(no subject)

[jdulac]

My life is 90% work and the rest of the time is compulsive gardening and passing out over my dinner. My exciting moment of today was seeing a fledged baby cardinal in one of my rose bushes this morning, with Mom and Dad nearby. There is something to be said for the "au naturel" landscaping aesthetic. The cardinals have been companions all summer.

The triumph of the season is that La Belle Sultane, a stunning gallica rose if I do say so, bloomed this season for the first time. Believe it or not, she's been living in a pot since I started her from a slip and survived several winters that way. This year for sure she gets a permanent spot. I find her utterly scrumptious.

From 2011 Garden

I started this garden a couple decades ago and its gotten fairly mature. That means that changes tend to involve dealing with hardscape like shrubs and really pervasive ground covers and perennials. L wanted a place for tiny hostas, so I cleared a nice little hosta garden in the shady side yard. Not bad, I think -- captured in a ray of afternoon sun. (I can't have hosta without heuchera these days it would seem. They kept jumping into my car at nurseries.)

From 2011 Garden

I've also suddenly discovered the virtues of putting things in pots and disposing them about the landscape. An easier way to deal with annuals than trying to find actual spade space for them. One from the shade garden:

From 2011 Garden

In lieu of meaningful content there will be probably be more pics, recording the passing moods...