Saturday, June 27

A New Camera View of my Backyard

So the trip to Dayton last weekend was a success... I got to cuddle my new little nephew, see my family, introduce Steve to both grandmas, drop off some plants and gifts, and listen to the best radio station in Ohio for a few hours. And I came home with not one digital camera, but TWO!

My parents also had an extra digital camera that they offered to me, and I'm borrowing it to try it out. It's similar to the ones that I had been looking at online, so it's handy to have one to test before I buy. I still need practice with it (and I really need to remember to take the date off of the photos) but I thought I'd post some photos so you could see what's been going on in my backyard garden while I've been busy with work:

Blackberries are going crazy this year with blooms.

The little sedum hispanicum (I think) that I put in the "shallowest" part of the "Lock Garden" has filled in nicely already. I left in the beech leaf and my toes for scale so you could see how tiny this sedum is.

Eryngium, starting to get its blue tinge in front of a clump of 'Grosso' lavender. Both were supposed to be moved to the front yard garden this spring... Oops.

I love this little clay tile planter, with 'Yubi Red' portulaca spilling out the front, and 'Sedona' coleus mingling with a dark blue angelonia behind. (My other tile planter pairs the portulaca with a different coleus, and a lantana.)
Supporting cast includes 'Black Lace' elderberry, zebra grass, flowers from 'Plum Pudding' heuchera, and some spiky blades of little bluestem in the foreground.


Ruby orach self-seeds itself in interesting places--here it's a pretty companion to little bluestem. Ruby orach is also known as "mountain spinach," and I like it cooked with garlic and olive oil. It's even tasty when eaten fresh from the garden, if the leaves are small. That you can eat it makes it easier to weed somehow!

For the third year in a row, my 'Bing' cherry tree brought me nothing but a crop of aphids (and lady bugs, which are very cool looking in their spiney larval stage) and just plain looked horrible... so I started hacking at it a few weeks ago. About the time I got the small branches and all of the leaves removed, I was looking for a home for my clematis Jackmanii as well, and... voila: an interestingly shaped trellis that has pretty bark, too!

I can't wait for this lily, located near the far back fence, to bloom--I can sometimes smell it all the way in my bedroom, and it's a luscious orange color, too. (I want to say it's 'Copper King,' but I may be wrong on that one.) Notice also the reuse of those spiral tomato stakes that are utterly useless for supporting tomatoes.

Yum... Concord grapes. :) My 'Himrod White' has a bumper crop of baby grapes on it, too!


So as you can see, the backyard garden is mostly plodding right along, even without my attention. Tomorrow I should be posting some photos of the front yard garden... maybe even in time for inclusion on the Gardening Gone Wild June roundup? We shall see!

12 comments:

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Your back garden is indeed looking good Kim. I really like that sedum. Our blackberries are producing well this year too.

Colleen Vanderlinden said...

Everything is looking great! I just love Eryngium---it's on my list of plants to add to the front garden. I can't wait until my blackberry starts producing--I just planted it this spring, so I have a couple of years before I see any fruit.

I love the clematis climbing up the cherry tree, too. Very pretty!

Meagan said...

Glad you have a camera(s) again. My favorite is the photo with the purple blossoms with the light shining through.

Benjamin Vogt said...

I planted a concord last fall, and have a few grapes on it now. Do you do anything to keep them safe? Anything eat them? And as for the other posts, lovely garden! I can't believe you think mine is so mature, look at yours!

Entangled said...

Aha, now I know what those tomato spirals are good for!

Can't wait to see your lilies in bloom...and imagine the scent.

Also admiring that little sedum. I can imagine a tapestry of that one and my dark green 'Utah' sedum.

Unknown said...

Greenbow Lisa, ah... I just didn't show the messy parts of the backyard! ;) But thank you!

Colleen, I bet you'll be surprised by the blackberry. I had several handfuls of berries my first full year, and since blackberries can go crazy I didn't subject it to the "don't let it berry the first year" rule. Btw, glad to see you posting comments--I was starting to worry about you!

Thanks, Meagan! I think I'll be happier once I get used to how this camera takes photos, you know? Some photos, it totally washes out the color if the light is in a certain spot, etc. Frustrating, since I was such "good friends" with my old (admittedly crappy) digital!

Benjamin, oh yes... the birds LOVE grapes, unfortunately! I didn't do anything to protect mine last year, but I think that I will have to do something this year. Maybe I'll move the bird netting over once the blackberries are done. Hmm.

Entangled, they're certainly not useful for tomatoes! :) I had to drive in 8ft tall (and 1-1/2in wide) stakes last year, and tie the spirals to the stakes to keep my tomatoes upright. They just bend over completely when the tomatoes are in fruit... argh.

And yeah, I just looked up 'Utah,' and think that it's adorable! I wonder if they would mingle nicely, or if one would take over the other? If they would just kind of mesh together in a few spots, it would definitely be a gorgeous tapestry...

Greg said...

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Wayne Stratz said...

Nice photos! I am covetous of the Eryngium. I need to keep an eye out for some. For some reason it has high appeal to me.

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

How fun to play with new cameras. It's funny that your Eryngium is planted next to Lavender - I planted my Eryngium next to Lavender also. I guess it's not so surprising, as both plants like the same conditions and look so good together. I love the Clematis climbing the cherry tree. Wouldn't it be funny if your harsh treatment of the tree caused it to come back next year with lots of blooms & fruit?

Sylvana said...

Yay! You got a camera! Looks like things are coming along nicely.

b&g girl said...

oh my gosh! you have the best inspiration! love the sedum and the terra cotta planter setting...so much so much!

Gail said...

Congrats on the camera(s)...and the garden looks lovely...I like that clay tile pot and the orach is beautiful with Little Bluestem...Is that The Blues? One of my favorite grasses. Mine hasn't starting lying down yet! Gail

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