Our Garden Beds

Much more colorful than it was a few weeks back .

This was the site of my very first gardening effort, a Spring Hill package called "The Pink Garden." Over the years it's evolved into this predominantly-Hosta garden, and has been fairly stable for perhaps a decade. Only some Coneflowers survive from the original plantings--and those have migrated a bit. The Hostas arrived year by year, a plant at a time; no two years' plantings were the same. The tall Lilies supply some color, as do the Coneflowers and Sedum (and the hidden Bleeding Heart, if you can find it). There are a few other plants here and there, and of course some annuals (Yellow Petunias, this year) out front. This is one of the Spring gardens, with MANY daffodils/narcissi. Joan's annual indoor Hyacinth usually gets planted here after the flower fades. Many of our bird feeders are visible through the picture window, and from the porch. Sad to report that the neighborhood cats have noticed. They've also noticed that the Hostas make great cover. Sometimes you need to just accept.... Some years ago I posted a photo from a similar perspective . The porch has changed, and some bushes have gone, but the garden's much the same.

It ain't tidy, but there's color under the picture window these days....

I bought the big planter twenty years ago, and we've had the smaller planters for nineteen. What goes in them depends mostly on what strikes my fancy on Memorial Day or thereabouts. The hanging basket gets selected on similar whims. We also put a container behind the rail; it's (more or less) rectangular, with bright flowers, and clearly designed by the same crew as these. It's there now, but wasn't ready when I took this pic. I suppose we'll put a perennial border around the steps some year, but so far we've been happy with annuals. Cosmos, this summer. The cat? Perhaps it's a memorial for Peppermint.

As of last Tuesday. We developed some color while we were away.

To put the flowers--and other growing things--into perspective, I thought I'd post a few photographs to show the entire yard. The road to the left runs east/west; to the right north/south. This is the only corner where you can see much of our yard; the others are obstructed by hedges or trees or Mike's garage. At the extreme left is our Forsythia hedge, which runs from the lot's corner to the garage, more or less. The (tall, skinny) Arborvitae came with the house, though I moved them to their current locations. (They were much smaller 20 years ago.) The large bush near our trailer is a Hibiscus (Rose of Sharon), with a small Maple between it and the shed. Between the Rose of Sharon and the Linden tree you can see both the Daylilies and the garden bed beside them. The little bush in front of the Hibiscus is a Lilac, while the larger bush in front of the Linden is a Flowering Quince. You can see the Circle as a small clump near the drive, beyond the Street Corner Garden (which is front and center, of course). At the extreme right, at the end of the driveway, is the little Iris patch; the Maple beyond it was a Village project. The Front Garden is across the sidewalk from the Iris, though it doesn't show well in this photo. The Spruce and the tall Pines are ours, as is the Maple behind the Pines. The tall deciduous trees beyond everything are the neighbor's (mostly Aspens, I think.) Why I Talk About Contractors in these Notes Our house was built in Grand Ledge in the 1940s (where Soapy Joe's Car Wash is, now), and was moved to its current location in 1990. At that time it had no neighbors, and there was no east-west street. The abandoned field had last been planted with Clover, and smelled glorious. The contractors who moved the house did quite a bit of filling to raise the lot to the street level. Some of it was systematic (they apparently put a deliberate clay layer beneath the front lawn) but much of it was just random fill. The contractors who built the neighborhood around us also did a lot of filling, but our yard's contour--the backyard slopes down about 3 feet--is unlike any other neighborhood lot. The back line of our yard, and Mike's garage, are the local low points; fortunately, the Mulliken Meadows developers worked hard to control a potential drainage problem. (We certainly appreciate it.)

This view, from our neighbors' driveway, shows the Trellis Garden, the Window Garden, and the flowers & planters around the porch. Most of our front-yard bird feeders are visible here, too, as is the birdbath. The little trees are two of Joan's Arbor Day Foundation "sticks." Both are, we think, crabapples, but they've led a rough life (rabbits were particularly hard on these two). Our yard used to be heavily exposed to sunlight. This photo shows that the front yard, at least, now has significant shade. The Spruce and the two White Pines I planted many years back have grown quite large.

The new garden bed, at the street corner. We'll likely end up calling this the "Street Corner Garden."