Time for the 2025 garden update!
Seeings the mature Mimosa trees get their leaves and bloom was a whole different experience than seeing them in photos from Stan or seeing the specimen we grew in NH. The Mimosas are spectacular! We have three in the yard. The tallest is as tall as the second story of the back house. They do open up late here, as they did in NH, but they bloom for much longer and much more profusely, as they are mature trees. All came from the tree that Stan’s grandmother planted.
Dahlias never disappoint. The new varieties I grew this year to restart our collection here in PA were no exception. They are just gorgeous!
I covered some of the food plantings in my last post, so I won’t go on and on here, but the yield was plentiful. Thirty-two cucumbers, 22 Cortland squash, enough purple strings beans to have them several times, and the potato yield was the equivalent of about five, five pound bags of potatoes. As I said in my previous post, I did not grow many a carrot plants, but I was able to use what we did grow in a soup and some sauces.
Lots of special flowers and plants, as well as some of my perennial garden favorites in the photos below. Purple Beauty Berry is the first photo. It’s amazing! Fifth photo is Monkshood, which was a leftover plant from Gertie, Stan’s mom. The eighth photo is Euphorbia, which here grows to the size of small bushes! Thirteenth photo is of one of the the Grape Crepe Myrtles i planted. We’ll see if I can get them to survive winter!
Butterflies & Bees
The Asiatic Lillies did very well, though about half I planted were not viable. I also learned that if you are going to grow them indoors you have to pull them up and store them much like you do Dahlias. They need a cold, dark cycle to bloom next year. I’ve decided that I’ll not put them in regular circular pots next year, I will grow them in planter trays. I hope that will group them together, making them look fuller and I think will make them easier to deal with at the end of the growing season.
Another set of special flowers and plants, as well as some of my perennial garden favorites in the photos below. The fourth, tenth, and the eleventh photos are the Rose of Sharon varieties in the garden here that we inherited. The twelfth photo is of one of the new butterfly bush flowers. I grew all our Cleomes, Morning Glories, and the Marigolds from seed.
We transferred all our yard ornaments. All the bird bathes could go in as they were. I changed the base of the multicolored gazing ball from white to a light turquoise color. I also used the same color for the small flower planters, although I also painted some of those an agua color. The metal starburst flower is on the back shed. The shed is made of reclaimed pallets and a metal roof. Stan made a new door to close off the shed himself. We are painting that shed black and I decided that the turquoise color would be beautiful when set against the side of the shed.
Lots of long shots of the property in the gallery below. I hope you have enjoyed the tour! I’ll be doing a holiday post next!
