I didn't take many pictures last year but here's a couple.
The first picture was taken the first part of May.

Second to follow....

Deciduous Azalea 'Chetco', in front of Anthriscus sylvestris 'Ravenswing'.

Annette

I especially like your first picture Annette. (What is the plant with the pink bottle brush like flowers, just to the right of the carriage lamp?)

What beautiful, inspiring gardens. I so very much want Thalictrum. I winter sowed some Yunnan Meadow Rue. Here are my contributions. This first photo is the creeping phlox from 5/24 with rose Julia Child starting up in the back. Second to follow.

Second photo from 8/30.

Arlene, there is nothing not to love about a "Julia Childs" rose. Seeing your planters in the garden with in ground plants reminds me again that I could do similarly.

Now that I have a few minutes, I've been busy in the kitchen, well it is winter you know LOL.
Rouge, the plant with the pink pokers is 'Persicaria superbum/superba'? bought as superbum. It's a spreader but easy to keep under control. It can look a little ratty after bloom so I cut to the ground and let it come back with fresh new foliage for the rest of the season.
I love your Thalictrum 'Sparkler' such a pristine white and such a lush looking border, I can only wish.

Annette

Its great to see some garden inspiration right about now...in the seemingly never-ending stretch before spring.

Here is a pic of the garden mid June.
CMK

Close up of Betula pendula 'Trost's Dwarf'. Such a great slow growing little tree/shrub. Slow growing and billowy, lacy texture. I'm sure it would be a good Jap maple sub.
CMK

Gorgeous, you guys!

Cold hardy cactus (can't remember type) I just call it 'Razzle Dazzle" when it blooms
Natives plants: mountain pinks, flame flowers & hairy golden aster in hell strip.
Cold hardy Echinopsis night blooming cactus & lobelia.

Cold hardy cactus (can't remember type) I just call it 'Razzle Dazzle" when it blooms
Natives plants: mountain pinks, flame flowers & hairy golden aster in hell strip.
Cold hardy Echinopsis night blooming cactus & lobelia.

{{gwi:2119824}}

Love that 3rd picture especially TR. The plant colors and textures coupled with the loose stone base work beautifully.

(For obvious reasons our gardens are night and day different and yet both of us post a picture each having lobelia!)

Exochorda x Marcrantha (a.k.a. Pearlbush) 'The Bride' is something we look forward to seeing in bloom at the end of May. It's hard to see in this picture but I've been sort of training it to be a smallv weeping tree. It's about 3 1/2 feet tall.
{{gwi:253275}}

(Rouge and SB - this is what produces those odd seed capsules you asked about when you were here last year....)

It's hard to get decent from-a-distance pictures of the front garden (which is why I mainly show ones of the backyard when a distance view is appropriate!) There is lots going on in the front garden but it's meant to be seen in closer views. This view from early September makes it look less interesting than it is (IMO!) when seen in person.
{{gwi:2119847}}

CMK - I like the look of that Betula. I think I've seen one like it in a local garden center - but I couldn't figure out where to put one here :-(

TR10 - the cactus flowers are very interesting - particularly the ones in the last picture. The thorny bits scare me though :-)

Here is the succulents corner:
{{gwi:2119848}}

And here is a blooming iris:
{{gwi:241296}}

This post was edited by green_go on Fri, Jan 23, 15 at 22:40

Variegated hardy Fuchsia magellanica trying to revert!

Late season color.

Great idea for a thread!

Rouge, I love that thalictrum! How tall is it? And do you know the name of the campanula in the second pic. Is it really that blue? (or maybe it's not campanula! LOL)

Annette, I was drooling over that azalea in your first pic so was soooo pleased you featured it in your second photo! I'm going to keep my eye out for that one. It's a stunner.

Arlene, I love the carpet of ground phlox mixing colors.

Christin, In your first photo I was thinking "is that her Trost's Dwarf?!", and then you show it in your second photo! WOW! It really looks great. Mine has been a slow-starter but is increasing in size little by little.

TR10, I wonder if that cold hardy cactus is hardy enough in Z5. That is really beautiful

Woody, I lost my Exochorda this year and am so disappointed. You don't see too many in gardens and they are such a special shrub. So glad to see yours is absolutely gorgeous! And I guess I didn't really realize just how big that Heptacodium of yours is! WOW!

Green_go, a succulents corner is such a good idea. I've wanted to try some succulents in the garden, but have always wondered how to "fit" them in. I never really thought of giving them a whole space of their own.

Catkin, nothing like struggling with something that wants to revert! Do you cut out the green every year? I have a few shrubs that really want to go green and I cut and cut and cut each year. Pretty soon the shrubs will be gone! LOL!

One of my shade borders. I think maybe my favorite border in my garden.
{{gwi:695909}}

Scarlet O'Hara peony on the front slope is always a standout plant.
{{gwi:2119849}}

'thyme', what a wonderful set of plants at the bottom of the stairs. The varying heights for sure adds to the eye appeal of this garden.

"Sparkler" was about 3 and a half feet high and no staking was needed.

You are right about the campanula ie it isn't campanula! It is in fact an annual lobelia.

