Well, Hello There Gorgeous!

Gardening is about learning and victories - large and small.  I am here to tell you, this is a large victory...

Ain't she a 'peach'?!!
(Sense a purple theme in the area - aka Gazing Ball?
Ajuga skirts the stepping stones too, just out of sight.)

Growing this PJM Rhododendron has been a total labor of love - and - "3rd time IS a charm".  I am completely enamored with Azaleas and Rhododendrons, ever since I first saw them on the east coast in New Jersey.  They are very happy on the east coast, like Hibiscus in Florida, the soil must be just right - they grow as big as a house.  Here in the Midwest they are much more fragile - though many landscapes in the area attempt to grow them (note to self:  all "Zone 5's" are not alike).

"Rhodie" invited a friend over to hang out.
(those flower petals were still unfolding - fresh out of their little 'nest')

This is my third attempt to grow this tender plant.  Not paying attention to the "tip" on the plant tag the first two times -- I did not plant this treasure's predecessors in a protected area of the garden.  Cold NW winter winds left nothing but brittle twigs, with no hope of any recovery in the Spring.  I was devastated, but hard-headed - not willing to say "Uncle".  Low and behold, looks like I got this one right?!  The bonus, this Rhododendron is an evergreen - so you have foliage to look at all four seasons.

"Mary, Mary, quite contrary.  How does your garden grow?"

Like most of you, I've been up to my elbows in dirt these days.  While the weather is not fast to cooperate, I am still out there - re-organizing my gardens in the back.  Re-purposed Day Lilies from pre-construction were planted in a part-shade area of the "Shade Garden" last year.  Slow to thrive and bloom - they now have been shuffled to my new "Cottage Garden" in a very sunny corner.  I moved a lone Moonbeam Coreopsis to a grouping with it's family in the "Sun Garden".  I put two more Moonbeams over in the Cottage Garden - they weren't coming back too strong this spring.  With all the Sphagnum Moss and Mushroom Compost there is in the Cottage garden - they should be all jacked up by the time the weather gets nice?!

Thanks for the Feng Shui -
from the creative minds at Microsoft Clip Art

Now that I feel "Feng Shui'd" (and it feels so good!) -- time to go plant shopping!!  It feels great to be back on the Blogosphere after a brief absence.  I'm looking forward to catching up on what my garden blog buddies are up to! ...

Peace, in your garden!

Garden Plans for 2011 - Even On a 12 Degree Day

There is a charming blog, My Little Garden in Japan, that is taking the Blogosphere by storm.  The blog owner, Fer~, recently created a meme:  World Garden Blog Carnival.

Visit New Year Gardening Resolutions Blog Carnival

at my little garden in japan

His 'call out' this time around is - "Gardening for the New Year".  I'm a little late to the party - his invitation came out for January 17th, but I've been thinking about just what I want to accomplish......

(from Microsoft free clipart)

My 'theme' this year is going to be "BAM! Yes, I meant to do that!".

This will be 'Season #3' of recreating the landscape from scratch, after our home renovation.  Last year was a banner year of accomplishment - roughing out the main gardens in the back, while continuing to add perennials through-out the landscape.  In the Fall, I even posted on future plants I'm mulling over.....  As I look out the windows today, Spring feels very far away.  My poor PJM Rhododendron (Rododendro P.J.M.) looks like it wants to curl up into itself!  Like it just can't get small enough to protect itself from the cold.

Will it ever be Spring?
(Notice - the ever present bunny tracks)

The Vicary Golden Privet (Ligustrum x vicaryi) and Dappled Willow (Salix integra 'Hakura Nisbiki') stand stoic - frozen in time and place by wind and snow.

I realize that connecting with other garden bloggers has helped me learn more in almost one year (soon to be my 'Blogoversary'), then I've learned in 6 years of gardening.  Garden blog Ink & Penstemon had an interesting post lately about blogging, blogs linked to Facebook and gardening (it's thought-provoking, you should check it out).  There was a debate about 'garden blogging' versus getting off the computer and get out to garden...  Well I, for one, hope the garden bloggers that I follow - never stop blogging!!  You are my virtual garden mentors and Mensas -- my garden design and inspiration would be greatly diminished without you.  (So don't get any crazy ideas!)

Paprika Yarrow and Moonbeam Coreopsis

Persian Shield - 2011 'compost'

Sedum - looking a bit like Nick Nolte's mug shot?

...you be the judge....

So as I look at the frozen "Tundra", and iced plant remnants from 2010, I start looking forward.  Two, OK three prevailing areas loom in my head.

Area #1:  (plant a lot, plant fast growing and plant often!!; and maybe it would make a great "moon garden"?)

Area #2:  (Plant more perennials, extend the 'Shade Garden' along the fence line)

Area #3:  (What's next? ...extend a shade garden under the bay window?.. additional garden(s) framing the driveway?  Hummmm....time to get out the colored pencils and graph paper.)

And finally - because I needed hope for Spring - a snapshot of the Summer of 2010:

"Sweet Dreams" Threadleaf Coreopsis
(Coreopsis rosea) 

Happy garden planning in 2011!
(Thanks for the motivation:  "My Little Garden in Japan" blog)

WHAT was I thinking ???????

It started out in pure innocence - it sounded like a good idea - I was inspired by what all the work fellow garden bloggers were doing............  I was going to cut in my new "South-by-Southwest" (later to be called the "Cottage Garden") garden and prepare it for next Spring!!  I had a few key foundation plants in place, floating out in the middle of the yard, time to encase them in the new garden.  There was a "plan".  I would amend the soil and let it 'simmer' over the winter, just waiting for spring 2011!

WHAT WAS I THINKING????????

