How Does Your Garden Grow?

I was in a gloomy mood this morning, and not even looking forward to our upcoming family trip. So I had devotions and then went outside to water my flowers. For some reason, gardening instantly soothes me. I feel very close to Jesus when I work with plants, remembering all the parables he told about them. I'm quite proud of how the border is shaping up after six years of work, although I have some things I still want to change. I thought you might like to see it, so here is a photo essay of my garden.

Here is a photo of the whole front border, as of this morning. You can see all the junk on the porch... the cooler, potting stuff, etc. How embarassing!



A close-up of the sedum, Autumn Joy, which will have reddish-orange flowers in fall. I love the shape of sedum leaves.



Some more pansies, peeking out from under the trailing mass of Coreopsis "Moonbeam."



Oriental lilies and zinnies around the bird feeder post.



I am hoping that if the other bunnies see this one, they will think my yard is taken!



My Stella D'Oro daylilies have finally bloomed... I wonder if they will continue all summer as promised? I love the lemon-yellow color against the Bird's Nest spruce.



Coneflowers against the brick wall.



The purple liatris is preparing to flower. I can't believe how well this plant has done in my border. Along with the coreopsis, sage and chrysanthemums, it could easily take over the whole bed. These are the plants that seem to do best in my southeast-facing border that gets lots of morning sun.



The basis of my color scheme is blue, pink and pale yellow. This photo didn't come out as well as I had hoped; the colors are kind of washed out. It's too bad the hybrid sage is past its first bloom. This one is called "May Night." It's one of the first plants I put in and has done very well, but the flowers are a little too dark against the brick wall. I recently found another variety called "Blue Hills" that I like better.



Along the driveway, I put in some barberry, which turns bright red in the fall, and some begonias to fill in the empty spots while the bushes grow. However, I discovered that barberry has some wicked thorns in it! Since this is right where we get in and out of the car, I will probably move these plants and put something friendlier along the drive.



Here is a photo of the Blue Hills sage, along with the peony that came with the house. This photo was taken last month when both were in bloom. You can also see my jockey windmill. I used to hate those tacky garden decorations, but I fell in love with this one on a trip to Connecticut and hubby gave it to me for my birthday. The yellow daisies were a Mother's Day gift from him and DS this year, along with the zinnias by the bird feeder.



Sometimes you have to water the dog as well as the plants.