Garden Photo of the Day

Looking Back at Last Year’s Garden with Joan

The garden through the seasons

close up of small garden bed during its peak in summer

Today’s photos are from Joan Ganley.

garden with bare plants covered in snowMy garden in January is always a cold and snowy place. Looking out on the snowy landscape, I make notes of where I might improve my winter interest. In the backyard this currently includes ‘Miss Kim’ lilacs (Syringa pubescens ‘Miss Kim’, Zones 3–8), spruce (Picea, Zones 2–7), crabapples (Malus), Viburnum, ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius, Zones 2–8), ‘Matrona’ sedum (Hylotelephium telephium ‘Matrona’, Zones 2–9). There is also an obelisk and a birdbath.

cat amongst bottles used for starting seedsMy supervisor inspects the winter sowing project.

close up of bright purple crocus flowerFast-forward a couple of months to the first flowers of spring: Crocus.

close up of yellow Fritillaria pallidiflora flowersFritillaria pallidiflora (Zones 5–9) is a spring ephemeral with large, buttery yellow bell-shaped blooms that last about three weeks before setting seed and then disappearing underground until next year.

close up of small garden bed during its peak in summerThe garden is in full-swing by June with Allium ‘Purple Sensation’ (Zones 3–9), pink Paeonia veitchii (Zones 4–8), yellow Primula, the pink flowers on the crabapples, and the various-colored foliage of Heuchera. Clematis durandii (Zones 5–9), on the obelisk, will bloom from July through October, and Dahlia ‘Cornel Bronze’ (Zones 8–10 or as a tender bulb) will start flowering in August and continue until frost.

close up of peach colored peonyPeonies are an early summer highlight throughout the garden, including the unusual peachy, copper color of Paeonia (Itoh) ‘Singing in the Rain’.

cat perched on a fence next to orange dahlia flowersThe supervisor is serious about his work and is always on the job. Here he is inspecting Dahlia ‘Ferncliff Copper’, which grew well over the height of our 6-foot fence.

 

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Comments

  1. User avater
    treasuresmom 03/17/2023

    LOVE THE SUPERVISOR AND THE GARDEN

  2. Tingshu99 03/17/2023

    I wish I had a supervisor like yours. Then I wouldn’t have so many voles in my garden.

  3. btucker9675 03/17/2023

    Having a "cats-ter" gardener overseeing your garden is an obvious bonus!! That peony.... gorgeous!

  4. User avater
    simplesue 03/18/2023

    Beautiful! I noticed a wide stone or cement edging between your planting beds and the circle of grass- looks good and must be easier to mow without hurting the plantings. Cats are a great garden companion, yours is definitely the supervisor!
    Your garden is even gorgeous in the winter with the mature pine tree, seasonal beauty all year around- I really love what you've done here!

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