Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Consistently wrong since 2002

After roe, women are no longer free.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

The revolution will be supervised.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Republicans don’t trust women.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

The words do not have to be perfect.

Let’s finish the job.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

You are here: Home / Garden Chats / Sunday Morning Garden Chat: A Boring Yard Reborn As A Garden

Sunday Morning Garden Chat: A Boring Yard Reborn As A Garden

by | 52 Comments

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From indomitable gardener and commentor Satby:

How it started, my house when I moved in:

How it’s going: same view last fall.

Top photo: The Mandarin Lights azalea I’ve waited for 5 years to bloom.

Two weigela shrubs, great hummingbird magnets!

Coral Sunset peony, blooms start coral and aging to cream:

An “At Last” floribunda rose, in my favorite color.

I could go on, but I’d bore you to tears.

***********
Impossible for you to be boring, Satby!

What’s going on in your garden(s), this week?

Reader Interactions

52Comments

  5. 5.

    Skepticat

    Nothing’s going on in my garden, as I have neither gardens nor a home at the moment. I just lost out in a bidding war for a a property I made an offer on. It wasn’t in my preferred area, but the price was reasonable (yes, everything’s relative in this market) and the gardens were wonderful. It’s missing out on the gardens I most regret.

  8. 8.

    TerryC

    I wish I could figure out how to post pics. Today I am alternating moving a tractor load load of wood chips to the south end of my property and then bringing back several clumps of Oxen-eye Daisies north to my new 18-hole disc golf course. We’ve planted more than 500 tree babies in four acres so far this spring, and transplanted many linear feet of daylillies. Trees planted this year in that 4 acres include red mulberry, redbud, sycamore, buartnut, overcup oak, Nuttall oak, black walnut, catalpa, larch, northern pecan, white spruce, Norway spruce, red cedar, paw paw, lilac, and 50 each blackberry and raspberry bushes!

  9. 9.

    WereBear

    @Skepticat:  Twenty years ago I had to leave all my  roses in my garden. Should I be able to build one again, I can get them back. Each name is a clone.

    They’re still out there.

  10. 10.

    JeanneT

    Beautiful! And I’m putting that floribunda rose on my look-for list.

    My garden tasks this season are to keep working around all my former perennial beds, forking out the invading violets, rescuing what plants are worth rescuing and setting up dog-friendly paths around newly placed beds. I am a slow worker (especially in the heat of summer), so it will keep me busy the rest of the summer and fall.

  15. 15.

    R-Jud

    Oh, I love coral peonies. I snapped one up in a sale the other week and look forward to seeing it bloom next year. Meanwhile I’ve got bowls-of-beauty–pink outside, cream inside.

  17. 17.

    E.

    Very nice! I am not able to do something like this at the moment but dream about it. I had a nice garden and slowly developing landscaping at my former home which I miss terribly, especially this time of year, but love the pictures. You did a great job there! Thanks for sharing.

  18. 18.

    JPL

    Satby,  such a beautiful transformation and I am envious.

    I was outside attempting to get an early start before it gets too hot.   In full sun though, it’s always hot.  I just emptied bags of dirt which were sopping wet and heavy.   As soon as the dirt dries a little, I’ll spread it.

  21. 21.

    Gvg

    It’s raining. Good news for garden. Florida has dry springs and the rains signal summer and lower water bills. As the heat rises, the plants need the rain. But it does mean I won’t be planting seedlings and rooted cuttings today. Yesterday I planted a bunch of coneflower seedlings and rooted cleome cuttings so this should water them in nicely.
    I guess today will be cooking and cleaning. Not quite as much fun. I will also try to catch up on the hearings. Maybe some on line garden orders….
    Wiegelia doesn’t do much in Florida. Salvias are better humming bird flowers for us. I have some Purple Majesty bushes that are doing really well. All the pollinators love it. Many kinds of bees. I have thought of trying to photograph them and identify/count but there are so many kinds and they move a lot.

  22. 22.

    Benw

    Lovely flowers!
    My lilies, peonies, and rhododendrons have come and gone, but now the hydrangeas are getting ready for launch. And we picked the first strawberry of the year yesterday and are watching the blueberries, even though the birds will almost certainly swoop in before us and eat them, like they do every year.

  24. 24.

    NeenerNeener

    I just had all the overgrown evergreens (and the weeds growing up inside them) ripped out in front of my house yesterday. Had it all replaced with gravel for now, because I just can’t keep up with the maintenance anymore. I’ve got some large, fancy, ironwork plant stands on order so I can just swap out hanging flower pots as the season changes.

  26. 26.

    oldgold

    Every Sunday morning Jackals park at the intersection of Garden Street and the 1600 block of Pennsylvania Avenue to smell the roses and comment on the current D.C. follies.

    Earlier this week this intersection was comically corrupted when the creepy clown car that is Margaret Taylor Greene careened crazily through this crossroads of flowers and politics with this mendacious malaprop: “The rights of the January 6th protesters have been fragrantly violated.”

  27. 27.

    oldgold

    Satby, As the gardener who put the pro in crastination, I am in a unique position to grade meaningful horticultural effort. Your grade: A+.

  28. 28.

