I LOVE gardening…In February, just like clockwork I’m getting antsy for Spring to come. Time to start ordering plants for this year and designing areas to put them in. I started looking through my phone at pictures of plants I have in my garden….hence this post.
I’m still enjoying all my Amaryllis, some have even started to bloom yet! But Spring will be here before you know it and I can’t wait to get out in the garden.
This year, I have hopes (notice I said hopes) of finally getting a greenhouse. I have been mulling around several types, but then saw one from the same company as my Gazebo…Backyard Discovery. We looked around for years for a Gazebo and couldn’t find anything that looked good and that was built good. Until we saw this one from Backyard Discovery. It is so well built, heavy and aesthetically appealing.
So I thought this may be a good greenhouse. It will blend in with the other elements in my back year and is built well. It takes a huge amount of snow load. The size is 13 x 11 feet. The price on it is not cheap, but if it’s anything like my Gazebo, well worth the price. And this is the larger model. They also have a smaller 9 x 6 foot model for a lot less cost. I just don’t want to get something small and wish I got it bigger.
I have quite a few projects to get to. I have to finish the walkways, edging and gardens around my new “she shed”. It’s been a work in progress. I put quite a few shrubs in last year. I was planning on just making the garden next top the shed all bushes for low maintenance. BUT…thought I would put some perennials in as well. I have to be careful though….lately I have had rabbits….hungry rabbits! And a woodchuck…..Everything I have planted so far is supposedly plants that rabbits don’t like but the variety is so limited.
I was just watching a YouTube episode on Garden Answer and they just got a load in of Hellebore’s. I looked it up and they say Hellebore’s are poisonous to rabbits. So I don’t they will go near them. It’s so annoying buying plants, planting them and coming out the next day to see them eaten to the ground. They bloom in Early to Late Spring in my area, so a great plant to start off the season. They have some that have variegated leaves, so they are beautiful all season. So have to get some of them.
HERE ARE SOME OF MY FAVORITES:
Every year I add more daylilies to my garden. Daylilies are my favorite. They are low maintenance, bloom for a long time and are gorgeous. Every year they get bigger and bigger and more blooms. I probably have 35-40 daylilies in varying areas and loads of mini Stella Doro daylilies I use as ground cover. All you do is clean up the dead leaves (you can do it with one hand) in Fall or Spring and get ready for more blooms. I have a garden right next to my pool that is all daylilies. I enjoy their blooms all Summer while floating in the pool.
And if I’m lucky I see a few hummingbirds enjoying the honeysuckle around the garden arbor.
As far as annuals go, you can’t go wrong with Angel Wing Begonias. I grow LOADS of these every year. They can take being without water with no problem, bloom all the way until at least Halloween and have a gorgeous display of flowers. Put them in a pedestal planter and you have a show stopper.
Hydrangeas are my favorite shrub. I have them in a ton of varieties. They bloom for a lengthy amount of time. you can cut the flowers for arrangements and are hardy enough, you can depend on them year after year. There are two different varieties in the above picture.
Irises are another beautiful and dependable perennial plant. They have tubers that grow horizontally and are usual very close to the surface of the soil. Their display of color is like none other.
I grow herbs in a small garden right outside my back door. When I need fresh herbs they are just steps away. They are also steps away from my outside kitchen, so when I’m cooking out there they are very accessible.
Every year I buy a huge…and I mean huge Rosemary. As I walk by I sweep my hands through it. I love the smell.
For now I have to dream….until Spring.
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