won the war this year.
I took the pics of the lilacs on October 27th. They were blooming for a second time. The hostas and daffodils also bloomed twice this summer. Very odd.
Oh, and the sad little stone path which went nowhere... It is still in that state. I am too lazy to finish it. Next year maybe. A neighbor was throwing away the stone and I, liking free things, glommed on to them.
[I took the liberty of including the marigolds that "came up all on their own" in this final photo - IDV]
That's the south house. Took pics starting in April. None of the backyard... Which, I guess, speaks for itself. Shame?
To be continued...
The first picture looks like an Azalea to me. There are so many varieties and they tend to like bright shade. I wish I could grow a buttload of marigolds, but we have tons of slugs and they seem to love marigolds. Even daylilies (what you call garbage lilies) can't thrive here because they get too much deer and rabbit pressure.
ReplyDeleteAzalea... yes. That's it. Oddest leaf coloration pattern. And it manages under the shade of two trees. It's actually a bit fuller than it looks in the photo. But it only has blooms for two days in April. Such a stingy bloomer.
DeleteThe Marigolds seem to love you! They are such cheerful flowers - my mum used to go mad planting them everywhere.
ReplyDeleteI am too lazy to finish off projects in the garden - or too forgetful. The rain and mud tends to put me off, and I let the dandelions grow because the Goldfinches like eating them. Letting nature take over in some areas is a good thing.
Sx
As I keep saying... I love free stuff. And I simply collect the seeds throughout the summer when I pluck their little dead heads - otherwise they stop pushing out blooms - and dry them for the next year. No slugs, no snails... I think the soil is toxic or something.
DeleteI can't grow marigolds, African, French or otherwise because the slugs and snails love em. My grandad used to propagate lilies in mid autumn, simply by pulling them up halfway and pushing them back down, that action would cause the scales on the bulb to break away and would in time take root, creating more plants, it's a shame to grow lilies and not have a funeral.
ReplyDeleteOh, trust me, not only are we grieving the end of summer (still) we are also grieving the events of November 5th. Where's a lily when you need it?
Deletewhere's a lily when you need one? vacationing in Africa apparently.
DeleteHa ha!
DeleteOh, there's an interesting story about the tiny PRIDE flag in the circular garden of doom... the BF put it there in June. Throughout the month, the squirrels would steal it and ravage it a bit. By the end of June it looked like a flag that fought a war and lost. Who knew squirrels were such homophobic a-holes?
ReplyDeleteCrazy! I'd have never thought squirrels could be so judgmental! I've met nice rats with more personality than squirrels though, and they'd probably enjoy the bright colors of a PRIDE flag to decorate their abode.
DeleteWhat?!? How did I miss the start of this in my reader??? And if this is Mr. Uptonking's bad house gardens, I can't wait to see the other house! I thought this garden was very pretty myself.
ReplyDeleteMr Tonking certainly does have green fingers despite his comments to the contrary.
DeleteA path to nowhere can be a magical thing.
ReplyDeleteEspecially if it weaves through roses and lilies as beautiful as Mr Tonking's!
DeleteI love Hemerocallis ("garbage lilies"? where did they get that name from?), but I never got on with those French marigolds (Tagetes ). Our own native "Pot Marigolds" (Calendula) always did so much better, and self-seeded all over the last garden.
ReplyDeleteKeep at it, Mr Tonking! You'll get it all sorted eventually 😀. Jx
I'm hoping my allotment Hemerocallis will proliferate as much as Mr Tonking's have.
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