    Jeffery

    The first summer in this house 23 years ago we worked on setting the garden up. I dug flower beds the length of the side yard, across the backyard. There had been an above ground pool that had been removed before we moved in. That had a concrete retaining wall at ground level around it. That became the vegetable garden as it sat in the middle of the lawn. We went crazy planting seeds. Everything did well. The next year the neighbors on either side of us took up gardening.

  31. 31.

    satby

    Oh, thanks all! I was getting a shower in and figuring out what hot weather clothes still fit after the covid years (answer, almost none )! I have to go make coffee for the UUs, but if anyone has questions leave them and I’ll be back to answer.

    One thing, the hugelkultur garden is what replaced the evergreens in front. And I’ve discovered biochar, which really made the difference in my sandy soil. Until I added that most of my garden results were mediocre, because the soil here is mostly dirty sand.

  32. 32.

    WaterGirl

    Starting tomorrow we’re getting 3 days of 105 degrees, so I think I might go out and water everything really well though we got some rain last night.  Because I sure don’t want to be outside when it’s 105.

  33. 33.

    CaseyL

    The garden is lovely, and what a great house!  That particular style – I’m not sure, but I think it’s “saltbox” – is one of my favorite types of house.  And the garden softens all those square angles.

  35. 35.

    O. Felix Culpa

    What a lovely transformation. Your hard work definitely paid off. My gardening efforts continue to be frustrated by high winds and ever hotter weather, so seeing pretty flowers elsewhere is nice.

  36. 36.

    sab

    Do I remember that you have a kid who wants you to move closer so he can keep an eye on you now that you are approaching elder parent status? I can see why you want to stay where you are. What a lovely garden.

  37. 37.

    sab

    We can’t mow the backyard because the semi-resident deer just had twins stashed nearby, and she likes to hang out in our yard and eat the blackberry brambles.

    Normally we can scare her off if her presence is inconvenient. But now she is an anxious and protective mom.

    Our pitbull is desperate. She doesn’t know walks are for dog relief. She does that in the yard, and we won’t let her in the yard because of protective mom-deer.

  38. 38.

    JAM

    Your yard looks great Satby! I’m trying to do something similar with my front yard. The only plants on the property when we moved here were hollies, privet, surprise lilies, and a rose bush. And the lawn…We cut down the massively overgrown and freeze-damaged hollies from in front of our porch last year. The flowers I planted are doing much better now with more sun, but they look kind of funny sort of hunkered down in the front of this really big planting bed. I think I have decided on some native shrubs to replace the hollies, but first we need to paint the brick porch and repair the screens. So the challenge will be getting my husband to help do that before the autumn planting time.

  39. 39.

    Immanentize

    Satby, so great!
    You are a powerhouse of effort and an inspiration for me and my yard. Thank you!

  40. 40.

    stinger

    What a vast improvement, satby! Squared-off boring hedge gone. Straight lines and right angles of house and fence softened with billows of color and coolness waving in the breeze. Your neighbors must like it, and I’m sure hummingbirds and other avians and insects appreciate it too!

  41. 41.

    Mousebumples

    Looks great, satby! Amazing work.

    We got a bunch of rain yesterday, so with grandma over to help watch the kiddos, I got some much needed weeding in this morning.

    Not much flowering right now other than a few marigolds. Crocuses, tulips, daffodils, and bleeding hearts are done. Lilies, hydrangeas, and the rose bush are close but not quite there yet.

    And now my husband is mowing the lawn. I’m also waiting (not so) patiently for the raspberries and strawberries to be ready to pick. And maybe we’ll get blueberries this year?

  42. 42.

    stinger

    Do Mandarin Lights and At Last bloom together? That would be a great juxtaposition.

    I have a Northern Lights azalea (flowers are white with bright yellow) underplanted with yellow/white iris. Unfortunately, the iris don’t start blooming until the azalea is mostly done and the flowers turning brown. I need to look for a slightly earlier yellow iris.

  45. 45.

    satby

    @WaterGirl: Crazy hot starting Tuesday here too. I really gotta get that thermostat fixed so I have air conditioning again!

    @sab: Yes, my son in Lexington would like me closer to be able to help me in my dotage . His assessment and mine of when that will start are a bit divergent.

  46. 46.

    satby

    Thanks again everyone! The UUs went long today

    This Mandarin Light azalea bloomed after my rhododendron and another azalea, I think because it’s in too shady a spot. I have successive plantings in most of the beds (well, that was the plan anyway) so first daffodils, hyacinths, and tulips; then the midseason stuff like irises and peonies, then if it all works: roses, hydrangeas, day and canna lillies, gladiolas; and petunias and nasturtium in the porch planters and hanging pots. Plus new this year some hardy hibiscus.

    @JAM: That big bronze shrub in the lower picture is a (I think) Summer Wine ninebark. Native, pretty hardy once established, showy, and the birds eat the seeds in the fall. Ninebarks come in a lot of varieties.

  47. 47.

    satby

    @Jeffery: My neighbor in the little white house to the north has become an avid gardener too

    @Benw: Floating row covers are your friends. At least allows you to get some of the goodies

  48. 48.

    Nancy

    @TerryC:

    The secret is to ask Watergirl. She will tell you that you can find a template in the side bar. It then becomes easy to upload photos, It helps if they are not huge. I sound like I know whereof I speak, don’t I?

  51. 51.

    kalakal

    Satby:Very late to the thread but I’d like to compliment you anyway. That’s lovely, well done.

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