Thank you for all the lovely comments on the tour of the back garden! I'm glad everyone enjoyed the photos. So, here is the second part of the tour - the front garden!
An overall view of the front garden, taken from the driveway:
 |
| Front Garden |
The walkway to the front door is to the left, the sidewalk is to the right. Once upon a time, prior to a 4-year long drought and water restrictions, there was a lawn where there is only dirt, right now!
These are the blue salvia plants I planted in early September:
 |
| Blue Salvia |
I bought five plants, and four of them are doing well, but one of them looks like it is not doing as well - one stem has died and the leaves on the other stems are drooping:
 |
| This one isn't doing as well |
The newly planted chrysanthemums are adjusting to the high temperatures we've had:
 |
| The newly planted mums |
I had also planted two oregano plants, earlier in September (along with a rosemary plant); one of the oregano plants is not doing too well, but I am hoping it will pick up, eventually:
 |
| First oregano plant - barely holding on (and osteospermum seedlings) |
The second oregano plant, however, is doing well:
 |
| Second Oregano |
I am hoping that they will establish themselves as ground covers in this flower bed before these osteospermum seedlings take over the bed! Maybe I should dig up the oregano and transplant them somewhere else!
 |
| Osteospermum Seedlings |
The flower bed where the oregano and mums are growing is also where I planted the lavender, which didn't do well:
 |
| Dead/dying lavender |
Of the five lavender plants, only this one is still showing some green at the tips - I am letting it stay in the bed, in the hopes that it will revive and do better over the winter:
 |
| Lavender still showing some green growing tips |
Close up of the same lavender:
 |
| Maybe it will continue to grow? |
The lantana growing along the edge of the garden, where it borders the sidewalk, are doing well:
 |
| Lantana |
The osteospermum growing in the flower bed along the walkway leading to the front door are coming back after dying back in the summer:
 |
| Osteospermum |
There are a few spots in the flower bed where you can see how they fared during the summer:
 |
| Osteospermum - summer burn |
But, under all the dried out branches, there are volunteer seedlings, poking through:
 |
| Osteospermum Seedlings |
I will let them grow a little bigger before I pull out the old, dead plants.
The rose bush by the front door is doing well:
 |
| Climbing Rose |
Another spot, in the same flower bed, where the plants died out during the summer:
 |
| Dead Spots |
Friend M and I will clean out these dead plants and, in time, osteospermum seedlings will fill in the bare spots.
The plumeria plant growing in the flower bed under the front living room picture window (and the dead osteospermum plants) - before and after clean up:
 |
| Before |
 |
| After |
M pulled out all the dead osteospermum that were growing there and, most probably, I'll find new seedlings popping up in about a week or so.
At the other end of the same flower bed, I have these euphorbia that were grown from cuttings my former supervisor gave me from her garden:
 |
| Euphorbia |
That one particular plant at the center of the photo is about 12 inches across!
 |
| It's huge! |
And growing among them are unwanted seedlings from my neighbor's Tree of Heaven! They cut the tree down, earlier in the summer and these suckers are showing up all over my front garden! I don't want them growing there, so I keep pulling them out as soon as I find them, but they keep growing from the roots that are underground. It seems a shame to keep destroying the plants that are volunteering to grow in my garden, but this tree can be very invasive and damaging to the sewer pipes, etc.
 |
| Tree of Heaven Seedlings |
The euphorbia I planted in a bed in the full sun, however, aren't doing as well, because they got burned by the summer sun:
 |
| Sun Burn |
They will probably recover over the winter, however. Or, I might transplant them, somewhere else.
The Starfish cacti has stopped flowering:
 |
| Starfish Cactus |
The front garden really needs some attention! I would like to landscape it, but that will be a future project!
What do you have growing in your front garden?
*Updated to include an overall photo of the garden, at Eileen's request. :)
I have lavender, hebes, a very small rhododendron and a buddleia bush. My entire garden desperately needs some attention but that will be next year's project.
