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yearly progress . . .
    . . . is a stepping stone in garden!

The memory of an ever-changing garden is recorded in an annual "state of the garden" report.  We record the the lessons that are learned from each year.
 

Years:   2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006

2007 Season
Hard Freeze (Week after Easter April 9-15)
Removed Roses from lamp post bed, landscaped bay window bed on south side of house.
  • Columnar Arborvitae and (3) globe Arborvitae.
  • Endless Summer Hydrangea
    purchased 3 (3 gal) plants for $29.99 from Bomgaards.  Added to lamp post bed (now have 5 plants)
  • Snowflake Oakleaf Hydrangea  
    Mulhall's  (purchased 3)   Planted south side of house.
  • Horsetail Grass - 'Equisetum Hyemale'  Planted next to potting bench
  • Iris Pallida - 'Aurea Variegata'  -- West Bed
  • Boxwood planted behind Lamp pole
  • Variegated Elephant Bush, planted by address post by driveway
  • Petunia, Hulahoop Red -- back deck pot
  • Geranium, Horizon Ripple Raspberry  -- west bed
  • Ornamental Millet, 'Purple Majesty'  -- glazed point by garage
  • Densiformis Yew  -- replaced two Mugho Pine in front of house to replace
  • Algerian Ivy Deck planters
  • sdf
  • Red Caladiums and Yellow Archangel in front of Bay Window Bed

2006 Season
Spring Snow storm on March 20th 2006

Removed Deck and started Bay Window bed on south side of house
Added Bench and Archer's Gold Thyme Tymus citriodorus  to stump patio under the Cedar Tree
Removed two dead roses and added Endless Summer Hydrangea  ( bought 2)
Added Salvia 'Vista Red' to east side of fence bed for color

First Year for Vegetable Garden
First Year for Cutting Flower Garden - Zinnias  (plant to thick, fellow over with strong wind.)
Added a Green Mail box in Fern Bed
Added on to the driveway bed with a large slab of rock between sage & thyme bed and the new blood grass, dogwood & silver king Artemisia. Also added a lit rock post (native Kansas Stone) for house numbers.

Orange Bed
    Lambs Ears -- from Julie
    New Tulips (fall)

Containers
    Torenia 'Clown Mix'
    Petunia 'Dreams Red'
    Wizard Rose® Coleus & "Taj Mahal" Ivy Geranium -- Formal Pot at stump patio
    Coleus Hedera canariensis & Algerian Ivy -- Steps to back deck
   Algerian Ivy Hedera canariensis --- LINK

Grass Bed
    Koran Feather Grass -- from Nancy
    Sea Oats - from Kathy
    Filipendula -- from Nancy
    Hens & Chicks in Grass bed
    Variegated Grass  -- Miscanthus sinensis "Gold Bar' $17.50

Fern Bed
    Fern leaf Bleeding Heart (Fern Bed) -- from Nancy
    Flowering Maple - Fern Bed

West Bed
    Bergenia -- from Nancy
    Coral Bells -- from Julie

Hosta Bed
    Big Daddy Hosta - from Nancy
    Sagae (Say-ga) Hosta - from Nancy
    Gerbera Daises

Driveway  link
    Variegated Dogwood
    Japanese Red Blood Grass
    Lisianthus
     Purple Sage Salvia officianlis Purpurascens $5.00 Joy Creek Nusery, Scappoose OR

West Bed
      Silver Lace Vine -  'Polygonum' $9.99 each bought 2  started on trellis 
 
     Artemisia - Oriental Limelight

Tree
    
Oak Leaf Mountain Ash

2005 Progress

Main Projects
Repair West Fence
Trim damage from big Silver Maple
Painted House
Install Rose Bed
Fern Bed ***
Big Pot on front patio ***
Potting bench
Das Spitahuazen
Lawrence Pot -- Fiber Optic Grass
Expanded Herbs
Grass Bed
Replaced Railroad Ties - brick patio
Prepare Tree Bed for Rain Tree
Alpine (Alberta) Spruce Tree -- Front
Alpine (Alberta) Spruce -- from Kathy
Planted Caladeums in other places
Expanded Hosta bed  (Added bird bath)
Brick Patio next to hosta bed
Day Lilies from Jim & Sue
Clematis

Hibiscus (seed from Mary Mellenbruch -- Rich Hill, Missouri) 

