Tag Archives: front yard

Mid-summer

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Summer is always the worst time at work because everyone wants to be on vacation, meaning those of us left in the office are swamped. Thankfully the yard is taking care of itself and looking very lovely.

Beans back of house

The beans are going nuts. And the new bed along the back of the house is filling in and looking cheerful.

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Cumumbers

The cucumber and winter squash bed is doing great and producing. Letting the argula bolt was a very good idea.

Front porch corner

Some cute color in the front porch corner

rose bush

Rose bush is looking really nice this year. Hoping I am finally getting a handle on the black spot.

Front under window

New hostas are being a favorite under the front window.

squash harvest

First big squash harvest! Also lemon and regular cucumbers, beans and the first of the grape tomatoes! Oh, and an eggplant.

Getting better every day!

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This Spring has been a good mix of rain and crazy hot. We have already had a few 80+ degree days and on Wednesday it was over 90. But last week we got buckets of rain and there is more on the way for this weekend. So lots of sun and rain means that the yard is looking fabulous! It is particularly astonishing to remember that all of my flower beds are only a year old and haven’t had time to look mature — It was at least the third or fourth year at the Rex before things starting looking this great.

front bed

Under the window gets better every day! The lupin! And then there are all these little surprises every where. Awesome!

Iris and lupin again

I moved the iris from in front of the patio and door to where they would get more sun and I could use their height.

geranium

Pink geranium, dusty miller and feverfew making the front corner cute

iris and foxglove

The transplanted iris are doing great but a big surprise is the foxglove. I didn’t know what they were so told Mom to pull them. She said wait — so glad I did!

Front berm fill in

All of the moving around and transplants are taking hold. Splash of color with added bedding plants

poppies and lupin

Poppies and lupin. Poppies add a great splash of color that is dominated by purples.

Back of the house bed

Back of the house bed still looks pretty sparse but considering it is weeks old, nice start. Only 2 deaths so far — daily lily and some rubeckia.

The best part is that even as some of the first lupin are starting to fade, I can tell that there is a ton of stuff getting close to doing their thing. I have weeks of color and cute ahead — may even last the rest of the summer.

The Lovely Spring

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The weather over the last few weeks has been fantastic! Lots of sun, some nice rain and generally the kind of conditions that make living in the Pacific Northwest awesome!

With all of the foundational work done and initial plants in the ground and going about their happy little business, I didn’t have a ton to do other than supervise and fill in a few holes when I stumbled across a good deal on something I thought would be cute.

plum tree

The shasta daisies and yarrow surround the pulm tree at the front of the side yard bed

side front bed

Lots of color and cute

front porch

Poppies, feverfew and snap dragons along the front porch

Monarda

Monarda, yarrow, day lilies, and poppies

basils

The basils and fennel are doing well

more monarda

I discovered that monarda is one of my new favorites. This pink one in the herb bed is so cute with the lavender and salvia.

Glad things are looking so cute and going so well. It is becoming a lovely little retreat, which is good because things at work are about to get super crazy!

Magical Nasturtiums

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At the Columbian, we have a guy that has been writing a weather column for years. He is all kinds of folksy and readers love him. But after 10 years of editing his stuff, we know, A.) he is a pretty awful writer, and B.) he has his favorite whimsical topics for each time of the year — Frog-stranglers, wholly-footed caterpillars, etc. And he knows that spring is finally here when his magical nasturtiums make an appearance.  Basically he inspires lots of groans and inside jokes, but this year I kind of felt like he had a point.

I am so pleased at how great the front yard was looking, especially considering it was only a few weeks old! And I am happy to report I had a just a handful of causalities among my transplants — The only notable one being the little tree I got from the Columbian’s landscaping that I snapped the tap-root on but was hoping would pull through anyway.

nasturtiums 1

Magical nasturtiums by the front porch with ajuga and english daisies.

More nasturtiums

The little guy is down by the plum tree, joining the yarrow and alyssum that I planted from seed. So cute

Siberian iris and dianthus

Siberian iris from Mom, dianthus and some other treasures, including the periwinkle I got from friend Dave Kern.

More siberian iris

The north corner of the porch is framed by siberian iris and wintered over snap dragons. I love the purple and yellow.