Here is my honeysuckle vine:
The pic above is of the shade garden. I really need to paint that wall! The honeysuckle is on the arch, the bleeding heart is in the middle, there are lilies on the left and columbine on the right, along with lilies-of-the-valley, hosta (yuck - I don't really like hosta, but my Mom gave it to me, and it grows like crazy underneath Mr. Z), a cinnamon fern, a jacob's ladder, pachysandra along the back wall, a bush hydrangea on the far right, blah blah blah blah blah. I have no idea what those vines are growing to the left of the downstairs window, but if they'll cover up the wall, I'll let them keep right on growing. I put the hanging basket on the arch to counter weigh the honeysuckle. I started some morning glories in the basket and I'm hoping they will grow up the arch, but I'm afraid they won't get enough sunlight to bloom. My back deck/porch is on the upper right. Thrilling, I know.
And yes, the grass in the backyard really was that high - no one had shown up to mow in two weeks. But here's a funny story (feel free to give up and move on at any point):
Last fall, when the new guy started mowing, he mowed over everything that wasn't fenced off, including blooming flowers. So this spring, when stuff started coming up, I fenced off everything, so it wouldn't get mowed over.
Monday night, I pulled in the driveway, and I noticed that the lawn hadn't been mowed in so long that there was a patch of indian paintbrush in the middle of the front yard. Now, I love indian paintbrush. It's one of the few plants I learned to identify as a little kid. So when the guys showed up to mow a couple of hours later, I grabbed a pair of scissors, went out to the front yard, and cut myself a bouquet of flowers. One of the mower guys, who I thought were in the back yard, must have seen me, because after they had packed up and left, I looked out front, and they had mowed the entire front yard except for the patch where the indian paintbrush were blooming! Isn't that sweet? Thanks, guys! Except now I feel like a idiot knowing that they were watching me, on my hands and knees, making a bouquet out of what I am sure looks like weeds to them! Oh well! I'm just the neighborhood crazy lady! I guess the sooner I accept that, the better.
7 comments:
I love Indian Paintbrush too! I have tried bring them home from ditches/mountains etc. but they always croak :( I think they are parasitic and rely on the plants around them to survive (?) so transplanting doesn't work. You are lucky to have one.
Wow...that honeysuckle is so pretty! Our neighbors had it growing all over their chainlink fence, and the jerk next door to them took a hedge trimmer to it and hacked it all off of his side. I kind of like the wall unpainted...looks country! Have you ever tried a lotus hanging basket? We got one this year, and it's SO pretty, and really low maintenance.
nice blog, go on!
Ahh, absolutely gorgeous garden! And I agree with baseballmom with the wall unpainted, very atmospheric. I am envious of your honeysuckle - I need to get one!
Sorry - forgot to say - hostas! Not my favourite plant, bit too "Day of the Triffids" for me. We have two and they SCARE me. Al really loves them though and I have to say the variagated one is kind of growing on me. See? Triffid.
What is Indian Paintbrush? Picture, please!
I am so relieved that my wall is "country" and "atmospheric", as opposed to "ugly" and "gray" - Thanks, everybody!
Baseballmom, thanks for the idea of a lotus hanging basket - do you know if they do well in shade?
Kerri, I'll try to put up a pic of the indian paintbrush - the ones here in the east basically look like little dandelions on really tall (about 12") stems.
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