Monday Morning Blooms

Hello, and welcome to Panoply on this glorious Monday morning. It is a most special day, as I was invited to join my blogging friends for this June garden edition of Monday Morning Blooms!

July Garden Update and Just Bee-cause Tablescape

Happy July, friends! Today I want to share an update of my garden since my last post with May progress. But first, I also have a sweet little tablescape to share, just bee-cause I've been inspired. My post is heavy with photos, much like the summer air with humidity, so enjoy your air conditioning and the photo journal which follows.

May Day! Mayday!

Good May morning, everyone! Today I am going to share my first 2023 update of my landscape garden. This is our second spring in this home. We moved here in October 2021, and my biggest undertakings have been in overhauling the landscaping.

If I never see another lily-of-the-valley it will be too soon. An invasive, poisonous flower which was originally planted in my shade-loving side garden beneath a [now gone] pin oak tree, this 'pretty' little flower has given me much grief over the past two weeks while digging it out. Like my mother always said, pretty is as pretty does. It wasn't pretty. Once they started invading my newly planted grass, it just wasn't pretty.

Cottage Landscape: One Year Later

Hey, readers, if you like a good before and after, and/or are a garden enthusiast, today's post is for you. It's a bit detailed, so I understand if it makes some of your eyes glaze over. 

Today I'm taking a look back on where our landscape was when we moved into this cottage home in early October 2021, and recapping the landscape transformation since. Here it is in a nutshell:

New Season, New Home

Hello, my friends! It's a new day, a new season, and I have some news. We're moving!

Before, After Putting the Garden to Bed

My Zone 7a garden has been put to bed for winter. I have many before and after photos that show one season's growth rate and how it's all pruned and ready for next year's cycle. The before photos are how the garden looked either late September or early October. The fall cleanup began mid-October after our first freeze warning, and was completed (intermittently) over two weeks. 

I'll start with something pretty in the current state of the fall/winter garden, and that's my pansies planted in early October. These replace my summer annuals, give a fresh look now, and winter over to early spring.

A before and after look of the front flower beds is shown next. Notice all the liriope has been buzz cut for winter.

Before and after of the front corner of the landscape pictured below can also be seen in the background in the above collage photo. The little green fans surrounding the concrete pedestal were daylilies received as a giveaway from Mary's blog, planted the first of October. The more noticeable contrast is the snowflake viburnum against the fence (background) are cut back about two feet.  So were the nandina (heavenly bamboo) to the left of the viburnum (not pictured). Again, the liriope is buzzed.

Before and after of the knockout roses in the front landscape beds (below).

Before and after in the courtyard: containers were emptied and cleaned, and the cantilever umbrella (shadow in lower frame) is covered for the winter.

Lavender (and climbing roses) are cut back for winter. They are sheltered in this brick enclosed courtyard.

Back in the main landscape - the west wall - before and after is seen below. Zinnias, salvia, sedum, stray black-eyed Susans and coneflowers all cut down to the ground in most cases (also four o'clocks further right, out of frame).

Here's a before and after view of the eastern landscape wall, standing on the south end, looking north. Big changes: spirea, dwarf butterfly bushes were both hard pruned, Mexican sunflowers and hyacinth bean vine on trellis ripped out (annuals), and knockout roses against wall were pruned.

Below is probably the biggest contrast in before and after: a comparison of the south end of the landscape.

The Otto Luykens are cut back all around.

The western corner perennial hibiscus are cut to the ground, as are the hostas. The hydrangeas got a hard pruning. Only three in the bed and last hard pruned in 2015, they were overgrown. It is likely I will not see blooms next year as a result (next year's buds are mostly on old wood that was cut), but it was due.

A before and after view of the center back area. Again, hydrangeas (including my limelight) were pruned hard, hostas cut to the ground. 

Before and after of the wildest, southeastern corner of the landscape: the tree variety butterfly bushes and spirea are pruned, as are the hostas. You can now see the other two season cherub statues again, as well as another group of Otto Luykens in the back corner.

Cleaning up our landscape takes about 40 man hours, but it makes spring so much easier. I have a longtime gardener friend who helps me in the majority of this effort, but I am right there with him. There was so much debris, and most of it was composted (three trailers full), but several bags (mostly containers and lavender from courtyard) were recycled by the city. Stakes and tools were cleaned, hose carts covered, and all outside water valves were turned off.

