You are much too hard on yourself... You did a great job and everyone I know that gardens is constantly moving plants around... I think everything looks fantastic, I really do!

Carrie

Whattayatalkinabout? Your gardens are pretty! Your plants are healthy and will bloom more and fill out more when it starts attacting like JULY instead of MAY in the NorthEast!!!!

Really, I have never seen my garden acting so weird. Annuals are NOT growing, forget about flowering. Yet a handful are doing just fine. I was out in the garden all day today and the rudbeckias and purple coneflower are blooming early, yet I don't have even one Zinnia flower. Some dalhias growing at a normal rate, some seemingly sitting their waiting for a plane to florida. Portulaca, petunias, anything heat loving is tiny,tiny. Don't even ask about my impatiens.

So buck up - - It is NOT your design or WSing skills!!! It's where we live.

Nancy

Sadie! You are going better than me! I actually love that hedge as a background, its so meticulously trimmed!

Your beds are beautiful Sadie.

Try and remember that garden beds are always a work in progress and many of the pics of beds that you are seeing posted have been done over many, many years.

It is not uncommon for one to dig out and move plants, both annual and perennial from year to year. OR find that what we thought would look good, actually doesn't.

Planting perennials can be tough. They are usually not mature plants when they are planted and how they look when you first plant them and how they look several years down the road, is the difference between night an day.

You are in RI, so you are having a very strange growing season like the rest of New England and many others across the country, including myself.

Nothing is blooming they way it should be, growing the way it should be. Too much rain, too cool, not enough sun. For that matter, no sun.

My seedlings look like they are frozen in time from this crazy weather.

I wouldn't start to make big decisions this year on moving anything. Nothing is looking normal this year.

Now if you don't like the looks of certain annuals together, that is something different. Just dig out one and move it or move both.

You've got some beautiful blooming plants. I've got very little blooming now and usually my beds are blooming like crazy.

Wait and see how the rest of the season goes and see if things look better to your eye if we get some warmth and sun and things really start to take off and bloom.

Fran

Hi:

I love the side garden! Everything you read above about being patient, and this year being weird, is true. But that garden looks great. Flopping daisies? I like that look. Mine do that too :) . I really like the height that your mullein and evening primrose have, so I'd say replace them only if you find other things with those heights. Even if it's not blooming at all, the mullein is an interesting spike. It's a biennial, so I guess you do need something else there next year! Is there a seedling in the yard that you can move over there?

The left side would look nice with the same amount of depth as the right side, but that's the side the groundhog owns, isn't it? I don't know what to tell you about that.

I have moved peonies several times, and never when people recommend. The time I dug one just as it was poking "thorns" out of the ground was the best--it still bloomed that year. The important thing about peonies is that they not be planted too deep. Sometimes they settle after a few months, so you have to watch for that--don't loosen the soil beneath them, or do plant them a bit high.

I wish I had that hedge as a backdrop to some of my gardens! I don't post pictures of certain flower beds, because what's behind the flower bed looks awful.

Hi

I also like your garden. I do agree that I would wait until next year and see what how things continue to look. As for your 4 legged friend. I think they only live for 5 or 6 years. I have two that dine in my garden and when that happens you don't have a true picture. You turn around and find something else that has been eaten. I had some morning glories in a tree stump out back. The stump is actually a cluster of 3 and is 2 - 3 feet off the ground. Well, they never even got the chance to start growing too well. Darn woodchucks. Give it time. If you still don't like it. Stand back and think about what you don't like and where you would move it to. The plants that flop over you could always stake up and see what you think. You can do it and make it the way you want it to be. See how far you have come in only one year.

Good luck

Linda

I have shared many a pictures and every one loves my flowers. But that is not say of I am happy how they look. Each their own somw like the packed and the jam packed some like it sparse some like it very formal and some are happy with everything just planted no matter where it goes or whatever the plant likes.

But the point I am making is that when you are happy with your garden and just can't even think of adding another plant to your garden or jungle as some of us have then well it is just time to get more land. Which a new house and starting from fresh. But you also have to remember is that no two houses have the same growing conditions even in the same zone. What might grow like a jem at one place might not make it at another.

And the syaing goes

first year they (the plants) sleep
second year they creep
third year they leap

But I agree your garden is lovely and the rest of the plants will mature at their own rate.

Paula

I'm only in my second full year of doing anything related to gardening. Talk about disappointment.

Your gardens are a beautiful work in progress. If it wasn't for our freaky east coast weather you'd have more blooming and your impression would be different. I'm jealous of your garden beds just the way they are!

I have 4 groundhogs who aren't going anywhere and will breed more. Have herd of deer and rabbits.

I also have big clumps of Liatris foliage which will not have any blooms again this year. Looks idiotic sitting up near the mailbox but I doubt anyone notices lack of flowers but me since no one around here even tries to grow anything that blooms because of critter problems. Looks like some kind of grassy clump to most people.

