Garden has been transformed for Halloween.

Goodbye Rose. Hello Clematis.

Took out Iceberg climbing rose today.  Never did well for me.  Don't think it got enough sun.  So I planted a Sweet Autumn Clematis in its place.  The Clematis blooms in late summer through early fall and has vanilla scented white flowers (all of my favorite things).

Late Summer Garden

Go Ask Alice

Found a White Rabbit garden statue.  Love it.

Runaway Lilac

I planted a Beauty of Moscow Lilac a few years ago in front of the porch for 2 reasons. One...I love them...the scent is quintessential springtime.  Two...to act a privacy screen. Well I basically let it go and now it's a tangled mess. Too tall, branches crossing this way and that, all growth on the top, bare in the middle, only a few blooms every spring.  So next spring probably going to have to do some drastic pruning...which I just hate thinking about doing.  But in the long run I will end up with a better looking shrub and hopefully lots more blooms.  This is what it looks like now.

ERYNGIUM

Planted some Sea Holly today or more specifically Eryngium zabelii - Big Blue.
Description from Bluestone Perennials:A larger Sea Holly with arresting electric blue flowers that will reach 4" across. Eryngium Big Blue has intense blue color that extends down the stems and holds well when dried. Green spiky foliage.

I had planted some Eryngium before but it only lasted a year. Eryngium likes good drainage, so before planting I put about an inch or so of pea gravel in the bottom of the hole, and mixed it with a little soil.  Hoping this will help it along.

I love Eryngium.  It is so unusual looking and the color can be beat.

Today's Flower PIc

 Echinacea,Veronica, Marigolds, and Achillea.

Monkshood has crown rot.

Finally figured out what is wrong with the Monkshood. Same problem every year...start off great...then start to die out.  Took a good look at the plants today and dead stems and found fungus at the bottom. Quick search on Google...found out they have crown rot. So it makes me very unhappy but they have to go. Fortunately not all plants are affected so I'll keep an eye on those and get rid of infected plants.  Monkshood is one my favorites...would be very unhappy if I couldn't grow it at all.

Casa Blanca Lily

The Casa Blanca lilies started to bloom today.

Phlox and Sea Holly

Enlarged left side flower bed. Planted two Phlox Nicky, one Sea Holly Sapphire Blue. Also transplanted one Achillea ptarmica the was growing in the driveway. Probably not the best time to transplant, wanted to see if it would take. Spaced plants a few inches closer than the recommendations. Plan to thin out the Heliopsis this fall or next spring. Amended the soil with mix of Moo-nure and generic Top Soil from home depot.

Various Pictures

The new camera came yesterday...haven't figure it all out yet..but took some random pictures anyway.

The After Picture

The Before Picture

And as promised ....The After Picture

Random Notes

• Summersweet - beginning to bloom - not much of a scent yet
• Shasta Daisy - still blooming - needs deadheading
• Heliopsis - still blooming - needs deadheading
• Achillea - cut back to encourage 2nd flowering

Coreopsis ‘Red Satin’

Bought a new plant yesterday...Coreopsis ‘Red Satin'. Never grown coreopsis before, though it's always listed as cottage garden favorite.  Never really impressed me all the much, always looked like it would just flop around. Well saw this one and absolutely loved the color, so I thought I'd give it a try. From what I've read, not supposed to be as floppy as some.  Will be planting it out this weekend.

Composting Revisited

A few years ago went to a lecture on how to make compost at the East End Food Co-op. Just for attending received an Earth Machine Compost Bin for free.

Started to make compost for a few years but gradually stopped.  Well the time has come to start making it again.  Composting is a great way to lessen the amount of garbage going to land fills, not to mention how great finished compost is for the garden. It improves the soil structure and contains macro and micro nutrients the plants love and need.  So got myself a nice compost pail for the kitchen and started throwing in the egg shells, coffee grinds, carrot peels, etc. etc.

 By next spring I should have some yummy compost for the garden.

Dahlia - Lauren Michele

The first Dahlia bloom this year. This one is called Lauren Michele. I purchased the tuber from Swan Island Dahlias....description from their website.

LAUREN MICHELE.  Introduced in 1990. A darling 3 1/2" waterlily of glowing lavender with deep purple reverse. Its strongest features are an unusual color and outstanding cut flower qualities. A prolific bloomer with great foliage on well-proportion stems, which maintain a 45 degree angle on a vigorous 5' bush. Recommended as a cut flower.

Carol Klein

The inspiration for the blog...Carol Klein in her cottage garden. 

The Before Picture

I closed on my house on Halloween 2003. This is the only picture I could find of the house before I moved in. Because the front of the house sits in full sun all the flower beds were put there. Stay tuned...will be posting the "after" pictures soon.

Welcome!

Welcome to my very first attempt at blogging.  I recently watched a fantastic BBC series called "Life in a Cottage Garden."  The series chronicled a year in the life of British gardener Carol Klein and her garden at Glebe Cottage in North Devon. It was so good that I couldn't watch more than 20 minutes before I had to run out to my own garden to start weeding.

The series inspired me to start something I've been meaning to do for quite some while.  I've been wanting to start a Garden Diary and start tracking what I've been doing as I plan out my own cottage garden. Was trying to think of how I could do this and blogging seem a natural choice.

First step in my new adventure...get a decent camera.  Ordered a reasonably priced Canon point and shoot camera today. Very excited to start taking some decent pictures of the garden.

So please bear with me as I figure out this whole blogging thing and join me as I chronicle my journey in cottage gardening.