If you recall in this post, we had some pretty major summer storm damage to trees on our two riverbank lots across the street from our home. 

Tree removal work began in July, and just ended October 31 due to so many rain delays (river rising and ground saturation). See the diagram below for before and after of the six trees removed.

The remaining trees were limbed up for a clean look after. The trees with undergrowth on the left are the neighbor's.

We also had our magnolia pruned, but it remains incomplete as of this writing. The before and after as it currently looks is below. Our objective is to take the tree away from the gutter and prune about three feet shorter. Remember, we had a growth inhibitor injected earlier in summer to retard future growth.

A couple shots of my last flower bouquets of the season.

The hydrangeas are still full, thanks to dipping them in alum, a great tip I learned from Mary a few years ago.

I ditched the fern and bought a pumpkin for the front porch, and used some magnolia branches to trim it out.

The landscape before and after, standing on the southern end, looking north.

Now all I have to do is rake the leaves from the maple at the utility pole, the Japanese maple and the Kousa dogwoods. Oh yea, and the riverbank sassafras and maple.

I love my garden in all its seasons, even when it's sheared for winter. It's cleared and cleaned, with enough plants for winter interest, and all ready for next spring's growth cycle. If you're not sure of your own agricultural cold hardiness, you can check this USDA map and find yours for optimal gardening. How are your garden cleanup efforts going? Do you do your work in fall or spring? There are advantages / disadvantages to both. I'd love to hear your feedback.

Thanks for your visit today!

Rita C. at Panoply

Sharing: Pieced Pastimes, Best of the Weekend, Amaze Me, DIDI, BNOTP, Inspire Me, Make it Pretty, The Scoop, Dagmar's Home, Celebrate Your Story,SYS, Delightsome Life H&G, Grace at Home, Vintage Charm

Celebrating Fall Outdoors: Porch and Patio

Hello, and welcome to Panoply's celebration of fall outdoors, on both my porch and patio. If you're new to my blog and coming over from Itsy Bits and Pieces, I hope you've enjoyed Linda's vintage style. Here at Panoply, my home and style are mostly traditional but, as antique dealer, I infuse vintage flair with many of my accessories. 

Though we live in West Virginia, a state entirely within the Appalachian Mountain range, one might think the Adirondacks have come to the Appalachians with my fall porch decor.

This year, my double entry doors are decked out with Adirondack baskets filled with fall floral arrangements. Originally a Native American shouldering basket intended for carrying gear and harvested foods, the Adirondack basket has since become a great decor item to the masses. Though my baskets are newer, vintage styles can be found online in various shopping venues.

The floral arrangements in my baskets are my own creations, made with fall floral stem selections from [mostly] the Dollar Tree (no affiliations). I'll share how these were made in another post later this week.

Yellow mums are my go-to choice when it comes to fall potted flowers. I typically purchase in bud stage, and enjoy an extended bloom time that way, and later plant in my landscape garden. Just a few ghost pumpkins were added this year on one side of the porch.

On the opposite side of the porch, my cast iron urn (antique) still holds my summer fern, which remains quite healthy since purchasing in late May. A vintage sundial and orb are situated beside another mum in a concrete pumpkin urn on the porch floor.

With the baskets as the statement pieces on the front porch, I used a light hand for the remaining decor.

Those who are familiar with my blog know that my favorite room in the house is my sunroom. Just outside my sunroom is our courtyard patio, below. With the French doors going to and from the sunroom to the patio, it's simple to pull pillows and throws for outdoor entertaining.

Our teak furniture in the courtyard is nearly 15 years old, but sturdy and strong. We have a bench, two rockers, and a coffee table in this area for cozier gatherings, and a lounge chair and a 13' cantilevered umbrella just beyond. Though I have cushions for each of these pieces of furniture, I've simply pulled some of my favorite pillows and throws to add some traditional fall color. My container plantings are still providing life and color for an added touch. Btw, I spotted my last hummingbird on these containers on September 25th, surely on their southward, migratory journey.

My table decor is a basket tray, full of my patch of various pumpkins. The cloth pumpkins are situated among natural sticks, seed pods, and a freestyle, chalk painted graphic on maple leaf hanger which my niece made for me last year.