Thyme, the first azalea is one I grew from a cutting from a friend, I have no idea which one it is, it has a musky but pleasant scent. 'Chetco' has a much sweeter fragrance and larger flowers. Here's another picture of one of my favorites, a little later flowering, Azalea viscosa rosata not only pretty to look at it has a lovely sweet scent
Annette

One of the front garden in mid June.

Another from June. This one of the side yard.

So pretty 'bloom'. This thread is having the exact effect I had intended ie I am thinking spring!

So many lovely gardens!

-Susan, love your shade garden! I remember your pics of that area from a couple years ago...everything has filled in tremendously. Yes, 'Trost's' is super slow in his early years. After a 3-4yrs mine took off- grew six inches in one season.

-bloom, love that daylily in the left corner of last pic (and I'm not a huge hemerocallis fan either!). Is it 'Hyperion'?
CMK

thyme, I'm so used to the two different leaf colors that I prefer it that way! Lovely gardens you have!

What gorgeous gardens you guys have! So dreamy and lush! I practically can't take my eyes off them. I am still a beginner with combining flowers to achieve an effect. Your gardens have given me wonderful ideas. Thanks, Karen.

I mostly grow roses, but am adding more perennials to the garden. Love this site and always learn something new. I especially love seeing all the beautiful gardens. Lesley

Another garden picture I would like to share. Thanks for looking. Lesley

Rouge, that second photo of yours is something else, your plantings are very nicely put together.

Here's a close up of a young 'Jeana' phlox blooming for the first time back dropped with annuals. Am anxious to see 'Jeana' come into her full glory this summer.

The first picture is a reminder to the year of the snail (2014). For weeks on end I was in my garden in the early morning collecting slugs and snails.

Luckily the garden was not entirely eaten away by those creatures!

On this picture you see Angelica sylvestris Purpurea with Crocosmia Lucifer and some Verbena bonariensis.

This post was edited by GardenPrince on Sun, Jan 25, 15 at 12:03

-lesmc, WOW! That last pic of the roses and clems is wonderful. If ever a picture demonstrates just how great those plants are together it would be yours! Is that 'Princess Diana' on the structure?

-GP, escargot anyone? ;-D Nice plant combo...
CMK

Here is a pedestrian daylily...

and here is the daylily further back. Thanks to Liquid Fence, I got to see a few blooms this summer before the daylilies became the deer's salad bar.
I love this thread: seeing everyone's gardens is so inspiring to me at this time of year, what a treat!

My pond.

My backyard.

Jays, your pond and backyard is beautifully well done!

Christinmk, Yes, that is Princess Diana, and she is a real monster! The blue one is Prince Charles with Crown Princess Margarita rose peeping thru. He is a thug, also. Both are #3, which are cut down to 8-10 " in spring and again after bloom. This gives me another bloom. Loving all of these garden pictures. I hope to add more perennials to my garden this spring. Lesley

Hi all, thought to be Crinum Cape Lily, a 19th century hybrid that is a popular pass-along plant in my area. I took an offset from a relative's house & finally got it to bloom - wonderful fragrance! Dies back in the winter but usually a little green is visible.

{{gwi:2119850}}

Crinum lily in pot, our curious kitty cat is looking on - she has to see what's doing. My patio garden - nice & shady for hot Louisiana.

{{gwi:2119851}}

Good picture twrosz of your 'Jeana' phlox. I planted 2 of them this past season but as was the case neither showed any blooms. I too am hoping to see their promise in 2015.

Every plant & pic is beyond fabulous, well maybe not the slugs and snails. lol! Much better on a plate than in the garden though.
Here is Astilboides tabularis (formerly Rodgersia tabularis)
This is our adult daughters hand and this is a young plant.

Astilboides tabularis later in the season with plenty of room for future growth. Pic taken after a wind storm.

Sorry duplicate.

This post was edited by Peren.all on Thu, Jan 29, 15 at 17:54

Peren.all - Astilboides is one of my favorite plants! I'm a sucker for big leaves :-). I usually cut the flowers down pretty quick as they are a distraction from the leaf display! These Astilboides in our north alley garden bask in water delivered by a (buried under the path) pipe from the end of a downspout at the back corner of the house. The neighbour next door also directs water to them from one of their downspouts. I have another Astilboides elsewhere in the garden that doesn't have a source of extra water and it is pathetic in comparison to these ones:
{{gwi:197341}}

What are you other favorite big leafed plants?

rouge, here is one we shot last year of the park where we walk in up the street. Barely visible light green and blooms on trees around the city always says early spring for me more than anything else. I noticed yesterday the daffodils are up 4" tall and the peach tree flower buds are swelling. We may get nipped peaches this year if they bloom too early, happens around here a lot but there are signs that spring is right around the corner.

Great shot TR...I love seeing pics of trees.

I noticed yesterday the daffodils are up 4" tall and the peach tree flower buds are swelling

I am truly happy for you. Please be sympathetic to me as I look out and see this scene late this afternoon:

Ah don't get too downcast, white is prettier than brown. If you want to see a brown winter, come to Oklahoma. My brother made a trip to my grandparents farm where we used to spend a lot of time, its pretty typical of the countryside in winter. Their last name was-- of all things-- Brown.