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

Best of the Rest, 2016

Happy New Year, everyone! Hopes and plans for the new gardening year are bouncing around my brain. Outside, relentless rain flows over the trees and shrubs and the earth. Let the ground soak it in. After last year's drought, I am grateful for the steady downpour. I think 2016 was a hard year for the garden, but when I look back over last year's photos, I remember the beautiful spring and a summer that wasn't too bad until it became the monster that ate up fall.

But now it is time for my "Best of the Rest" feature! Every year I look back and choose photos from each month. These are photos that did not make it into the blog, for various reasons. I use only photos of my own garden for this feature, so it is a good overview of Deb's Garden through the year. So, here we go:

January: Stump World is a group of huge oak stumps that have been slowly rotting in the woods for over 25 years. All but two have completely decayed. They provide nourishment and shelter for countless small critters.

February:Camellias are beginning to bloom in the woodland garden.

Edgeworthia and quince are late winter bloomers that brighten the gray days of February.

March: The garden comes alive in March. It was hard to choose which images to use. I have too many!

A fallen Magnolia petal nestles next to a Bloodroot bloom.

Serviceberry is one of the first trees to bloom in the spring.

March sky

April:

May:Anthony Waterer Spirea is one of my favorite May bloomers, and it will repeat bloom through the summer.

June: I call June the "deep greening" month. Green becomes prominent in the garden.Clockwise from top left: Gardenia bud; Gardenia flower; Cercis canadensis 'Whitewater' leaf; Dwarf gardenia.

July:

August:

September:I bought these on sale at the beginning of September, with plans to plant them before the next rain. It was months before I was able to plant them.

These persimmons fell prematurely from the tree, no doubt due to drought stress.

October:

November:Hosta and Toad Lily foliage as they go dormant

Rings on a windchime

December: Goodbye, 2016!

I hope you enjoyed my tour through the year! Did you have a favorite month?

Best wishes to you all!   Deb