On the opposite end of our brick courtyard (enclosed by brick wall) is a grassy area with hot tub. Along the garage wall I have climbing roses and lavender planted at its base.

Along the brick wall just beside the chaise lounge (afternoon shadowplay of that wall is apparent in the photos above) I recently discovered the evidence of a seed pod buffet, no doubt from squirrels. Just a couple weeks prior, there were flower petals all over that same space.

In the photo below, that's the view looking over the wall, into my landscape. You can see the orange flowers on the right in one of my landscape beds. Those are Mexican sunflowers. Evidently the squirrels like them a lot!

The photo below is looking out into my garden from the courtyard wall (I was on a stepstool).

And the shot below is taken just inside the courtyard, looking through the gate which leads to my garden.

The garden flag is all I needed to add to the landscape for decorating for fall. Mother Nature will take care of the rest!

It's been a pleasure having you here at Panoply today to share my celebrating fall on my porch and patio, with a glimpse into my garden. If you'd like to see more of my garden, I'm providing an easy link here, which starts with my most recent posts.

I'd like to thank Amber Ferguson from the blog, Follow the Yellow Brick Home, for organizing today's collection of bloggers sharing their ideas for fall porches and patios. Next on the tour is Laura, from the blog Decor to Adore. I'm sure you'll enjoy her take on fall decor, as well as all the other bloggers' whose links are conveniently provided below. Even if you're already set for fall this year (or chose not to decorate, for whatever reason), it's always fun to have such a variety of great source material all in one place, for pinning inspiration for future ideas. Enjoy!

Also, feel free to browse my other topics on my blog (located at the menu bar at the top of this page or, if on a handheld, scroll to the bottom and click on web version to access menu bar). You may also search with keywords on the side bar, or check out my labels.

Thanks for your visit today. I'd love for you to leave a comment, letting me know you were here today. You are most welcome to return, anytime!

(A special thanks to Richella of Imparting Grace, Grace at Home No. 318 for featuring this post!)

Rita C. at Panoply

Sharing: Pieced Pastimes, Best of the Weekend, Amaze Me, DIDI, BNOTP, Inspire Me, Make it Pretty, The Scoop, Dagmar's Home, Celebrate Your Story,SYS, SYC, Delightsome Life H&G, Grace at Home, Vintage Charm

An InLinkz Link-up

Mid-Summer Garden Glimpses, Maintenance

Since mid-July and my last garden updates, we have had nearly 10" of rain in our Zone 7a region. That's about double our average rainfall for this time of year! No doubt, there are lots of weeds, mushrooms and other new growth (plus maintenance!) throughout the landscape that I've captured to share with you on this mid-summer garden glimpses post.

The mushrooms create their own sort of fantasy garden, one in which I somehow expect to see little gnomes under those fungal umbrellas.

The rain has encouraged continued growth throughout the garden beds, such that it almost looks more like late spring than mid-summer. Raindrops on morning blooms are always delightful sightings, as seen pictured on the anemone below.

Since it was raining so much, I divided and transplanted a few of my Mexican sunflower plants to a second area. It's a space in an otherwise bare section of my east landscape bed, where my perennial bee balm had been knocked down and blooms already spent from storms. Between the rain and high temperatures, the Mexican sunflowers are doing well in both areas where I have them.

Hosta plants are beginning to push their blooms too.

Such high temperatures, and so much rain! My husband likes to pluck the Bermuda grass (not planted, just creepers among our fescue) from our lawn because it stays brown when the fescue grass is nice and green.

Pulling the Bermuda often creates bare patches, so I've been planting grass seed (overseeding method, explained here). With all the rain, it's working beautifully, as you can see in the area just outside the steel edging in the photo below. Obviously I could do more, but that area was nothing but dirt before.

Liriope grasses are pushing blooms now also, and will have dark berries later in summer and early fall.

If you recall, I mentioned trying a different vine on my trellis that bridges the entry from my courtyard to the landscape. I planted hyacinth bean vine on Mother's Day weekend from seed at the trellis base. Here's what it looks like now, below. The trellis is completely covered, and the vine is trying to take over my magnolia!

