Found Time



Things are finally slowing down for me.  I have been playing softball two nights a week and sometimes on the weekend since late April.  But our softball season finally ended with a pizza party last night.  Not having something scheduled on Monday and Tuesday nights now seems like a luxury.  Somehow, that extra time on the calendar makes it feel as if other pockets of time have opened up.

I know this Moonflower bloomed a couple days ago for the first time but this is the first open bloom I have seen.

This morning, for example, I found a few extra minutes to wander in my garden before my work day began. 

A Zephyr Lily about to open.  Maybe tomorrow morning I will have a chance to check on its progress.

Most of the design-oriented blogs and books I have read suggest planting colors that will look good during the time of day that you are most likely to actually be in your garden.  I always thought that time was going to be late evening so I have planted a lot of whites and pale blues. 

I know containers "should" have a thriller, a filler, and a spiller but I gravitate toward the spillers.
This container includes both sweet potato vine and bacopa.

But more and more I am finding time to enjoy the garden in the morning.  The light is soft and gentle.  It is quiet in my neighborhood.  There are fewer things competing for my attention.  There is still water on the plants.  It feels tranquil and contemplative. 

Water glistens on the late summer growth of an Acer palmatum var. dissectum 'Orangeola'.

I have noticed, too, that when I take a stroll in the morning, I am less likely to feel compelled to do something.  In the morning, I don’t need to prune the roses, pick the weeds, sweep the patio, or move a clump of grass because there will be time and enough daylight for those things later. 

This is a phlox hybrid called 'Intensia Blueberry' by Proven Winners.  It's a new plant for me.
It could use some deadheading, but there will be time for that later on.

As autumn approaches, as the summer sun sets earlier, as the heat begins to relinquish its sway, I am thankful for extra time because I know that a gardener’s fall is filled with new chores, new things blooming, and new ideas.  I want to taste and to savor these beautiful mornings and stolen moments.  I want to have my fill and get fat on them because I know that soon enough the memories of these moments will need to sustain me until spring when everything, including softball, begins again.    

Acer palmatum 'Bloodgood' - A common Japanese maple with uncommonly beautiful coloring in spring and fall.

This is my back corner bed.  It is filled with plants and it is filled with chores.
But this morning I just enjoyed it and didn't try to edit anything.

Updated Shots of My New Bed

I've lost a few of the azaleas I planted in this new bed a couple months ago but everything else seems to be coming along okay.

April:

June:

April:

June:

A New Flower Bed

When you buy a house, you buy a landscape.  Some good and some bad.  When I bought this house I liked the shade from the mulberry tree, I liked the roses in the backyard, I liked the brick-bordered flower beds in the back yard.  But I hated the palm tree in the back corner, the sickly juniper in too much shade, and the formless jasmine under the front window.  We inherit wealth and we inherit genetic traits like alapesia.  Over the last several years I've been focusing on improving the "genetics" of my yard.

Some things, like the palm tree, were just begging to be torn out.  The jasmine in the front though has held its place largely because I didn't know what to do without it.  But then last weekend the wifey mentioned how she hates the jasmine.

It was a light bulb moment for me.  Within minutes I was outside cutting down and digging up the jasmine.  The next day I was at the nursery picking out plants.  And a few days later I was at the quarry picking out a thousand pounds of New England Tudor Stone.  Aside from some mulch, I'm just about finished.  

In this bed:

Hydrangea 'Nigra'

Azalea 'Gumpo White'

Azalea 'Fielder's White'

A potted Acer palmatum 'Kamagata'

Myosotis palustris 'Water Forget-Me-Not'

Lady Fern

And here's a picture of it all put together before the mulch goes in to cover the drip irrigation line.  It's also littered with droppings from the mulberry tree that will give this whole bed a lot more shade as the leaves fill in.

How's it Growing?

I was pretty excited to get my plants from Annie's Annuals planted and for the most part they are doing great. Except for the Double Innocence Delphinium which was evidently a delicacy for the snails in the yard:

'Double Innocence' eaten faster than a Double Stuffed Oreo

Speaking of delicacies, beer is one of my favorite yummy treats so I shared a bowl of Pyramid's Apricot Ale with the critters in the yard and in just over a day I was rewarded with this lovely bowl full of escargot:

Yummy

This may surprise you, but I chose not to sample my score and elected to dump it in the trash bin with the week's bucket of dog poop. I haven't decided which was more repulsive.

Mail Order Bliss

When I came home from lunch today I had a package waiting for me on the doorstep.

I purchased from Annie's Annuals and I was immediately impressed with the clever packaging that helped my new plants arrive in perfect condition.

My first purchase was a small 5-plant order of mostly white-flowering plants. The first here is a flowering tobacco.

The next plant is called Dianthus plumarius 'Hercules'. I chose this one because I think the cultivar name will remind people of my muscular stature.

And here is a white delphinium called 'Double Innocence'.

And this charming little sweet pea gal is 'Mrs. Collier'.

And finally, a blue plant to round out the group. Here is a young Aristea major.

These should get in the ground and in their pots this weekend. Final resting spot pictures will follow.