Showing posts with label azalea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label azalea. Show all posts

Monday, May 18, 2009

A few May flowers from our yard

The month of May has given us some lush looking blossoms in our front and side yards. Even though our front yard is still lacking ground cover for the second year, the plants are still putting out some really nice colors and plenty of blossoms on each plant. For the past two years my husband has cleaned out the rock/gravel we used to have as ground cover in the front yard. It was so blah looking. And we would prefer something a little more contrasting for all the color we get. We have been wanting to put bark down for ground cover/mulch. Our front yard is landscaped with a drip system. Knowing that water is a precious commodity around here, we have opted for no lawn, unlike most everyone else around here. Instead, we have color, a much more appealing look than just green grass and green shrubs.
These first two photos give you two views of the front yard. The photo above shows the miniature roses on the right edge of the pathway to the patio and front door. I'll post close-ups of these and our other roses in a separate post. The photo below shows how badly we need the bark around the plants. This looks as blah, if not worse, than when we had the rocks covering the ground. The purple plants in the foreground are lavender. The green plant in the center is nandina, aka heavenly bamboo. If you'd like a larger view just click on the photo.
Below are some close-ups of the plants that are producing some beautiful colors. First, here are a few of the lavender plants.
Here is our pink azalea.
This dianthus (pinks) is in a planter that sits by the garage door.
This is a shot of our side yard (east side of the house), with the photo taken from our back yard. Against the fence are our roses, pink in the foreground, a miniature white behind it, and a tall red rose bush in the background. Off to the right are flowers (annuals) that reseeded themselves from last year. The tall yellow plants are what I call marguerite daisies. The leaves have a chrysanthemum look to them, so I'm not really sure if I've named them correctly. Close-up photos of the flowers are below.
This was the first red poppy to bloom a couple weeks ago. These poppies are hidden amongst the marguerite daisies.
And these next three photos are close-ups of what I am presently calling marguerite daisies.


This nemesia is growing in a planter I have placed between our front patio and the west side of our house. This is the prettiest I have ever seen it.
And last but certainly not least is a close-up of our flowering maple, also located on the west side of our house. I have quite a few cannas growing there, too. But they won't bloom for another month or two yet. I'll be sure to post those when they bloom.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Some beauties from our front yard

I took these photos about two weeks ago. That was when this azalea was in its prime. And then last week's high temps did it in. It definitely does not look like this anymore. I guess it will be another year before I will see this plant in full bloom again.
Meanwhile, the roses were doing fine, and still are. This photo is an ideal blossom from one of our miniature roses. I love this coral color; it's so different from most roses. And the leaves on this plant are such a beautiful dark green. I'm sure it helps that my husband fertilizes these plants.
Here is another beautiful mini rose. Not exactly coral like the one above, but not really pink either. This was the first year I've seen so many blossoms on it at the same time.
Now here is another mini rose that is different. I love those stripes in each of the petals. Doesn't it look like a piece of candy?
And since I mentioned candy - I think this one is called candy striper, or something like that.
And this beauty reminds of some dahlias.
Another one with such beautiful colors. I love this two-toned "sunburst."
Can you believe all of these roses did a better job tolerating the heat we endured last week. Temps yesterday and today were more normal for the season. Yay!

 

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