Smug Puppies » garden

Spring Lilacs

Jeri — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 19:33:12 +0000

We’ve had these stubborn lilacs for years, but they never did bloom until the spring after I lost Bryan.

Thank you, honey, I’m thinking of you too!

Happy Earth Day.

Note: this is not a sad or grieving post – just a sweet remembrance that the spring blesses me with.

Geeks in the Garden

Jeri — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 05:42:36 +0000

Further proof that much of what I do in life is geeky, below is a flower pr0n shot of one of our favorite iris in the garden – this particular one the Starship Enterprise iris, from Schreiner’s iris gardens.

Photo courtesy of Zach

Fall Hangs On

Jeri — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 19:35:13 +0000

Fall is hanging on in the back yard. This is a fairly unusual variant of Japanese maple – unfortunately we didn’t document the exact hybrid when we planted it but if I remember I’ll update this. It’s a lovely magenta in spring, green edged with crimson all summer, and a riot of color in fall. It’s growing more like a vine maple than a tree and is supposed to reach 12-15′ tall and wide.

The photo in lieu of an actual post is courtesy of NaNoWriMo, which is proceeding swimmingly, thank you, with almost 20K words to date. Onwards!

Crocosmia

Jeri — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 04:23:56 +0000

This is crocosmia. It’s a long spike-like branch of tiny blooms, and very pretty in large masses. It’s Zach’s great photography that makes it look as impressive as a daylily.

Sunday Flowers

Jeri — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 03:48:11 +0000

The clematis have reached the top of their trellis and are tumbling over onto the fence.

Our helianthus are in bloom early – they’re usually late summer/autumn flowers.

It’s lavender season! I love the scent.

We have fabulous roses, courtesy of the folks who lived here before. This one’s the size of a salad bowl and the scent is wonderful.

More great roses – these are long stemmed and beautiful.

Flowers for Geeks

Jeri — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:06:13 +0000

Proof that we are geeks – this iris is named the Starship Enterprise – really!

This is the Nordic Iris, a prolific bloomer.

The first rose of the season, bravely blooming in spite of the chilly, wet, windy weather.

Our clematis is tumbling down under its own weight. That’s Zach behind Cousin It.

Our honeysuckle, too, collapsed today off the trellis in the wind under its own weight.

One of the honeysuckle blossoms – it’s a Pink Lemonade variety.

Iris are in Bloom!

Jeri — Sat, 31 May 2008 18:49:32 +0000

It’s Magic Iris – my favorite

Heart of Darkness Iris – Bryan’s favorite

Over Alaska Iris – also gorgeous

Poppy in the Sun

Jeri — Sat, 24 May 2008 21:49:35 +0000

Zach took this picture of a gorgeous red poppy (it’s a Lawrence of Livermere oriental poppy – about 5″ in diameter). This has not been photoshopped other than cropping 15% off the perimeter for a closer shot. Click for a full screen shot.

Rhodendrons

Jeri — Sun, 04 May 2008 03:04:55 +0000

We have been looking at rhododendrons (rhododendri?) for a new garden bed we’re building. (The basis of the bed? The displaced dirt from Zach’s pond project.

There are zillions of different rhododendron varieties. The blooms – called trusses – come in various colors – white, yellow, pink, red, purple, and combinations thereof. (Rhodie shows used to be called truss shows – for obvious reasons, that has changed.) The bloom period varies in season from early (April) to late (July/August), and in size, from tiny bells to huge, hibiscus-like blooms. The plants come in different sizes, from 2′ compact to 12′ giant plants.

Our local nursery must have had 100 different kinds; the variety was almost overwhelming.

We decided that we really consider a nice looking plant more important than exotic blooms, since just the plant is we’ll see 10 out of 12 months of the year. We also want disease resistance and shade tolerance. Most rhodies are somewhat shade tolerant, but our new planter is in a full shade spot, on the north side of our house, between the porch and a stand of cedar trees on the other side of the fence.

I’ve always preferred lighter-colored or white flowers for shady spots, so after deciding which plant shape & foliage is prettiest, we’ve been looking at primary white, yellow or yellow-peach blooms.

We haven’t yet gotten the plants we need, but these are some of the ones we’re considering.

Happy Spring!

Jeri — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 22:27:48 +0000

Some parts of the Seattle area got up to 5″ of snow last night – we’re fortunate that we only accumulated a half inch.

Pictures taken by Zach.