The view from the courtyard, looking through the trellis opening:

As per any plant that blooms for the first time of the season, I was excited to see the hyacinth bean flower in late July.

Even more exciting, about two weeks later, was seeing the seed pods where the flowers withered.

Hyacinth bean vine is an annual in my region, so even though its growth rate is fast, I won't need to worry about the seed pods sending off new plants (at least I don't think I do). I can just collect what I want to save and reseed for next year.

In the maintenance department, I've been able to slow down the watering thanks to Mother Nature, and mainly just tend to weeding. I'm not transplanting anything more until fall, and I typically quit feeding my annual blooms by August. We scheduled pruning of the magnolia (which will be the first time in 14 years). It is infringing on the access of the trellis on the landscape side and starting to grow over our gutters of the house's second story. We also had a growth inhibitor injected into the ground surrounding the magnolia to retard its future growth rate.

But then the storms created more work.....as in prune control of trees on the riverbank.

We had some pretty high winds that took out some leaf-heavy branches of our sassafras and silver maple on the riverbank surface. Our city is great in providing service for fallen branches, as long as you gather them into one area and call for pickup. We'll be having those trees thinned out, and dead branches cut out (multi-trunk, as seen behind the guys in the right frame of the collage above).

The storms also created some fairly major damage on the lower riverbank. In the photo above, you can see various trees below the street level. We have a total of eight trees on our property near the water's edge. They are river birch and silver maples, mostly just to stabilize the bank. Until they don't. What we now have is a mess, and a new estimate for storm damage pruning.

With all the water and additional rains, one tree completely split and fell (onto our neighbor's property). There's one lean-to - a tree that is at a 45° angle into another tree, which caused that tree to have a 90° angle broken limb. There's another lean-to out over the water, and a couple trees that will look stupid if we leave them standing. A total of six trees will come out and be dragged up the riverbank for disposal. $$$$$ And no, we can't just cut and let them fall into the river, but if a storm knocks them into the river, that's different.

In other maintenance, my containers with the braided hibiscus contracted thrips. I'm pretty sure the high heat helped the colony of tiny red boogers grow. What I'm not sure about is how healthy the plants - one particularly - was/were when I purchased in May. But hey, after they're planted, who wants to dig them out and return them? I'm sure that's what the big box stores hope for too.

So I bought an organic fungicide/insecticide, covered the base plants (lantana, which bees and hummingbirds were feeding on already) with plastic, and doused the plants. They're still pushing blooms, but I had to repeat the process again, two weeks later.

In the neighborhood, I spotted an ambitious squirrel one morning, hauling a peach across the street, carrying it with his teeth alone! When he got to the lawn across the road, he dropped it, and was trying to re-situate it.

It would've been much easier for him to pick up what I later found, the first acorn of the season.

Then there was this little robin fledgling in my landscape about a week ago (below), whining and chirping for his momma all evening, first in the mulch behind the boxwoods, then in my courtyard. I had to literally shoo him out because we close our gates at night. When he tried to fly over the brick wall, he clung, and then scaled back down the wall like he wasn't quite sure of his wings yet. He was still around the next day, in the rain, still whining for his momma, so I knew he was okay.

Last week also brought a few less humid days, so I found myself sitting outside, intent on just reading all afternoon.

Here's the thing, though. When I sit outside, I soon start looking critically at things around me. In the photo above, you can see the tops of the trees on the riverbank across the street (the highest most trees in the photo frame). Those are the ones to be control pruned, as is the magnolia against the house. More than that, though, I start looking at the interior landscape, and before you know it, I was pruning and weeding. So much for relaxing in the garden. Do you find yourself doing that?

Thanks for taking the time reading, allowing me to catch up on my gardening journal. You can easily find other garden posts at this link. What's new in your zone? Fire, rain, pestilence? Feel free to leave your comments and share! I love reading them all.

(A special thanks to readers of Kathryn's blog, The Dedicated House Sunday Showcase From Make it Pretty Monday, for this post being featured!)

Rita C. at Panoply

Sharing: Pieced Pastimes, Best of the Weekend, Amaze Me, DIDI, BNOTP, Inspire Me, Make it Pretty, The Scoop, Dagmar's Home, Celebrate Your Story, SYC, Delightsome Life H&G, Grace at Home, Gardens Galore