A little history retread:
2008:  Backyard = rough shape from home renovation, started out looking like this in spring:

"Icky bad" 2008

2010 - The design plan:

Trace paper - covering an existing picture to sketch plant ideas on ...

2010 (Sept.) - The implementation:

Day 1 - THAT was as good as it was going to get!

Jim and Pat over at illic est haud equus quoque mortuus barruo did an amazing job cutting in a new garden;  so much so that they inspired me to get a jump on 2011 too!

The Problem? ..... My aching back!

I was so glib!   "I was woman, hear me roar!"  Get out the tools and just get to work.  I had my newspaper to cover whatever sod was out there, then I was going to pile on the sphagnum moss, compost and a little top soil.  Let the grass compost under the paper, let the paper breakdown and the nutrients of the amendments give me something to nurture new plants.

I had only edged the shape of the garden before fatigue set in!  Clay with a veneer of topsoil has the texture of  30 year-old concrete by the end of summer.  Shoulders throbbed in pain, arms were like wet noodles and my profile bared a resemblance to Quasimodo...

To add insult to injury, the weekend was over and I wasn't going to be back to finish up until the following weekend.  THAT's when the real fun began - the next weekend...  In a moment of brilliance, I decided to loosen up and stretch before I went out take on the SSW garden, my back was still tight from 'week 1'.  That's when I felt the 'pop' in my lower back - and I caved!  Down & out for 8 days!

But then the miracle happened...

"All" it takes is a little pete moss .... 

Now the foundation plants are 'grounded'..... 

And I owe it all to my kind and generous husband!  While I ignored his pleas for 6 foot high privacy fences over the years, he still lugged tons of pete moss, compost and top soil to fill in the rest of the garden.  I cannot wait to get my hands on that garden next spring!  I continue to impatiently wait for my plants to mature, but then there was a time, when THIS is what our maple tree and the backyard looked liked (looking towards our neighbors back yard)!

"A long time ago when the leaves were green....."

So, it's time to chill - like the weather.  No more grandiose ideas for now.... no more monumental tasks.  I'm starting to think about over-wintering some of my favorite annuals, just to see if my thumb is 'green' indoors?

Admit it, size matters....

OK, that's a cheap hook, but I've really struggling on something to post on!  Maybe it's just me, but now that July is rounding out - my gardens are almost in Limbo.  It's hot, it's humid and I'm getting tired of fighting dandelions - almost as much as bunnies!

At least that was until today - (.... queue the choir .... "Ahhhhhhhhh!")

"Fireball" Hibiscus / Rose Mallow ('moscheutos "Fireball")

I had to 'incarcerate' this beauty from the bunnies.  They would snip off the new growth at the base of the plant, leaving me with a single stalk - BUT, now protected - it blooms!  Based on the upcoming buds at the top, there is a lot to look forward to.

Other little tidbits that seem to be ignoring the heat....

Pink Double Knock Out Rose
(Rosa 'Padtkopink')

The potted plants in the 'Sun Garden' have been thriving in the heat and humidity....  I combined Sweet Potato Vine with Licorice Plant (Helichrysum thianschanicum (lanatum "Icicles") and Strobilanthes (dyerianus).  It's doubled in size in 2 weeks...

Rudbeckia - I love how it is filling in this year !!

It might not be a Resurrection Lily, but the Vicary Golden Privet (Lignstrum x vicaryi") has been my 'miracle' plant - long ago given up for gone.  Grow, baby, grow!

The Meyer Lemon tree decided to randomly bloom.  We'll see what happens!

The textures in the front garden were particularly eye-catching this weekend in the sunshine.  As long as I photograph around the dandelions - then it's my world and I can be in denial about their existence if I want to!

So, I guess there was something to talk about after all - not Chaucer, but something none the less.

A Garden Journal Becomes the Blog

Who knew that a garden journal would manifest itself into a blog, but it started with a “Mead Composition” notebook?! Five and ½ years of journal entries, sketches, plant tags and cut outs have “evolved” …. (Thanks for the epiphany, Anita!)

Even in my gardening infancy I have had a love-hate relationship with the bunnies in my yard. They appear so sweet & innocent, while they gnaw on my fledgling arborvitae or dappled willow like piranha. The fact that all my surrounding neighbors have fenced in yards with loud, boisterous dogs only exacerbates the situation. “Co-existing” with bunnies in Illinois is a challenge – especially with the change of seasons, they get more ravenous in winter! (It reminds me of Monty Python’s Holy Grail!)

The latest victim of the voracious rabbits…

What used to be an Emerald Green Arborvitae

Thus, the origination of my blog’s name: “The Bunnies’ Buffet – a dilettante’s journey in gardening.”

My discerning husband coined the phrase a few years ago. As he so eloquently said to me, “Why do you get so upset about the bunnies eating your plants, when you provide them a buffet?” I have to admit their audacity still amazes me, as does the bluntness of my husband’s comment.

There has been more than once I’ve come around the corner of the house to find one munching on the tender leaves of some plant-d’ jour, and they look up at me in total disinterest. I walk toward them in a rage, and only then do they scamper off, just out of reach. There is no doubt in my mind; my neighbors think I’m a nut job!

I started a garden journal soon after I planted my first perennials, understanding the limitations of my memory and abbreviated knowledge of gardening! (The garden journal was a suggestion from my garden pal, Lizz). I utilized the graph paper in the journal – to sketch up the backyard, to scale. I drew in the existing trees & reference to the house and back deck.

Sometimes it documented what I planted, sometimes it became a sketch of a future ‘dream garden’. This sketch documented what was growing at the time. You may notice the ‘Porcupine Grass’ on the middle left of the drawing was crossed out. It ‘didn’t make it’ to 2005. You’ll see the Azalea in a pot, in the picture below, where the Knockout Rose used to be. Another fatality…