"Your gardens must be beautiful!"

This is the comment I get most often while talking to customers at work. They don't believe me when I tell them that they actually look pretty terrible. Working in horticulture, I don't have time to weed in spring or early summer. I also have a dog that is keeping me from planting or spraying in one area. So, here is photographic proof that my gardens are nasty looking.

First is the driveway garden.  A crazy mess at the moment, but I'm slowly getting it under control.  My dog tramples anything near the house in this garden, and everything used as foundation planting along the house.  Quackgrass is taking this garden over quickly... wish I could spray it since pulling it just makes it angry.










 Here is the foundation planting where this is no longer a dog to trample everything.  This is newly planted, and will hopefully start to look better if I can keep it weeded.

Around the corner from the previous picture.  Just need time to clean it up and it will be ok.

And now for the shot that redeems all this ugliness.  My butterfly garden is pretty good.  In the process of some editing, and still needs lots of weeding but I enjoy it and the critters it brings.  No Monarch caterpillars this year though, despite having 3 species of Asclepias for them to munch on.

This garden is also nice, although not very colorful.  Unfortunately we haven't had the time the last 2 years to grow the huge variety of food we had been.  Despite the fact that this garden didn't get planted until the last week of June and the Tomatoes and Peppers are bearing late, it looks awesome and everything is healthy.

Eggplant 'Thai White Ribbed'

Tomato 'OSU Purple'

Pepper 'New Ace'

Chard 'Bright Lights'

Mystery Plant

Here is another mystery plant.  Do you know it?

Summer Color

I have plenty of summer color right now, so I thought I'd share some of it with you.

Anaphalis margaritacea is native to most of the US and is an overlooked garden plant that is a great host for American Lady caterpillars.

Chrysanthemum 'Mammoth Lavender'

Garden shot





Geranium psilostemon - Blooming since June 30" tall and no flopping!



One of my seedlings Hemerocallis ('Golden Zebra' x 'Peppermint Ice')

Hemerocallis 'Johnny Cash'

Hemerocallis 'Regency Heights'

Hemerocallis 'Siloam Show Girl'

Sedum 'Mr. Goodbud'

Silene regia 'Prairie Fire'

One of my introductions Silphium perfoliatum 'Lemonade Stand'

Critters are color too!  Black Swallowtail on fennel

Asclepias 'Silky Red' - Annual for us and one of my favorites.

Chocolate cosmos that overwintered in my garden

Petunia 'Black Velvet'

Verbena bonariensis

Eupatorium 'Phantom'




Agastache 'Black Adder', Eryngium yuccifolium, and Fennel