The Obsessive Neurotic Gardener

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They’re here

And just like that, the butterflies, the bees, the same lone hummingbird we see year after year and Japanese beetles have descended upon the garden in droves. For today’s purposes I’ll keep it pretty and spare you the ugly. I’m desperately trying to capture a pic of the hummer, but to date he’s been too ninja-like for me to catch him.

 

 

Flowers

The ornamental grass shield continues to pay dividends as the hydrangeas have remained virtually untouched by the deer.

 

 

The Bee Balm is blooming and the Joe Pye Weed isn’t too far behind.

 

This is the lone Queen of the Prairie (Filipendula rubra) flower that has eluded the deer and I still long for masses of these flowers on display at the same time. I have to up my deer-repellent spraying game.

 

Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) continues to multiply year after year as the flowers are now emerging throughout the garden.

 

I’ll take the 5-6 blooms of Daylily ‘Little Grapette’ but I’m still pissed that the deer have ravaged them like never before. My strategic placement plan has failed.

 

I’ve had Yarrow (Achillea) ‘Moonwalker’ for 7-8 years now and they look better this year than they ever have before. The relocation plan to drier soil has paid dividends. Why it took this long I’ll never know.

 

Enjoy these coneflowers now before I bitch about their destruction from the deer in an upcoming post.

 

 

I’ve finally succumbed to using annuals to fill in empty spots in the garden. But I’ll still show my disrespect by not having a clue as to the name of this plant below. I have to keep some street cred.

Ornamental grasses

The original intention was to highlight the Hyssop and Mountain Mint in the two photos that follow below. Take note however, that the grasses (Panicum and Little Bluestem respectively) are in greater focus and that’s all you need to know about my affinity for the almighty OG.

 

 

I’m a ten year old girl at heart so why not embrace it and add a fun little extra to the Indian Grass (Sorghastrum) below.

 

While slow to establish over the years, Panicum ‘Ruby Ribbons’ still has tremendous color that can’t be ignored.

 

Swoon.

 

Pennisetum ‘Burgundy Bunny’ … drops mic.

 

Pennisetum ‘Hameln’ is the perfect foil to Joe Pye Weed.

 

While I will forever shout to the rooftops about my disdain for Northern Sea Oats and its painful reseeding, I have nothing bad to say about its brethren ‘River Mist’. Great color in partial shade.

 

Are you tired of me posting photos of Panicum ‘Northwind’?

Well then let’s get creative and up the artistic slant on the previous photo.

Amsonia

Words will never do it justice.

 

Interest beyond flowers

Baptisia seed heads post-bloom still lend an ornamental quality to this killer perennial.

Allow me to introduce you

Two recent additions:

Hypericum ‘Sunburst’

 

And Oregano ‘Kent Beauty’

Where did you come from?

I have tried to grow Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) forever and eventually settled a few years ago on the fact that it wouldn’t thrive with my wet conditions.

Lesson learned: Trying is overrated.

 

While I have to take some measures to control the Rudbeckia that pop up all over the garden, I always make sure that some are left untouched.

 

Slowly but surely

New beds are starting to fill in and only time will tell if I’ll have the patience to not tinker and screw it all up.

Still work to do

A lot of spent flowers to remove on the Lady’s Mantle (Alchemilla mollis).

 

Same goes for all of the Veronica ‘Royal Candles’.

 

 

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16 Responses

  1. Your garden is beautiful. If the deer are going to come anyway, maybe you could put out deer food to protect the flowers? Or plant an apple tree, they eat the apples from my tree. They must find them tastier than my flowers which they leave alone.

    • Sheryl – they actually have quite a bit of food with the woods in back of my property but they do stray every once in a while. Do you feed them and does it help?

  2. Beautiful! Does the River Mist make the little oaty seed heads? The annual, if you care, is Gomphrena, globe amaranth. I love it because it likes extreme heat, blooms for months, reseeds a little and you don’t have to deadhead at all.

  3. Your Garden is lovely. And your addition of the annual, gomphrena, is beautiful! There is no shame in annuals, embrace the beautiful colors that can be added between bloom time of your perennials!

    • I’m doing my best to embrace it Tina and my daughter just told me the gomphrena is her favorite so I have no choice but to plant it every year now. Thanks for the kind words!

  4. Thanks for sharing photos of your lovely garden. The upside of all the rain we have endured is glorious color in our Hudson Valley gardens. Usually I have to think of my garden as a May – June garden. Having to be mindful of my well, I depend on Mother Nature to do the watering. This year I have wonderful blooming color longer than I usually can enjoy. Gardening is a marvelous adventure!

    • The excess rain has been so great this year and the garden couldn’t be happier. Thanks for stopping by again!

  5. Would be interested to learn how well-behaved your River Mist Sea Oats really is in terms of spreading and reseeding. You seem to indicate that it doesn’t reseed, but I’m wondering about it taking over a perennial border if it spreads by runners. Some sites that River Mist is drought-tolerant, others that it prefers to be wet. Any clarifications from you who’ve actually grown in would be most welcome… Thanks for giving it some notice – I’d never have known about it otherwise.

    • Christina – no issues at all to date with reseeding or any runners with River Mist but I’m watching it very closely, I won’t be blindsided again.

  6. That unknown annual is Gomphrena globosa, AKA globe amaranth. Love all your pictures, especially the grasses. I too love them.

  7. As always, way cool. As far as the deer thing goes, I was told to pee around the flower beds, …. So yeah, at night when no one was around …. Didn’t work. Told my buddies, they laughed,then I realized I had been duped.

    • Before I finished reading your comment I was all set to do it. I’m game for anything. Ha.

  8. John!
    Thanx for the tour!! Nothin’ but Nice!
    A tip I received about catching Hummers on film I’ll pass on to you as I found it quite helpful:

    When trying to capture the little “Ninjas,” they’ll move quicker than we humans. (Obviously!!)
    So set up your tripod and focus on a bloom you notice them visiting that day….then wait.
    Be sure to leave room in the frame for the bird!! (Experience talking, there!)
    With our modern cameras, I’ve found the hardest thing is keeping the device awake and ready to snap at a moment’s notice….because that’s all you’ll probably get. If you’ve got one, use a longer lens and set up back a bit ….like in the shade! And, be ready to wait.
    Hummers are “circuit feeders” and it may take a while for them to return to your now “locked and loaded” sights. Here in the mountains of Eastern Oklahoma, we’ve several birds each season and usually 2 hatchings per our long summer. So, my average wait is about 5 to 10 minutes, more or less. (SEEEEEEEMMMSSSSSSS a lot longer, but when you finally score that Nat. Geo cover shot, it’s worth it!!) Hope this helps you and others!!!

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