Catching up #3: The garden

 

I can manage one garden area at a time it seems. The one that I attend to blooms and shines and the others seem to languish, weedy and sad looking, needing attention and loving care.

This year, I've focused on the back terrace/retaining wall garden, which is my favorite simply because I see it the most. I come in and out the door above the terrace so look down on it every time I come and go. I walk on the brick walk at its edge when I go down to the pool or take out the compost. I see it from the kitchen window, my reading chair, the porch, the deck. We put a whole lot of work into this area several years ago. It was the summer of 2007 when we dug into the collapsing hillside and built a retaining wall. A few years before that, we had terraced the hillside using busted up concrete slabs. My boys put a lot of muscle and sweat into this garden, so it's no surprise it's my favorite. I'm glad that it is finally really coming into its own.

I've planted several day lily cultivars in the past couple of years. This year they were so lovely.

The lemon thyme, rosemary, sage, lavender, and comfrey are well established. Parsley and basils of various types fill in the gaps. A couple of tomato plants find sun in the top terrace and volunteer butternut squashes are winding their way through the lower beds.

The knock-out, Julia Child, and other roses and the purple salvia were at their peak a few weeks back.

The white phlox and shasta daisies are starting to bloom. The pixie hydrangea has filled out nicely and the hostas are multiplying. I'd like a few more annual flowers for cutting. I did start seeds this spring, but they were old and the germination rate was poor. So, few or no bachelor buttons, cosmos, or zinnias.

Up next, some garden before and after pics ...