Fall
Orange Bed
Vegetable Garden
Cutting Flower Garden - Zinnias
Stump Patio
Herbs - Driveway.
Hydrangea   'ENDLESS SUMMER®' 'Bailmer'
Hart's Tongue Fern (annual - house plant)

Key Plants
Alium
Basket Fern
Flowering Maple
Mellenbruch Hibiscus
Grass Garden
Elephant Ear Caladium
Cardoon
Cuban Sage
Garlic
Golden Rain Tree
Thuja Green Giant Cedars

 


Bunny Invasion

 

2004 Progress
Spring
Cut down the seven large Austrian Pines on the west side of the lot.  -- photo

Planted Hicksil Yew ($22.99), Densiformis Yew ($15.99) and 2 Mugho Pines ($11.99)
Planted a dwarf Burning Bush ($19.99) in NW corner of lot.
Removed two bushes      Wagela & ________________
Removed Mock Orange Bushes north of the Garage
Started the Fern Bed
Started the Fountain.

 

2003 Progress
       In January, we transplanted a holly bush from Amy's mothers yard in Lawrence, Kansas to the west fence line area.

2002 Progress
    Herbs, Tomatoes, and green peppers made up the main garden area.  We drastically thinned the Strawberries and added a number of stepping stones to the area.  On the south side of the garden we strung twine up to the gutter and let climbing beans grow. After a slow start and a little trouble with grasshoppers, the area turned into a lush green curtain.  There were a number of harvestable beans, but we picked only a couple meals worth during the very hot dry summer days.

      We put Impatiens under the maple tree again and added coca hull mulch.  They were slow to start up, but made a great show in late summer.

     Hostas were plant under the South Crabapple Tree (by garage) and mulched with red cedar.  We added two tuberous double Begonias in the front of the hosta bed.

    In the front bed we repeated pink Begonias and the pink splash Hypoestes.  No dusty millers. Caladium (and baby) was put in the same place as last year and become a mammoth show plant with lots more babies. [see photo]

    In the spring we took out the grass between the sidewalk and street on the west side.  After leveling it, we planted new grass. By early summer there was a good stand but still a lot of crab grass. 

     The Iris bed presented a nice show of blossom. 

    Nathan ringed the birch and the two front crab apple trees with red cedar mulch. 

    More ferns were added to the north and north east side of the house -- from John W. & Elisabeth and Nancy.  The ferns were fertilize with Mir Acid

West Flower Bed  Photo 1 | Photo 2

Our Compost Bins

2001 Progress
        Again in the garden, we continued with our herbs, added new basil and parsley.  The tomatoes became rather wild and needed to be trimmed up. Even after thinned the strawberries, there were still too many plants to easily maintain and the berries were small.  Amy planted a row of ornamental corn in the back row, next to the garage.  The corn wasn’t water enough which produced small ears.

    After last year's disappointment under the Maple Tree, we planted 30-40 Red Impatiens which produced a fantastic display. One section of the bed was planted with Dusty Miller, but didn’t do well because of the shade.

     Mid July we started the Iris Nursery around the lamp post area.

     The juniper bushes in the south bed under the Crabapple Tree (by garage)
were removed and the pink spirea bushes were trimmed.

    After the lilacs bloomed, we trimmed the east Lilac Bush back to about 4 feet and fertilized it mid summer.  We are hoping for a better bloom in a couple of years.

    In the front bed we planed begonias, Hypoestes (pink splash) and dusty millers. The main anchor plant was a Caladium that Ted Bansen gave us.

     Ferns were added to the north side of the house.

2000 Progress
     In the garden we stated Herbs (sage, chives, thyme, oregano, basil & mint).  Also planted tomatoes and sunflowers.  (The sunflowers became very tall and heavy.  After a long dry spell, when we water them, fell over in a strong wind.  The strawberries, which already existed, were thinned down in the spring, but the bed was still too large and hard to keep up.

    Under the maple Tree, we planted Marigolds & Geraniums, which did not do too good in the shade of the tree.  The east Lilac bush didn’t bloom.  The west fence line was full of iris, sedum, day lilies, and honeysuckle that were here when we moved in.  As a "first year" addition to the yard, we planed a Colorado Blue Spruce in April, purchased from Ted Bansen.

© Copyright Nathan Krämer 2010