R.I.P.
Reviewing my iphoto library often gives me ideas for posts. I was scrolling through recently, looking for a particular image, when I noticed lots of beautiful—and unfamiliar—plants. Had I owned these plants? If so what happened to them? Thus was I prompted to briefly review the cycles of life, death, and replacement in and around the GWI property.
Back in the days of yore, around summer of 99 or so, my first attempts at gardening included taking down all the fencing around the beds (the former owners had dogs). Then I filled the beds with plants that I liked, with total disregard for sun/shade/moisture/soil requirements. This resulted in a part-shade, acidic bed being planted with dianthus, bellis perennis, achillea, lavender, violas and iris. All long-gone now. This pictures is a scan, as I didn’t have a digital camera then. The mural wasn't there then, and I see only one (unplanted) trellis.
My next attempt included daylilies, lilium, and various tough low-growers like campanula, geranium (the real kind), and creeping jenny, as you see below.
Most of this has been replaced by the pond, though some of the plants are not quite dead. The daylilies and lilies were transplanted, and seem to have barely survived the summer in their new locations. The hydrangea remains.
Then there are all my lilium auratum. I had these correctly identified as the species from Lily Garden and given another name by Van Engelen, but I’m pretty sure they were all the same. I think lilies can give out after five years or so and that’s what happened here. Maybe if I’d divided them, which is something I hardly ever do. I just planted some bulbs from Van Engelen which seem to be at least relatives.
Maybe the saddest story is the rose garden. I have to blame myself here, because it looked pretty good when we moved in, all white shrubs mainly, with a red climber. There were two bad bushes: a Double Delight with black spot and some old polyantha with horrible mildew. However, I think I killed the white ones by not protecting them one bad winter. I also gave up trying to eradicate a severe midge problem. The rose garden is now a mixed perennial, tall annual, and lily bed. It doesn’t look nearly as tidy as it did (though you only really got one big bloom in late June, thanks to the midge).
Next on the chopping block? I have my eye on the side hosta bed. I guess for me it’s mainly the process. I’ll never be happy with the results.
Back in the days of yore, around summer of 99 or so, my first attempts at gardening included taking down all the fencing around the beds (the former owners had dogs). Then I filled the beds with plants that I liked, with total disregard for sun/shade/moisture/soil requirements. This resulted in a part-shade, acidic bed being planted with dianthus, bellis perennis, achillea, lavender, violas and iris. All long-gone now. This pictures is a scan, as I didn’t have a digital camera then. The mural wasn't there then, and I see only one (unplanted) trellis.
My next attempt included daylilies, lilium, and various tough low-growers like campanula, geranium (the real kind), and creeping jenny, as you see below.
Most of this has been replaced by the pond, though some of the plants are not quite dead. The daylilies and lilies were transplanted, and seem to have barely survived the summer in their new locations. The hydrangea remains.
Then there are all my lilium auratum. I had these correctly identified as the species from Lily Garden and given another name by Van Engelen, but I’m pretty sure they were all the same. I think lilies can give out after five years or so and that’s what happened here. Maybe if I’d divided them, which is something I hardly ever do. I just planted some bulbs from Van Engelen which seem to be at least relatives.
Maybe the saddest story is the rose garden. I have to blame myself here, because it looked pretty good when we moved in, all white shrubs mainly, with a red climber. There were two bad bushes: a Double Delight with black spot and some old polyantha with horrible mildew. However, I think I killed the white ones by not protecting them one bad winter. I also gave up trying to eradicate a severe midge problem. The rose garden is now a mixed perennial, tall annual, and lily bed. It doesn’t look nearly as tidy as it did (though you only really got one big bloom in late June, thanks to the midge).
Next on the chopping block? I have my eye on the side hosta bed. I guess for me it’s mainly the process. I’ll never be happy with the results.
Comments
Hope your garden adventures are good ones in 2008!
I'd like to think I can get to a point where I'll stop digging things up and just let the garden get on with it, but I'm not betting on that.
For me, it isn't so much the old photos that remind me of plants I no longer have, it is all the old plant labels that I keep. I think one day I'll go through them all and create a R.I.P. display of plant tags for plants no longer in my garden. Some I can't even remember!
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
Great post!