Garden tour

[NEBogger]

I'm looking for some help. My brain has been stuck in a rut and need something to get bounced out.
I work full time, some times it seems like all I get done is weeding (darn good original excuse isn't it?)
This weekend we'll be gone, the three young grandsons' heart strings have been tugging real hard. Need to get that taken care of.
Anyway, proper or not, I grabbed the camera and shot my way around the garden. Here's where I'm searching for help, need to hear some ideas and get moving on.
#1- heading to the garden
#2- shed- tender plants
#3- gate
#4- bog
#5- screw up- sunk a molded pond I had gotten for $5, wanted to keep the soil moist, but not hold water. So I stabbed holes it it. But guess where? IN THE BOTTOM. Of course I didn't realize what I had done for quite some time. Not going to change it either. Needless to say, it doesn't stay as moist as I had wanted. Lesson: Next time I will make my holes up a ways on the sides.

[NEBogger]

#6- lotus pond, i dug this four feet deep, didn't line it with a solid peice of rubber, so I have to add water.
#7- looking back towards the shade garden. See the green 'trug'?, i love that thing.
#8- closer to the shade garden. My dad welded the trellis together for me. The pieces are scraps from a factory that makes iron products.
#9- shade area. Does get some afternoon sun.
#10- another view. Kind of a mess. I have some things potted up getting ready for the 'bit reorganization day' next year.

[NEBogger]

#11- looking east now
#12- shredded umbrella plant-Syneilesis aconitifolia from Plant Delights Nursery, I had to go and get my catalog to look that up.
#13- back of house.
#14- a sunflower looking type of hen and chicks - sempervivum
#15- reindeer moss, I'd really have to dig to find the latin name, I do know it's in the moss section of WG. It has just sat there for a year. I put the rest on soil, they're all gone now.
Well that's most of the garden. What I mainly need to get going on now is the first part of the garden. Filling in the empty space behind the screw up. I'm also after unusual plants, I'm fortunate enough to have wildlife all around me and want this space for my own play ground.

Okay, any one ready to let the thoughts flow?? Thanks...

[biigblueyes]

Wow - so a garden is supposed to be attractive???? I think I missed that part on mine!

[Calliandra]

The pond mistake shouldn't be that hard to repair... just drill them out to a standard size and use rubber plugs. Or just jam some rubber in the openings with an icepick to slow down the flow. Why work around something for the next ten years when you can fix it within an hour?

I loooooove trugs too-- mine are purple. I store them on their sides now, ever since I found a lizard trapped in one. Not sure how I ever managed without them before.

The sunflower hen and chicks are cool!

What are the blue and white flowers in #13? Also what are the iris-like plants next to the shed? And the pink-flowered plant next to them? I'd like to try some of those here if they're in my region.

Nice photos, thanks for sharing.

[NEBogger]

Calliandra,
On the 'mistake', right now I'm not ready to dig all the dirt back out of it to correct my boo boo.
In pix #13- that's larkspur, an annual/biannual. The flower is quite pretty. Upon inspection, you can see a bunny head with a circus collar on, fun kid plant. BUT it is a very aggressive reseeder. I used to have a 'cottage garden', in the progress of changing that. So I only let a few bloom then pull them. My husband doesn't like the fact that I don't have the color in the garden that I used to, but way too much time was being spent on controlling them.
If the shed pix #7, is the one your looking at, those are iris, and the tall pink flowers are Queen of the Prairie, Filipendula rubra. Zone 3.
Biigblueyes, mines' not always attractive with the weeds! I like different plants, and watch how many people actually look at the plants individually. Some people see only one garden picture, while others see a whole series.
If this is the place, I'd love to see tours of other gardeners!

[Equilibrium]

The molded pond should be able to be repaired easily if you ever change your mind and want to deal with it. They have kits. They're cheap enough. Go to any pool supply or pick them up online. The same repair kits that work on those blow up pools will work on a preform or go the cork route. Otherwise... plant runners in it that preform that you don't want making a break. Japanese running iris work well in contained areas. They're not a plant anyone would want escaping but... where are they going when they're stuck in a preform? I have some Jap Iris contained to pig troughs recessed in the ground. They're not a native plant and they can get overly aggressive if they aren't contained but you've got a perfect spot to try some. Japanese irises are one I can think of you might like since you like tall pitcher plants. What do you mean by a play ground and what do you mean by unusual? Cypripediums are coming to mind as being desirable in my playground. They're unusual alright and you don't see those on garden tours. For unusual I'd lean toward hardy terrestrial orchids. Those would give you a run for your money.

[NEBogger]

What do I mean by play ground: Well I guess it is one word! It's a place that while sweat and dirt (mud) may run into my eyes, doesn't mean it's work: slapping myself silly trying to reshape flies and mosquitoes, isn't too much of a hassle: and it's a place where I can do what ever I want to!
Unusual: What ever the local garden center doesn't have!
Someday I am going to have some Cyps.
I really like the idea of putting runners in the molded pond... Thanks...

[Stoloniferous]

Oh, so beautiful! Do you have a bench somewhere among all of those plants so that you can sit back and just enjoy it all?

You're making me want to find my own $5 pond!

[NEBogger]

Never have had a bench in the garden. Have thought about it tho. I can see it while I do the dishes or sit on the back porch. We do have a bench by our little fish pond.