Groundhogs ripped down 3 huge Echinacea Ruby Star which were centerpiece of one container "bed" behind 8 rose bushes the deer ate down to bare stalks. Groundhogs ate Campanula. I sprayed deer repellant on other echinacea so deer bit off all the buds and just spit them out on the ground.

Those echinacea are now bare stalks up by the mailbox next to the pile of bare Liatris foliage.

I feel embarassed by my "beds" but others think any color is an improvement over the "nothing" they've got in my father's neighborhood. Even if everything were blooming I'd still have to work long and hard on refining placement and combinations. Have trouble visualizing before I plant.

You have lovely plants. I, too, want to have the beautiful garden layouts and combinations I see in so many garden photos here. I'm not there and may never be with all the critter damage all year long combined with my lack of experience.

You've already got the basics all laid out in your beds and with some help from Mother Nature this year you'll have annuals to fill in with some color where you feel you need it.

Like the more experienced gardeners have said, stand back and see what turns up with next year's weather and "flower power"...then you can rearrange things and try out that look for a while. If you want to tweak it you can move plants again.

Yesterday I was scrambling for things that will bloom to plant among and/or replace things critters have eaten down or destroyed. All I have left in containers is Zinnia, Cosmos, a few splayed Agastache whose color doesn't match beds, Bronze Fennel & Viola. Darn groundhogs and others will destroy everything but the Bronze Fennel which doesn't have flower power. They also ate the flowers off purchased Lantana. Peverse.

Know how you feel but I'd give anything to have beds as full as yours with as much "normal weather" potential as yours have.

For only being in that house less than 2 years you've got great beds in which to plant and lots of plant material already to work with.

Next year there'll be more blooming and you can find something for the groundhog's end of the one bed. If I insist on symmetry with plants where I know they'll get eaten I'll always be ticked off and disappointed. We have to learn to plant whatever they won't eat (?) and adapt our original vision.

In the 2 out of 5 beds where I get enough sun I'm taking advice of other posters and for next year trying to concentrate on plants from "poisonous" Ranunculaceae family to minimize groundhog and other critter damage. That along with Nepeta, Salvia, lots of 4 O'Clocks, Agastache and few others I have yet to discover.

Talked too much about "me" but trying to let you know you're certainly not the only one who's disappointed (too soon) and that you already have great beds that will produce better when Mother Nature allows.

I'd kill to have room for Peonies...LOL. You're doing great and don't see it yet. I'm looking forward to more pictures of your beds as things progress. :)

Leslie

I would have to echo everyones thoughts!

1. I think you already have a pretty cottage effect going on in your gardens, you are being too hard. No garden is perfect, the conditions this year has made EVERYthing slower . Annuals are weeks behind in some cases!

2. You already have very nice garden structure with the background plantings. If you are unhappy with color or effects maybe infuse with more foilage plantings. I would also put some roses in =). But thats me =). In your zone you could get away with sooooo many different ramblers!, Ha! I already have zone envy against you =P.

Silverkelt

Give yourself a pat on the back. Recognize what you have accomplished already. You garden is very pretty now and it is a work in progress. You have accomplished much in 2 years. Your garden only has to please you. If you don't like the primrose, compost it and wintersow something more to your liking to replace it. I've been redoing my yard for 26 years. Every fall it seems I move half of my plants. Most have their value, their downfall is placement by some idiot (me).

Believe Paula about the sleep, creep, leap thing, it is so true. Your butterfly weed should dazzle you next year. If you pick the first pods, BTW, it will rebloom in late summer. Your nasturtium look much better than mine. Mine are yellow and suffocating from all the rain.

My only advice would be to give yourself and your garden more time. Each year it will be more mature. Aim for the look you want, knowing that the trip there is sometimes a slow one.

Karen

Sadie,

I looked at the photos, read the comments, then went back to the photos to see what everyone had seen. I would echo many of the comments.

First, lets remember that 'instant' does not happen in gardens such as ours. Even though we know that, I still repeat that thought to myself even after many years of gardening. It's a work of art which we are creating in partnership with unknowns such as the weather, conditions of the soil, and other living things such as your groundhog. (Unfortunately the groundhog does not see it as a partnership.)

I must say that I do like the look of your garden. You comment that the Mullein must go, but I have to agree with Stage Rat - it provides a place for the eye to go, height, and is a statement in itself. At this point I'll also mention that it appears the groundhog does not eat it?? A plant I would definitely keep growing since this appears to be the case so hopefully you have seedlings to keep it going since it is a biennial.

Don't be scared to move the Peonies. Consider that they are something you want to see when they bloom and their foliage lasts all season so they could be used as foliage fillers for the rest of the year. Again, Stage Rat's recommendation that the crowns appear on top of the soil is crucial for bloom.

