Just keeping it real :o).

I finally found my rabbiting spade.

I have some spring pictures in a slideshow from this year and last over on the gallery in the Shrubs and Vines thread if anyone wants to see what blooms in June around here.

Annette

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This is how Spring Comes to South Georgia, first week in April: Azaleas and Dogwood.

Nell

Some muted colors, but the bold colors of summer are starting to fill in.
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Nell your Azaleas are stunning, what a beautiful picture they make.

Tom your garden looks so full and lush I can hardly wait to see it in all it's summer glory.

Annette

Ah ha ha, Annette. They say a pictures says a thousand words. Love it.

Nell, omgoodness, that is beautiful.

Very nice, Tom. It's going to be stunning come summer.

Edna

I think I posted this in the Gallery already, but it's the best I have at the moment. Taken June 16.

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This is a tough one. Springtime in the PNW is amazing. It seems everyone has everything blooming everywhere. ;-)

This is the opposite end of the yard from the big pond and nearby the little pond. I was particularly smitten with the area this spring.

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On the last day of spring:

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Hard to choose just one, but here is half of my peony bed that lines the front driveway.
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Oh, Annette ...how funny! All these gardens look lovely. This was the first spring for my parking strip bed. The California poppies were a pleasant surprise---I mean, the fact that they grew and bloomed so well:

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Beautiful pics everyone! I have to admit it...I saved that last thread on my computer to look at during the long, long, winter. I do not dobt I shall be saving this as well. ;-)

-Nell, that is beautiful! Those shrubs, and seating area, are perfect. I am getting a envious around the edges...

-bluesunflower, I couldn't agree with you more. Every time I go over to Seattle in the spring I am blown away by how much is in bloom. Even people that don't garden have at least something blooming in thier yard.

My pics are still loading...
CMK

Here my extreamly tall mock orange in full bloom:

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Libby

Everyone,

These photos are just beautiful.
I'm enjoying them so much. So many variations of cottage gardens. Great topic!

I posted my picture in the previous topic - I was the last one to post.
Many thanks to all!

~Annie

Wisteria-covered arbor.

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Ignore the weeds! LOL

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Christinmk, I thought it was just me! My son lives in Seattle, and I live in Portland, so I visit fairly often. I thought that every single person in Seattle had something blooming in their yards or on their porches. I am always noticing flowers, shrubs or other growing things, so I wondered if maybe I was just being hyperobservant when I visited Seattle...

Pat

Here's a pic of my Judas tree in full bloom this past March. A real herald of Spring here.

Marynj, do I detect a little statue of St. Anthony in your garden?

Eduarda

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Eduarda, I love it when you post because it is often something I have never even heard of! Thank you.

So much to admire,

Natalie, I loved your seating area and the cushions.

Marynj, the wisteria covered arbor is a beauty...another thing I don't have!

Nell, that is absolutely the perfect spot to sit and relax, but I am betting you don't do it much!

Annette, another day and the spade would have been gone until winter.....I found my lost African Queen lily (lay almost buried in some other plants.

bluesunflower, the tulips just personify Spring.

Alisande, the bed of foxgloves is striking....mine are long gone and I need to save some seeds and cut the stalks down.

Kristin, that is a perfect match of soft colors.

Libby, I hope that gorgeous Mock Orange is fragrant...my single is not.

treelover, when I see a parking strip planted, I know a true gardener lives there! What a perfect spot for the poppies.

Gotta, that row of peonies is spectacular and I bet the scent is wonderful.

I really enjoyed these this morning. Thanks everyone.

glenda

Eduarda - your Judas tree looks very familiar. That's what locally we call a Redbud tree, but our native one (Cercis canadensis) has slightly darker flowers. I love them too. Thanks for showing us yours. And thanks to all for your beautiful spring pictures.

Here is a link that might be useful: Eastern Redbud

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Flowers, Herbs, Tomatoes in pots waiting to go in the ground; trees, shrubberies and an ivy-covered cottage are part of what make up my Cottage Garden.

May 11th, 2009
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~Annie

This summer will survival of the fittest. In the next couple days we will only be able to use sprinklers one day every other week.
We will still be able to water by hand held hose.
So far most things are still ok. Most of my vegetables are no longer producing, except for my blackeyed peas and black beans.

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I know you said "a" picture, but I want you to see Dane's hibiscus. Yesterday a fellow stopped to ask if he could take a picture of them. So she gave him a pot of the hibiscus.

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Janen, my Judas tree is the Old World one :-) - cercis siliquastrum, as opposed to yours (cercis canadensis). Mine is quite unusual because it's a lighter color than most around the neighborhood. The usual ones around here bloom a very similar color to the pic in the link you posted. For some reason, mine is a much lighter shade of pink. It's very delicate looking against the blue sky. They are really wonderful trees and well suited to our climate.

