I resisted doing G is for Garden since I just posted F is for Flowers. I thought perhaps I was being redundant. But last week I raked out the perennial bed and now every time I walk by it I can’t help but notice how fresh and green it looks. And since there are no flowers this time of year, I think perhaps it’s not redundant after all.
This is my perennial garden. Please ignore the big brown patch in front – yes, we need to re-seed. I moved many of these plants here from my old house when Dale and I got married nearly 11 years ago. People told me it was the wrong time of year and the plants wouldn’t survive and I was wasting my time. They were wrong.
Look at these day lilies. They came from a neighbor at my old house. She was very very old and said these day lilies had been in her yard since she was a little girl. I cannot find this variety in any book. I’ve even checked with a friend who is a day lily expert and she hasn’t been able to identify them. They’ll be in bloom in about a month and I know I’ve posted about them before but I’ll be damned if I can find it.
See the ground phlox? My mother bought me one small flat of this on my first mother’s day in 1993. It has spread and grown and every year when it blooms it brings back such sweet memories.
The peonies are just starting to send up their red shoots. These are the plants everyone said wouldn’t survive the move. I’m really glad they did, though! The gorgeous white blooms always come right in time for Dale’s birthday and he loves them.
This poppy is the first successful poppy I have ever grown. I planted them for years and they never came back but this one is back for the third year running now. Hooray! I love their papery thin bright orange petals.
The iris I could probably live without but they do make a nice tall green back drop for the other plants. And they grow without any effort and there’s a lot to be said for that.
Later in the season there will be tall phlox and hollyhocks, black eyed susans and more, but for right now I love seeing all my plants coming back to me after the long cold winter. It’s the fulfillment of a promise we made to each other. I plant and weed and care for them and they grace me with their beauty. It’s a pretty sweet deal.
Lovely G! (Of course I would say that.) The dogma is that peonies should only be moved in the fall. Of course, plants often have their own ideas on things (like knitting). For example, you are probably the only person on the planet who thinks iris are easy. Everyone else gets iris borer and has to fuss with them every year to get them to live to the next year. I planted one last year, it lasted through bloom, and then something insectoid got it. I assume your daylily isn’t hemerocallis flava? That usually blooms about that time. I’m sure I’ve seen a picture, and I’m not remembering.
I can’t to see it in full bloom! Very sweet deal indeed 🙂
A good garden is a holy ground, home to an annual revival. It does the spirit good. I think Laurie should expound on the whole plants have ideas on knitting, don’t you?
Garden is a perfect G! I get great enjoyment from my gardens and I can tell you do as well 🙂
I love my garden, too! Yesterday I was taking inventory – my peonies are looking good, my lilac has tons of buds on it this year, and so on. I get the most excited about the plants that I remember my grandma and mom growing. 🙂
Your garden is doing to be so beautiful in a month or so!
My ground phlox is slowly receding — I need to weed it vigorously and probably mulch as well. I haven’t had good luck with irises, but I probably planted them in the wrong place. Day lilies, however, multiply like mad and cannot be killed. I don’t really like them, so I don’t have any.
The great thing about plants is that they don’t usually read the gardening books. All they really care about is surviving and reproducing.
I wish I were a gardener. Can we see it later when it is in full bloom?
It’s going to be lovely!!
I love daylilies. They’re so vibrant. And so much fun to deadhead, especially if I’m in a bad mood.
A garden just waking up after a long winter is an encouraging sight.
I guess spring is here after all! It’s wonderful that your plans all have memories attached. I have some in my yard that do too.
I used to think I didn’t like perennials so much because they needed to stay put. You couldn’t just move them around and mix things up when you got bored with your garden. And who knew where they were really at? That’s when I moved a lot.
Now that I’m staying put and I’ve planted a few perennials, it’s one of the most delightful things about spring. They come back. Like old friends. When you love and care for them (and even sometimes when you’re a wee bit neglectful) they’re always there for you. You’re right. It’s a very sweet deal. I love this G post Carole! XOXOXOX
I think those unique daylillies are the coolest.
Thats a great G. I love the perennials and there is something very exciting about having fresh beds full of things that are just sprouting. Irises are my favorite flower though and unfortunately they got beat up pretty badly by the gardeners this week. So sad.
As someone who has moved a Lenten Rose from one house to an apartment and then two houses, I totally understand!
What a lovely G, Carole.
What would we do without the promise of Spring that perennials bring with them? Your daylilies, peonies, and iris are so much further along–perhaps you have had more sunny days to encourage them. We are still in the midst of crocus splendor here, with other plants just beginning to peek out. My peonies are mere red nubs just breaking the soil. Tulips and daffodils are hesitant to open, due to cold and repeated *”frozen precipitation showers.” *(My son and husband have forbidden the use of the “S-word” as it brings on the Evil Eye…doesn’t seem to make a difference so far. “S-word” is predicted for the weekend, through Tuesday possibly. Icky…but does encourage quality time with cups of hot tea and knitting projects!)
Thanks for the virtual tour of your garden. I must admit that I’m a little jealous. We just move and are renting a house with the dullest back yard ever. I’d love to put in a garden, but I’m not going to go through all that work just to leave it behind. I need pots, lots and lots of pots.
I love your garden. Apartment living doesn’t come with a garden – darn it! I love phlox – we called it creeping phlox in Tennessee and I remember planting some on my hillside and watching it spread each year.
Nice pictures — it gives me hope that we’ll have something green on the Canadian prairies in a few weeks, too. I’m just thankful that the snow is finally gone. Happy gardening!
How wonderful to have memories linked to your plants. I never knew that moving plants from one location to another could be so successful. If we move from this house, I’m digging up my calla bulbs.
Exploring the garden is fun, isn’t it? I’ll have to take a look at my peonies to see if there’s any activity there. The only blooms I have now are daffodils–though most all of them in front were trampled to the ground today by a group of workmen! Argh.
Any time you want to divide your ancient daylilies let me know- I’d love a fan/ division to put in my garden. I believe that’s the one I questioned you about last year. And it’s absolutely beautiful. Willing to trade you a division of one of mine 🙂 And peonies are hardier to abuse than people think. I got one from someone’s property that was going up for sale and the owner allowed many of us to take what we wanted plant-wise. I scored 3 of them that lived in a plastic bag propped against my house for a whole hot summer until it was planted later in the fall. That was 9 years ago and they haven’t died yet.
that’s a great G post – and no, not redundant at all.
Your perennials look alot like mine, and interestingly enough, seem to be at the exact same growth stage. how’d that happen?(grin)
I love the stories behind the flowers – and the connection to our history.
Glad to see you are getting some spring there too – it’s been great here for the most part, but yesterday it actually snowed.