Port Potager

Perhaps you recall that last summer I spent a month in Costa Rica . During that time, Kirk took care of the garden by himself. He did a great job keeping up with the vegetables, but there wasn't any time left for just one person (with a day job) to keep up the perennial border. So this year it needed a lot of work. All the weeds that weren't pulled last year went to seed, so I had my work cut out for me in that department. There were also some plants that didn't make it through the winter and others that were in serious need of dividing.  The best part of summer vacation is having the time to get lost in an outdoor task, and that's just what I did this past weekend. Or maybe week. It's nice to forget what day it is, too. Anyway, here's the result of the perennial border overhaul. This section will take us from the garden gate along the driveway to the corner of the bed.  Immediately outside the garden gate at the top of the driveway is a cl...

Tropical Storm Andrea dumped a ton of rain on us last Friday, which did a number on the perennial border. I expected this: Peonies are gorgeous, but they don't do well in the rain. In general, the white flower garden requires more fastidious deadheading, because white petals turn to brown in a blink.  Knowing that the rains would clobber a lot of our spring blooms, I made sure to snap some photos before  the rain. Early June is one of my favorite moments in this garden: Here you can see that some giant white peonies are already flopping over. I have them in a hoop, but I don't think it's a tall enough one to handle the weight of these flowers. You can also see red climbing roses poking up above the peonies and small white geraniums. These need to be trellised, and should eventually fan up the side of the window. On the corner of the border you can see another rose bush trying to climb without a trellis. When we build one, it will go up the corner of the...

The perennial border is fully planted! Today I finished putting in the last plants in the spot where the giant hydrangea and wisteria were. So without further ado: This section is in the front of the house, most of which was planted a few weeks ago. The new part is the group of big puffy white flowers in the center of the photo. These are phlox, and they smell lovely. Eventually they should be much taller and rise above everything else (to be about even with the shrubs in the back). Right now they are actually shorter than the daylilies in the center of the bed, so it's a little weird. (I am not the world's most patient gardener.) If you've been keeping up with the progress of the perennial border, you've already seen this. The new phlox are to the far right of the photo, so this is now a complete view of the front of the house. This is the side of the house where the big hydrangea used to be. To the left is a smaller white (drying to pinkish) hydrangea ...