Entries in best of the rest (6)

Thursday
Jan102019

Best of the Rest: 2018 Garden Images

Every year I like to go back through all the year's garden pictures and choose unused photos from each month. I select only shots I made of my own garden. These are images that never made it into a blog post, for various reasons, but perhaps deserve a look. At the least, they provide a review of the year. So to celebrate the passing of 2018, and to look forward to a new garden year, here are the best of the rest: 2018. 

January:I tucked sprays of Arizona cypress around ornamental kale in a pot to make an attractive winter arrangement.

February:The small yellow blooms in the photo on the left are forsythia, and the white flowers on the right are from the Serviceberry tree (Amelanchier, also called Juneberry. Its edible berries ripen in June and taste a bit like blueberries. But the birds love them, so I let them have them.

March: A fern's newly emerging fiddlehead; ferns have an important presence throughout my garden.

Here is a March view of the walk in front of our house.

April:Left: Trillium in front of autumn fern. Right: Enkianthus blooms.

May:Left: Turkey tail fungus with resurrection fern. Right: Virginia sweetspire.

June:A large gardenia shrub on the edge of the woodland garden fills the area with sweet fragrance each June.

July:A beautiful heucherella and its bloom.

August: Bugs love the hot, stressed-out conditions of August!

September:Garlic chives, on the left, and spider lilies, on the right, both flourish in September.

In spring 2018, we had to remove the beautiful Japanese maple that grew in front of the house, as ambrosia beetles had killed it. In September we replaced it with 'Rising Sun' redbud, seen here on the left.

October:A female American robin enjoyed this birdbath. Her mate was nearby in the grass.

November:The tree in the background with the heart-shaped golden fall foliage is a native redbud.

December:Once upon a time this Cryptomeria japonica was a living Christmas tree. After the holidays, we planted it in the front yard. Look at it now!

Did you have a favorite month? Happy gardening in 2019! 

 

 

 

Sunday
Dec312017

The Best of the Rest: 2017

Happy New Year, everyone! I can't believe it is already 2018. I remember so well when we reached the year 2000, and everyone thought the world was going to end!

I am partied out; no wild shenanigans for me tonight. Instead, I end the year working on a blog post, as it is time for my annual "Best of the Rest" feature. These are photos taken from my garden through the year that, for various reasons, did not make it onto the blog. At last, I present these never-before-seen images! (They may or may not knock your socks off.) 

January:

February:Bright yellow Forsythia promises the end of winter and the arrival of spring.

March:Above top:Red trumpet honeysuckle grows on a fence that divides my vegetable garden/work space from the patio. Small photos above left to right: Japanese maple blooms; Alabama Croton bloom; Summer snowflakes (Despite the name, they bloom in the spring.)

April:Robin Redbreast

May:This Eastern Phoebe has nested at the top of a downspout outside my bedroom window for the past two years. I enjoy listening to the birdsong!

These succulents grow in a hypertufa pot on the patio. I bring them inside for the winter.

June:

July:This variegated hot pepper is called a Fish Pepper.

August:An annual begonia that bloomed constantly in the woodland garden until frost.

September:Burford holly: The green holly berries promise bright color to come.

October:Bench in the fern glade

Dappled sunlight covers one of the woodland garden paths.

November:Spiders are good guys in my garden.

Look at the top of the pine tree to see a hawk nest. Hawks have been nesting there for several years now.

This is a young red-shouldered hawk who hatched in that nest; he is getting big!

December:The holly berries are red now!

One of our birdhouses during our December snow.

Night view of the arch by the patio, decorated for Christmas and covered in snow.

The year comes to a close. Winter sunsets are dramatic.

Did you have a favorite photo or month? 

Wishing you all the best in 2018, and if you encounter thorns, may you also find blooms and berries!  Deb