The Asclepias is nice! Again, another plant the groundhog won't eat since it's poisonous/toxic to them, so you might like to try some Incarnatas or other varieties. There are other plants which they won't eat for the same reason so do a bit of research and see if you would like them in your gardens. I have a deer issue and Monkshood are great plants, Poppies, Foxgloves and others. I've stopped fighting the battle somewhat and now plant things they don't like. Your Yarrow also appears undisturbed and there are many varieties with stunning colors out there.

So take a chair and go sit a few feet from your garden. It's actually quite beautiful. :O) That's not to say that everything is where you want it, but consider the plant and what it is doing for your garden then make a decision as per moving/culling based on the adversities you face, bloom time, whether you like it or not, foliage staying power, purpose, etc. Oh, and consider that next year it will all be different whether you change anything or not this year!

Give it time Sadie! I think your garden is looking pretty good myself! I just cut some Shasta Daisy WAY back that were growing in the back garden which flopped everywhere. No problem, they'll just bloom later on shorter plants :)

I see some pretty blooms in pic 4!! Not sure why you think nothing is blooming there?
What is that pretty purple flower blooming in pic 6? The one labeled Coreopsis, Catmint and Butterfly Weed? That's not Catmint (Nepeta) but those purple ones blooming in the last pic definitely are.

Wow, Sadie, I agree you are being too hard on yourself. Your garden is quite lovely. Ditto to all the above comments - things are looking good; be patient and give it time; if you don't like something, move it; congratulate yourself for what you've done so far.

Sorry I can't help with the groundhog, though. Things are looking pretty darn good despite him, though, I think!

:)
Dee

Sadie, this is my third summer with my current garden (well, technically the 4th, but the first summer we had a dirt yard). It's also my third year wintersowing. Other than agreeing with everyone about the need for patience, and giving yourself credit, I thought I would tell you what helped me through the first year.

* Stand out there with a pad and pen, now while things are blooming, and make notes of what you think should be moved, and where it should go. I even sketched little maps of each bed, so I would have something to help me remember where things were in the spring when I'm ready to plant, but not everything's up yet. In the fall, when things have quit blooming and you're ready to start moving things, it may be hard to remember what the plan was, if you don't write it down, at least for me it is.

* Stand out there looking at the garden beds (yeah, my neighbors probably thought I was a weirdie) and decide what color, height, etc. each empty area needs, and make notes so you don't forget. Then get online and research things that fit that description, keeping in mind how much sun the area gets. When winter arrives, wintersow all of the things you think would give you the look you are going for.

* Rinse and repeat. Seriously though, each year, I find things that don't look the way I thought they would, either the color isn't right, or they or too big or tall for the spot I put them in. I either try to find a spot where they would look better, or I dig them up, put them in a pot, and take them to a plant swap, or give them to a neighbor. The beauty of wintersowing is that I can try so many things without spending much money at all, so I don't feel as bad about replacing something that's not working.

I'm sorry that I don't have any advice on the groundhog. Can it be trapped and relocated?

Bonnie

Sadie
Like all the others above, I think your gardens are lovely. Its always a work in progress and like many others I too move stuff around yearly, shovel prune alot and plain pull others and toss them into the compost piles. This is only your second year at that home and its doing great. I've been working on my yard since 1998, and in my opinion it always needs some changing around, :)
Alberta

seriously...THANK YOU to all of you for your encouragement. I just have had a few weeks of looking around and thinking "I spend so much time and money on seeds, growing, translplanting, etc. and it doesn't even look that great!" nice to commiserate with some other new englanders who have been suffering thanks to mother nature!

Bonnie- great advice to write down things now. I wish I had done it in June as well. All your kind words re-inspired me to get back out there. I pulled and moved a gazillion verbena bonariensis seedlings (will dead head for sure thsi year) and funny thing is I noticed several things that I swear were not budding yesterday when I took those pics! gazania with buds, dahlias with buds, even a gaillardia first year. karen- I even spotted a bloom on my 1st year maltese cross which you sent me as an extra with the sea holly. vera- yes that is a catmint, nepeta select blue seeds from swallowtail gardens. there is also armeria.

lastly I did some retail therapy...No, I dont' want shoes or clothes...I bought 3 varieties of joe pye, (white, pinka and chocolate) and a lemon queen heliopsis. felt guilty spending SO much but think of all I have saved with WSing!

anyway. thanks again!

What?
I can't believe you think you have failed. I think it is very nice. Lots of color.
I think the cool weather is really doing a number on everyone. There is no
control over Mother Nature.

And, the great thing about gardening , is during the winter you can
make plans where you want to lay out your new plants the next spring.

What are you going to do about the ground hog?

Mary

I have to agree with everyone, you did a great job. in the past I have moved things around a lot.

I am a nebie to WS'ing but you have done really well. (probably better than I have for sure)

I think we are always harder on ourselves. I have never thought I have a great garden. then recently a jogger stopped when I was outside and told me how much she loves my beds. She said she loves looking at it when she goes by.
I then decided to not be so hard on myself. I have some pretty gardens and someday they will be even prettier.

Good Job Sadie!!!
Karen