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! 

Getting Through October

I plan to get up early tomorrow and spend the day cleaning the garden and getting rid of the dead stuff. I will feel better if I don't have to look at the brittle corpses of plants that once were healthy and full of blooms. We have had no rain since the bit we got two weeks ago, and the weatherman is saying the current drought will extend at least until November.

We just need to get through October. Many leaves are shriveling on the trees and shrubs, then falling in gray heaps. The grass is crispy tan. But I am fortunate to have a lot of evergreens that adapt to whatever the climate delivers; so at a glance the garden doesn't look too bad.

This is a view overlooking the woodland garden. The 'Saybrook Gold' junipers have proved durable through all seasons.

A little farther up the drive from the 'Saybrook Gold' junipers is my beloved 'Feelin' Blue' Deodar Cedar. Behind it is a Trident Maple, a Forsythia, and a huge Southern Magnolia.

This Anise 'Florida Sunshine' has prospered in the woodland garden with minimal care. The leaves have a wonderful fragrance.

Mahonia 'Soft Caress' is another woodland garden plant that has done well though our drought. It took a couple of years to become established and needed babying at first, but now it has begun to thrive.

Here are a few additional shots I took as I walked around this afternoon:My Fuyu Persimmon tree is still growing in a pot, though I plan to transplant it someday. The fruit is almost ready to pick.

Our sweet bell peppers did poorly through the summer, and I was getting ready to pull them up when I noticed new growth in September. I began a fresh regimen of watering and fertilizing with fish emulsion, and look at them now! One of them is turning red. For maximum flavor I like to leave them on the vine until they have fully ripened.

Assorted ornamental kale adds a pretty accent to the fall vegetable garden. It's edible but not particularly tasty.

Look close. Do you see the ants? I did not see them until I enlarged the photo on my computer. Now I need to see if this Asclepias has aphids!

These common asters are blooming despite almost total neglect. A pure golden green sweat bee ( Augochlora pura) appreciates the nectar.