The last of the leaves are falling and the days are getting noticeably colder. It is rainy again (hooray!) and I am so happy to see the grass green again. It saddens me to hear about the drought in Alabama. I know I would be a basket case if I were there. I do hope they can get some rain soon. The excessive moisture here is bringing back the moss on our driveway and mushrooms are popping up all over the lawn.
I have been working my butt off at Target (literally - I have lost over 5 pounds!) but I am loving the job. It is hellacous on my poor feet but a lot of fun and my co-workers are some of the nicest people I have ever met. In the meantime, when I do have time off, I have been trying to get all of my new plants in the ground.
I am finally getting the front border filled in. I know it doesn't look like there are many plants here but I am actually already running out of space. I have been concentrating on the area outside of the fence. I intend to use drought-tolerant and low-growing plants along the street. I attended a lecture at Joy Creek Nursery a few weeks ago on this very topic and it was very informative.  |
| Juniper 'Daube's Frosted' is one of the plants I am using to anchor the sides of the fence. |
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| A view of the side garden, next to the driveway. |
The plantings along the front foundation are coming along nicely. I wanted a tall, narrow camellia to help cover a broad expanse of brick on the wall. I have been researching camellias for the past several months and of course, I finally ended up choosing one that was not even on my list. 'Nuccio's Bella Rossa' is a beautiful red-flowered variety. I had my heart set on red but how it will look against this brick remains to be seen. But exactly what colors look good next to this brick? I haven't a clue!If color clashes become inevitable, my reasoning is I will do what I have already done with about half of the things I planted back in the spring - move them to another location.
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| I have long lusted after this spruce (Picea 'Skylands') for a long time. I planted it on the inside corner of the fence. |
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| There is a Home Depot across from Target and I sometimes stop by there to check out their bargains. I got this Euphorbia 'Ascot Rainbow' and finally got it in the ground. I think it so pretty covered in raindrops. |
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| This is one of my favorite plants in the garden. I can see this outside our front window and it brings me immense pleasure. It also pains me that I do not have the name - all I know is that it is a dwarf pine. I got it from a nursery that did not have their plants labeled. :( |
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| We have so enjoyed watching the hummingbirds on the back deck flitting around the cupheas. This is the only one I have in the ground and I am wondering if I need to dig it up and bring it inside during the winter. Any suggestions? |
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| I am excited about all of my plants but particularly the California Lilac (Ceonothus). This is the one of the first plants that I saw when first visiting Portland a few years ago. They are so beautiful. This variety is 'Julia Phelps'. |
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| Arbutus (Strawberry Tree) |
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| And finally, the last of the roses. This is 'Tahitian Sunset'. It has several blooms right now and I cut a few and brought them in today. I actually transplanted this rose a few weeks ago (I know this is not the best time) and it seems to have not minded at all. |
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| The first rose I planted this year in the new garden 'Lady of Shallot'. |
And a note: I am highly po'd at Blogger which managed to loose my list of favorite blogs. I kept thinking the silly thing would reappear but it appears that it is gone forever. So, I will have to update it from memory. This might take a while because my memory is not the best. And no, this wasn't my fault. It happened to a lot of other bloggers and some of them had theirs to reappear. No luck here! Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
