So here I am looking for advice and suggestions on my own gardens. First I’ll have to say, I have to be patient with myself these gardens are the result of only two summers of work on my part. And I most certainly do not have the budget that the two gardens I mentioned early must have, but regardless I’m determined to make my garden as beautiful as possible given the circumstances. So please join the conversation. And then if you want help with yours- send me pictures and we’ll discuss!
Maybe I should start with the worst garden and move to the best, but whatever. I did quite a bit to this garden this past year. Adding six hostas (that I transplanted from elsewhere in the yard) and adding some phlox, coreopsis, impatiens, lobelia and daisies. I transplanted the three spirea from elsewhere in the yard last year as well, and I was thrilled to see they are blooming happily.
Problems that I see:
The coneflower in the middle is too tall for its placement. The purple lobelia behind it should get very tall, but as of yet it hasn’t grown much.
I feel there is a need for some different colored foliage. Some chartreuse would be lovely in this part-shade spot. Any suggestions?
What about something colorful behind the hosta and between the spirea?
This is another part shade bed.
Problems with bed:
The astibles are three times the size they were last year and look to close to the hostas on the right side. Maybe I should move the astible from the left to the right side of the path to the door?
The whole left side of the bath seems a bit shabby compared to the right. Because of two bushes that are at the front of the bed (an azalea and a rhodie) I’ve had a hard time planning that bed. I’m planning on moving the azalea back in the fall so it fills out the back of the bed, but it stills leaves the rhodie out front. 
Here is the same bed from another angle. You can see how close the azalea is to the driveway. I planted this sage and oregano this spring (transplanting it from the garden) It fills in the space nicely, but maybe needs a bit more planning. I just need more color on this corner. If I moved the azalea behind the sage and oregano that would leave the space in front of it for some smaller more colorful plants. 
This picture takes in the rest of the bed. I have had a hard time knowing how to give this bed more flow? Where is the “front” of the bed? I feel like the corner down at the right alongside of the driveway there is not much going on. I have a small bed collection of two daisies, a coneflower, a lily, and a dahlia. But it looks sort of hodgepodge. What would you do to give this bed more flow?
Now to the front yard:
Here’s a shot from far away to get an overall feel. What do you think does it look balanced? How is the height of everything? Does it look inviting?
I’m afraid you can’t see much of what is going on in this bed. So I’ll try to explain. The big clump of green in the middle are diasies- huge daisies. I love daisies but I”m not sure I got the best variety here, these are leggy and spindly and while I like their height, they don’t have very strong stems so they often just flop over onto the plants infront of them. Do any of you know another variety of daisies that is very tall but sturdy and more compact? Tucked in behind them is a crocosmia, I’m excited to see its blooms interspersed with the daisies. In front of that are three patches of coreopsis (yellow) and two patches of molten lava (red) These are blooming nicely and I like them next to each other. I just think there is a need for something of a more medium height. To break up all the green. The pink on each side is pink veronica. I like that its bloom is different but, like the purple salvia next to it, it has a messy habit. Sort of flopping over and emptying out in the middle. Does anyone know a solution to this?
To the right of the door is this bed. Its lacking. The small patches of plants in the front: two different kinds of dianthus and beard tongue bloomed beautifully this spring, but now they’re gone. They might get a meager bloom a little later in the season but they can’t be relied upon. That leaves only the rose and two coreopsis plants for color all summer. (The two spirea in the back have an insignificant pale pink bloom.) Could I grow a flowering vine up and around the magnolia for summer color? How do I add more richness to this bed with this magnolia in the middle? I suppose some colorful annuals would really help this bed out. But what perennials could I add?
In my opinion no entry way is complete without a couple of pots. Here are mine this year. I decided to put my cannas in them. I like the idea. They certainly take a while before they look like anything- so I’m wondering if they’re worth the wait. But I like the height and I”m excited for their red blooms. (They’ll get about twice this tall.) I love the coreopsis in the back pots by the door, but there simply is not enough in those pots they look empty. I’ll have to think of some cheap fillers for next year. They need more spiller and more medium height plants. I have loved my three pots with geraniums and dahlias.They are bright and cheerful and the geraniums just love my scorching hot front porch. The Dahlia in the large pot to the left of the walkway is also very happy. It’s HUGE! You probably can’t quite tell but there is a Canna in there as well, we’ll see how it competes with the dahlia. I haven’t stalked the dahlia yet and I’m wondering if I should do so. I’m curious about how much bigger it’s going to get. They weren’t nearly this large last year!
All great gardeners keep a journal about their flowers. This is part of my attempt to do so this year. Sabina, my co-contributor to this blog, was just suggesting today that it would be wise to take a look at your garden and if you ever notice it’s lacking blooms and colors for a certain part of the year that you then drive around and look for a garden that at the same time is full of blooms. Then figure out which plants could be added to bring more color to your yard. I think its a great idea.
So please say as much or as little as you’d like, but I’d love feedback!
