Green Thumb Sunday 11/23/08 - Hard Frost Survivors

We had our first really hard frost on Friday evening, and woke up yesterday morning to 22 degrees. I figured that would be the end of any blooms that I have, but I still have a few stalwarts hanging on. It looks like Alyssum is going to be the main star of my blog for a while. :) I went out and inventoried yesterday and the pickings are getting pretty slim now. The alyssum by the pond is protected from sunlight early in the morning and probably doesn't start getting exposed until 11 am or so, by which time it has been warming up to the 40's.

There are still a few odd blooms on the light blue creeping phlox.
The few remaining Black-Eyed Susan blooms got touched by the frost.
There are still a few lily pads left on the water lily, but they are starting to get a little ragged now. Not too ragged for my bird friends to use them for a bird bath though, as noted in the post below.
And one of the main stars of the show now, Coneflower seedheads.

Those are the major happenings now. I have some wild tulip bulbs to plant today if I don't keep procrastinating. I picked a variety with low winter chill requirements so I'm hoping to get them to rebloom.

Green Thumb Sunday - 11/16/2008 - The Old Reliables

It's getting to be slimmer pickings in the garden now, and the plants are few and far between. The temperature dropped to 30 degrees last night and daytime highs have been in the 50's. I noticed that the alyssum tumbling into the pond is still there (above). For some reason I always seem to overlook it. It has been a steady, reliable bloomer in the garden all summer long and into the fall now. I have never really been much for annuals in the garden but this one is definately going to have a place in mine from now on.

I got a big pot of Hen and Chicks earlier this summer to break apart and plant in the succulent bird feeder. I tucked the ultimate mother into a corner between the bricks around the pond area and a rock stepping stone. It has been multiplying happily all summer and I am pleased to report that it seems to be happy where it is.

The creeping phlox has gotten well established in several places and seems to be at home. The whole 'scree garden' concept seems to be taking root and growing now, no pun intended.
The Black-Eyed Susan has been giving consistent splashes of color in the back of the garden all summer long. It's also been self-seeding prolifically so I will have to be giving away some young plants next spring.

And finally, the Blanket Flower has also been plugging along all summer. Now that there are fewer flowers it is still decorating the bird feeder bed with seed pods. I think that I'll be moving some of this into the scree garden next spring.

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Venturing Into the Backyard

Yesterday, after carefully peering through all of the windows that face the back yard, I went outside. I made sure to check everywhere before I started to see what was blooming and to make sure that there were no more skunks out there. Thankfully it seems to be an isolated incident. We are still going to have to figure out what we're going to do to keep them from getting back in again. But in the meantime, here are some more of my babies that are blooming. Up above is my 'Arabian Nights' dahlia.

This is my Black-Eyed Susan.



This is my Coneflower plant.

And finally, my water lily is still putting out blooms.

What's Blooming 7/3/08

Here is Gingersnap, still plugging away.

A battered but still cheerful Black Eyed Susan

Sweet Alyssum in the gravel pathway

Thankfully the holiday weekend is here and I am glad for it. When I got home from work, Quickbeam and I went for a quick tour around the backyard to see what was blooming. My whole purpose with most of my plantings has been to find those that do well without a lot of water or attention and that seems to be paying off. Anything that needs a lot of pampering will die out quickly in my garden. :)

I have some plans to do gardening stuff this weekend, we'll see how far I get. I want to get some hoop supports for my floppy dahlias. I want to plant the items from the shade container at the back side of the flowerbed under my rose and camellia. I need to weed all around, and the filter in the pond needs to be changed out. I need to get some more bird seed in the feeder and get some mulch. So it is going to be a busy weekend if we get it all done. :)