My 100th Post

One Hundred Photos for my 100th Post!

 Pot by the Front Steps with spikes, Million Bells

 Sunny Border July 31, 2012 - hot and dry

 waining Knock Out Rose

 Blue Salvia - new to the front yard but doing great!

 Rudbeckia loves loves loves the heat.

 Lirope is blooming

 White Mandevilla

 Shasta Daisy

 Angelonia Serena White

 Hosta Frances Williams

Here is the view I usually get from the the yard looking out to the Sunny Border and across to the Jeffereson Davis Park across the street. It is nice having a city park directly in front of your house, makes the yard seem alot bigger doesn't it?

 Here's another shot

 Here is the White Garden. It's coming along nicely. Can you see that to the right I am losing the evergreens. I am thinking it's a good thing. I want to pull them out and put in White Hydrangea bushes, maybe Annabelle or Sykes Dwarf. I haven't decided. I am also considering putting in landscape roses Iceberg white.

 Peonies and clematis - which is not doing great - might be too hot and dry out here in the front.

 The back of the White Garden going down into the backyard. The ferns have done great here this year.

 Camellia Man Size - pure white blooms.

 Notice the red string and the aluminum foil wrapping - I am air layering that branch so next year there will be two white camelia bushes out here.

 Creeping Jenny

 Geranium

 Rabbit Foot Fern LOVES the hot shade of the back yard.

 Rhysomes look like little furry legs.

 Here's the nursery bed - I rarely show it. Front left to right...
1 year old air layered camelias, Althea - White rose of Sharon under the plastic domes; 2 year old camelias dead crepe myrtle cuttings, and winter clipped Althea - 6 months old.

 Here are a few close up shots - oh forgot the two red maple air layers. Below are two year old camelias - They look great don't they?

 I have had zero success getting any crepe myrtle clippings to survive at all - it's sad because that's why I started blogging in the first place. Ahh.

 Garden Phlox

 Container Garden beside the Car parking pad.

 Red Maple in Middle Yard looking into the Back Yard and the bamboo in the Way Down Way Down.

 Here' s the same Red Maple looking back up the Drive Way.

Mophead Hydrangea in the Way Down -

they get NO water this far out. These shots are from the same plant. I need to pay these ladies a lot more attention. It's sad.

 Camelia Pink Perfection in the Back Yard - notice all the red string and aluminum foil? This Fall every one of those will be clipped and potted up. My goal is to have enough camelias to go completely down the side fence of the yard. My neighbors are older and will probably be selling within the next 3 to 5 years - I want to be ready for some self imposed privacy. That's why all the camelias.

 Bat Face - every body loves these - I'm not sold. Loves the heat though.

 Here is my favorite Pink Knock Out Rose for you.

Thanks for stopping by ... Please leave me a comment.

p.s. I you were counting I only got 43 photos

but it felt like one hundred didn't it?

Trinity Church decorated for a TV wedding

One of our local churches here in town was recently used for a wedding reality show. The church was completed at the end of the War Between the States. It is a beautiful building with a small but active congregation. I have no idea how this site was chosen for the show. The decorations included wreaths on the gate, garland on the handrails and all around the front door surround.



Sunny Border June 2012

 We have had rain the last six days in a row. Now with the sun coming out the Sunny Border is bursting with blooms.

 Echinacea Green Envy is blooming.

 The blue Salvia I moved from the back yard is doing great out here. I hope the Shasta Daisy and Echinacea don't choke it out. It should be tall and beautiful all Summer long.

 The White Mandevilla are filling in fast. The rain really helped them along.

 I know a lot of people don't like the Knock Out Roses, but I do love the pink. Plus I have never had any luck with any other roses out here.

 The Arctic Queen Clematis continue to grow and now have several flowers budding out. These are a great addition to the White Garden.

 Out near the gazebo on the Front Porch the gardenia bushes are still blooming. i wish you could smell these photos. Warm, sweet, and buttery, like some kind of baked dessert.

Have a great weekend guys!

What i did today

During the warm months I have to trim the hedge row once a month. If I do it the job is really not so bad. I call it my hobby.

 First I trim along the long edge at the top. Then using long curving arches I trim the sides from the bottom to the top. The last thing I do is bring out the rolling scaffolding and flatten out the top which is no easy task.

This last photo shows the final product after I rake up all the debris and I also had to cut the grass in that yard. This photo really doesn't do it justice. The hedge is at least 50 feet long and trimmed and finished it is 6 feet tall on our side of the fence.

Pickerel Rush and Mophead Hydrangea

The Water Garden does not get much attention. The plants in the pond have taken over, but the pickerel rush is bigger and pretty than ever before. The mophead hydrangea behind it is slow growing, but it doesn't get much light here in the shade deep in the corner of the garden .

Memorial Day in the Front Yard

 The Gardenia at the back corner of the house is really putting on a show this year.

 Here is a view I don't normally show, from the driveway looking back to the porch and on to the Sunny Border in the back ground.

 Here are two shots of the Sunny Border from the sidewalk.

 The Red Knockout is reblooming. Behind you see the Shasta Daisies and Yellow Daylilies.

 Echinaceia Green Envy.

Shasta Daisy Becky.

White Mandevilla beginning to bloom.

 This is the third year for the peonies, next year hopefully they will bloom.

 The Clematis Snow Queen is coming back quickly from my hard pruning.

Here is the gate going from the White Garden into the Gondfish Pond Yard. The local photographer recently used this setting for a bridal portrait. I was really pleased that she liked it, and the picture was beautiful.



English Pillars added at the White Garden

 Here is the front yard from the sidewalk. At the rear is the entrance into the White Garden. Below you can see the new 7 ft tall English Pillars that I have added for the Artic Queen Clematis.

 Isn't there a saying about planting Clematis..."face in the sun, but feet in the shade." They seem to like it out here and I think they will show up great from the street.

Below you can see the buds coming back quickly from where I bit the bullet and pruned the plant back.

Here is the bloom that I had to prune away. I think the pillars are much nicer than the tomato cages I was using. We have a friend - the local photographer - who uses the yard for engagement and bridal portraits. I am hoping she really likes the White Garden.