Eduarda

Thank you, Glenda! Beautiful pictures, everybody!

Eduarda---I wasn't sure if it was a St. Anthony or a St. Francis statue. How do you tell the difference? Is St. Francis the patron saint of animals? And St. Anthony is the patron saint of anything lost?

I LOVE statues and have them all over the yard! : )

Marynj, it's St. Anthony. Not being a expert on the matter, I believe that according to Catholic iconography, St. Anthony is always pictured holding Baby Jesus in his arms, and sometimes also holding Madonna lillies or a book (he was a very eloquent preacher). Of course the reason I noticed the statue is because St. Anthony is a Portuguese saint :-) Even though he is more widely known as St. Anthony of Padua, since he lived for a long time and died in Padua, Italy, he was born in Lisbon and lived and preached here as well.

He's actually the patron saint of our capital city, Lisbon, that celebrates him every year on June 13th with a big popular feast. This feast includes a competition of marches representing the popular quarters of Lisbon (see the link below), plus the tradicional grilled sardines and other popular foods, grilled open air in the streets of traditional quarters, and the manjericos (a type of basil).

Traditionally in Portugal he's considered the match maker saint and there is an initiative called the Casamentos de Santo António (St. Antonio's Weddings) in which a series of couples marry in a ceremony in the patron saint's church in Lisbon.

This is much more than a Catholic inspired celebration, it's a popular celebration that brings Lisbon alive at this time of the year. The so called "popular saints" - St. Anthony, St. John and St. Peter, are widely celebrated around Portugal, with St. Anthony being mostly celebrated in Lisbon, St. John in Oporto, and St. Peter in the fishing villages.

Just a piece of trivia, I found it very sweet you have a Portuguese in your garden :-)

Eduarda

Here is a link that might be useful: This is the winning march this year - March of Alfama

I am so late this year, I literally just uploaded this. May 30, the garden in front of my house:

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Peonies, Siberian iris and catmint. There's a also a campnaula that hadn't bloomed yet.

Nell, those azaleas are gorgeous. And gottagarden, it must smell heavenly that time of year in your garden. Bluesunflower, I am so jealous of your tulips. Due to all the deer here, it's one plant I dare not grow.

Beautiful Wisteria and area around the arch Mary!
Don't worry about weeds. We all get them and have them in one place or more. ;)
I just weed one little spot each day until I get it mostly done. Digging out grass is harder than pulling weeds. I have both.

But your arch and plants are beautiful.

The antique statue of St. Anthony is really lovely nestled in amongst the wisteria and the arborvitae with the colorful yard art below. And the solar lamp on the other side looks great with the statue. Very pretty.

~Annie

The last week of spring is almost always cherry picking time! This year was a particularly good year.

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I'm loving these pics from everyone! I get such great ideas from all of you.

I posted this pic a few weeks ago on the gallery side. It is one of my favorites from this year.

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glenda Libby, I hope that gorgeous Mock Orange is fragrant...my single is not.

It sure is Glenda. heavenly

Libby

Beautiful pics each and every one of you!! Alisande, love that bed (I wish I could grow foxgloves like that!). And sweetannie, what a wonderfully tidy garden! And your house is so sweet!
-Pat, I just love Seattle. I try to go every year, preferably in the spring. I always make it a point to go plant shopping (simply the best nurserys there) and ramble on some woodland trail and look at the native plants. It isn't quite as great in the summer, quite dry actually. They get a lot of rain, but only for certain times of the year. They have some great parks and gardens too! What part of OR do you live in, if you don't mind my asking? I imagine if you live in z8 it must be close to the coast.

Ok, finally got a picture! I really need a better computer. This is probably my second favortie picture, the first favorite being unavailable at this time, lol!

This was taken the last week in May (or maybe a little earlier than that). I love taking pics at that time of day, when the sun is going down beams of light are filtering thru.
I am not really happy with the area right in front. I suppose I shouldn't be so upset, seeing as it is only a year old. There used to be a large apple tree there, but it had a lot of disease problems so I took it out. I had to move a ton of shade plants, leaving lots of bare spots. I am always at a loss as to what to plant in full sun. Hopefully it will start to fill out soon as I get more plants in there.
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CMK

This is one of my favorites.That's Handsome!

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Christin,

I love your Cottage garden. Looks just great! Lovely assortment of plants and such a pleasing layout.
You done good, girl!

A big rock in the middle of that bed, or a big gazing ball or maybe even a sundial would look awesome (Sorry...just imagining how it might look) ;)

Love the wall around your yard. Makes such a gorgeous backdrop and frame for your beautiful plants and lush trees.

Keep the photos coming. I need good ideas!