ReplyDeletePlease may we have a photo of the entire front garden so we can see how all the planting fits together?
I have added the most recent photo I have of the entire front garden, Eileen. Basically, a rectangle with flower beds around the perimeter. From this angle, the eucalyptus tree in the middle is hiding the circular bed where the sun burnt euphorbia are growing. I will try to take a few more pictures, later.
ReplyDeleteI am sure your front garden is a lovely area, with all those plants growing in it. Maybe one day, you can post some pictures of your garden, too?
It's funny that I was not familiar with many of the plants in the back but knew all of them in the front. We had tree of heaven at our old house and it is indeed invasive. Good luck keeping it under control.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tour.
That's interesting that you knew all the plants in the front, Live and Learn. The front garden plantings have undergone many changes! Practically everything I had growing out there died during the drought, and I've been converting more and more to euphorbias and other succulents in the front. And the osteospermum, which keep self-seeding themselves.
DeleteYes, that tree of life is hard to get rid of, because they are suckers from the main roots. Part of me says to let them grow, simply because they are willing to grow, but they also emit a chemical that discourages other plants from growing to reduce competition and I already have enough of that from the eucalyptus, so I will keep pulling them out.
You have lots of flowers. :)
ReplyDeleteLantana is considered an invasive weed here, maybe it's only one type. But butterflies love it, so I have one in a pot.
I don't have many flowers yet. Purple petunias, porterweed, red salvia, tibouchina and a couple of weeds with pretty flowers. 😊
Thank you, Nil. Yes, the Florida rain will encourage the lantana to grow like a weed! Over here, it is planted as a drought tolerant plant and the lack of water keeps it from spreading too much. You have a good collection of plants, too.
DeleteI like weeds with pretty flowers! :)
It is my experience that the oregano will definitely become your new ground cover. However, we are talking about two very different growing climates, so I can't say for sure. It looks to me like you still have a lot of life left in some of those plants. I am almost certain that they will come back over your winter (especially if you get some more rain in winter) Yes, landscaping costs money. Even if you were to bring in mulching materials or planters into the centre of your yard, and do the work yourself, it all costs money.
ReplyDeleteI hope the oregano will grow well for me, Susan. Shall keep my fingers crossed! Landscaping does cost money, time, and effort! One of my neighbors across the street dug up her lawn and planted flowers and it looks lovely! But she gets morning sun and afternoon shade, whereas I get the full afternoon and evening sun. I think the best option for me would be more hardscaping and some planting areas. But I haven't planned it out, yet. I have some landscaping books...need to look through them and get some ideas.
DeleteYou will have such fun filling in those holes.
ReplyDeleteYes, I plan to go to the garden center to see what I can find. I just wish that plants didn't cost so much!
DeleteI remember an experienced gardener once telling me that you have to be ruthless to be a gardener. So you need have no qualms about uprooting the volunteers of the tree of life, especially as they inhibit other plants' well-being and a larger version would wreck the sewer pipes.
ReplyDeleteI think the euphorbia might be begging for relocation. I once relocated some unhappy rhubarb and now it produces well year after year.
I wasn't a bit enthusiastic about the rain we had today but then I thought of how awful it would be to have drought, and how your garden has to struggle, and I was thankful instead. I did some yard work yesterday and cleaned up an area ready for winter, and remembering my gardener friend's advice, I even uprooted some plants that were out of control!
Bushlady, thank you for sharing that gardener's advice! Yes, I think I need to relocate the euphorbia. A slightly shadier spot might be a good idea.
DeleteI wouldn't like it if it rained a lot here, especially if I had to go out and about in it, but, droughts are not fun, either. You did well to find the blessings in the rain. And well done on all the yard work!
I have no garden at the moment, and I do miss not having one. So special to watch your plants grow xxxx
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ratnamurti. Yes, there have been times when I didn't have a garden, either, when we were living in an apartment, for example. I've always had a potted plant or two, however; maybe you can, too?
Delete