Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Yard Crasher #4

As I said the other day, when we were at my sister's for Easter I took a bunch of pictures outside.

Last time I crashed their yard, I mentioned that it was fully landscaped when they bought the house. After living there through two gardening seasons, they're slowly editing it to fit their tastes and needs.

Here's how it's lookin' for spring:

There are several established camellias.
Although I hate the mess they make, they're so pretty.


Just past this one is a row of pink Mountain Laurel, and a blue Hydrangea on the end that gets HUGE flowers.



This one is also in their backyard.





This dogwood tree is so dang cute.
I wish my potted one would bloom.


The neighbor next door has one in her backyard, too, that you can see blooming.







You guys did an excellent job of identifying shrubs and trees last time I crashed their yard.
The Ribes was done already, but this one is bloomin' solid.
If I remember correctly (and it's quite possible that I'm wrong), this is Pittosporum.
Feel free to correct me.





The Japanese Snowbell wasn't blooming yet, but looking back at last year's pictures reminds me that I really, really want one.
She has a few little potted trees, as well (clearly it runs in the family), and this maple is so dang cute.





My mom got her a Lewisia last year when we got ours.
Um, check out the buds on this sucker.



Are you kidding me?
It's gonna be sooooo pretty.

Their house sits on a corner lot, so they have a back, front, and side yard.  
The side is my favorite.
Okay smarties, what's this one?



There's a big flowering tree (cherry, I think) that had "snowed" all over the place.


Under it is a red Japanese Maple, Euphorbia, Hardy Geranium (Cranesbill, I believe), Hosta, unidentified grasses, Barberry, Bleeding Heart, and that grey evergreen thing (????) down in front.














Ain't it purdy?


There's a row of Korean Lilacs under the bay window that were covered in buds.




In addition to the red one you saw above, there's another little maple on that same strip that I love, love, love.


The carpet of green all along that side is Campanula.


This is the start of the path to the front door.
They have a "big green monster" like mine.
Mine isn't quite that giant, though.


There's Heather scattered about, lots of grasses, and my brother-in-law just planted the Burning Bush.


Azaleas, Barberry, Ferns, Candytuft, Rhody's, Roses, Crocosmia and more Campanula are in the front bed along the sidewalk.


Up next to the house are more Azaleas, Rhody's, grasses, a columnar (crap, I just went blank) (update:  it just came to me....Cypress) that they just put in, and the clump of Blood Grass that I finally stole from.






This is before I swiped some.
I was doing them a favor, look, it's spreading too close to the hosta.  :)


So that concludes another addition of Yard Crashers.
We're over there all the time, so I'll take more photos as the season progresses.
Pretty, right?
Almost makes me want to come home, rip everything out, and start over.  :)


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10 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Beautiful! My yard is in full bloom during the summer but in the Spring.....I just have the usual spring flowers. I think it's time for me to start getting some trees and bushes that flower during the Spring! What would you recommend? I have 2 azalea bushes and they are the same size as when I put them in 3 years ago.

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    1. Boy, there's so many fun trees and shrubs if you have the room. Lilacs, flowering cherries, Camellias, Japanese Bell tree, Ribes (flowering current), Forsythia, Wygelia, Mountain Laurel. As for perennials, there's pulmonaria, bleeding heart, lewisia, epimedium, Jacob's Ladder, clematis, hellebores, heuchera, saxafraga....the list goes on and on. I wish I had room for three of everything! :) And if it's any consolation, I can't grow azaleas to save my life. I've planted three in the twelve years I've been here and every single one of them has died.

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    2. I did buy 2 lilac bushes and 1 forsythia this year. I put them in pots and once the danger of frost is gone I will be putting them in the yard. :) Good to know that its not just me having problems with azaleas. They haven't died (yet) but they also haven't grown.....not one inch!! How is it, that I see azaleas in other people's yard and they are just full of flowers?! I am definitely branching out this year....lol.....and buying some new plants & trees! Alert....Alert....her come the Questions: do you have a soil tester? Do you test your soil's ph? Do you use a compost bin? How do you get enough compost to cover ALL your flower beds?

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    3. Ooooh, that's exciting. Gotta love new plants.

      My sister's yard has tons of azaleas and they're all growing and blooming great. I think it must be a mental block on my part.

      I do not have a soil tester. I've never tested it, but there are specific fertilizers for different shrubs, ie. azaleas, rhody's, etc.

      We do have a compost bin. I dump all our fruit and veggie kitchen scraps in it in the summer, let it do it's magic all winter, then I dump all my old potting soil into it in the spring. I mix the stuff that has broken down with peat moss and manure before I spread it. It isn't enough to do the whole yard. We get a truckload every spring to fill in. It's cheaper that way than buying it in bags. We got load (a yard) a couple weeks ago and it was $30 bucks. It did the whole backyard about 2-inches deep.

      Hope that helps! :)

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  3. So beautiful, pink snow and camelia... pretty time of the year!

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  4. Wow, so much color and variety! How great to move into a house and have it landscaped already.

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  5. Hi Mindy, I love your "Yard Crasher" series, although this is the only one I've been to so far. I will read the others too. Your sister's gardens are delightful. Such a diverse array of plants.

    Looks to me like the white flowering shrub is not a Pittosporum but a Choisya ternata or "Mexican Orange." Also the Yellow/green leaved shrub is Elaeagnus ebbingei 'Gilt Edge', I think. ... You are such a good sister, helping her out by removing that Japanese Blood Grass. Good girl. :)

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  6. Mindy, that pink flower in the blue basin/birdbath is so amazingly beautiful. Did you get any super close-ups of it?

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  7. Beautiful! I love the whole Yard Crasher idea. Off to look at more of your posts. :)

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