It is so hot here now, that everything is cooking. No rain for two months and temps in the 100s all this week. I water deeply every day, and the following day it is dry again. All I am doing is keeping my plants alive until we get some rainfall and the temps cool down. I am surprised to see anything blooming in this heat. My Hybrid roses are beginning their second bloom and the shrub roses haven't let up yet! I am really surprised to see my tomatoes making fruit. Usually they don't fruit in really high temps. But they are loaded and making blooms out the kazoo! Strange.

Your garden looks so cool and inviting. Is it?

Thanks for the kind words about mine. I try so hard to battle the elements and often feel like I am getting nowhere fast.

Wild grasses had grown up in the tomato patch. Gads, it was awful. I did NOT want to wade in there to weed it, but this morning I made myself do it. I got half of it done this morning and the rest finished this afternoon. Now I need some wheat straw around their feet to keep the ground cool. It looks so much better and my tomatoes won't have to compete for the nutrients & water with all the horrible weeds and grasses gone - and zillions of rampantly self-seeding flowers, like Morning Glories, Lemon Balm and Feverfew. Eee-gads!
Yeah me!

And Yeah you...for getting that tree out and such a pretty garden planted in that spot so soon after. WOW!
How in the world did you ever get that tree out?

~Annie

Thank you, Annie! My mom planted the wisteria about 40 years ago and now every spring it blooms like crazy!

Eduarda---thank you for the information about Saint Anthony. I never knew he was Portuguese! : )

Oh gosh, thanks Annie! You are wonderful.
You are right, I do really need some kind of focal point in that bed. I was thinking of a statue or maybe an obelisk.

It did take a lot of effort to get that tree down. It was over twelve feet tall I think. I had a guy come out and give an estimate as to how much it would be to take it out, and he said no less than $200 and something. He was a big body-builder type guy. He kept saying that it would be a big job and he would have to sub-contract the stump digging. Boo-hoo. So I did it myself (had a little help). I broke out the saws and pruners and got that big boy down! First day I pruned out all twigs and main brances. Second day I sawed down the main trunk. Third day I cut sod out of the front yard so I could move all of the shade plants there that had lived under the apple tree and suddenly found themselves out of shade. Fourth day was my day of rest. ;-)

I saw more pics of your garden on, I think, the Potager forum several months ago. You have one of the best laid out gardens I have seen outside the English Garden mags. And I only wish I could mix veggies and plants so well. You inspired me to lay out my veggie bed better this year. Doesn't look that great though. ;-)
CMK

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I love this thread. Everyone's gardens/plants are so incredibly beautiful. It is so much fun to see the pictures from the more southern zones and anticipate what is soon to come up north!

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MaryNJ - I love your wisteria. We have had one here for almost 20 years but it has never bloomed and I'm not sure why. Someone once suggested that it was pruned wrong at the beginning, and was therefore trained not to bloom. Not sure if that's possible. Yours is absolutely lovely, and exactly what I wanted mine to be!!!

PianoLady007 - that's funny because it has been a really bad cherry year for us here. Your look too delicious!

I already posted this photo in the gallery but it is my favorite photo I took this Spring.
Lupines with Peonies:

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Cizga, if your Wisteria is beside a lawn it might be getting to much nitrogen that is if you fertilize your lawn. Another thing you could try is root pruning and if it has never flowered I'd be cutting it back severely each spring and summer to force flowering spurs. If all else fails swing an axe around in front of it while saying a few choice words in a threatening voice, that worked for me on a seed grown flowerless wisteria in about it's eighth year :o).

Annette

lol Annette, I should try that last one - threatening words holding an axe.

No my wisteria is not beside the lawn, rather it is at the back of one of our gardens along a fence. It climbs well and looks very healthy other than the fact that it doesn't bloom. I am going to try to cut it down drastically this year, soon actually, to try to encourage new growth and flowering . . . i know wisterias can sometimes be difficult to get to bloom which is why I am always so impressed by beautiful photos of these vines in bloom! When they do, oh so beautiful!!!

C ~ When you go to prune follow each piece of vine back to 6 sets of leaves and cut. In the spring after the last frost follow each piece of vine back to 4 sets of leaves and cut, and see if that helps. It might take a year or two of doing this but it usually works.

Annette

That sounds like a good plan, thank you!

Your photos are all gorgeous! Thanks for sharing.
This is a photo of my garden. It's quite typical of the plants I have growing there: easy growers and self-seeders.

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And here's a photo of my "personal garden assistant", Biam.

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Thanks for looking.

Xuan

Looking through the front entry arbor.
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This pic was taken the middle of June. It looks about the same now except the hollyhocks are taller.

Diana

Thank you, cziga! We've had that wisteria for so many years, but I don't remember it blooming until the last five years or so. So your wisteria may still bloom, after all!

I love your lupines! For some reason, they refuse to grow in our yard. : (