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Last Updated: 1/17/21
There are many gardens on our land. It takes all year to try to weed and mulch them, and I never finish. The plants do very poorly. This is because the deer eat everything with few exceptions, the soil is poor, and most of the land is now pretty shady. I put cages around most of the plants to keep the deer off. If it is not caged, it is fair game. If it is caged, they can still kick it off or run full force into it by "accident" and then eat the plant. The cages are made of chicken wire and vinyl-coated "dog" fencing. They are anchored with metal "sod staples."
My gardens include:
Big Pond Garden
Peony Garden
Front Iris Garden
Back Iris Garden
Tree Garden
Original Garden
Other Gardens
Individual Plants
I have just started adding information in 2006 on terrestrial plants so this page may grow.
On my songbird page, there is a photo of the front yard with a pileated woodpecker (under the woodpecker section).
I got a new bird-shaped bird bath in 2014. I do not have a birdbath page on which to plop these
photos so here they are, taken 4/27/14.
Bird bath
Bird bath - close-up; it says "Birds Welcome."
This is the large garden surrounding my 1800 gallon pond, both built in April, 1997. My pond pictures page has dozens of photos of that pond. They were taken for the pond but in many photos, you can also see the garden.
These photos are listed from most recent to oldest.
The wild azalea was in bloom in the big pond garden on 4/27/16:
Wild azalea
Wild azalea
Pink snow crocus on 2/28/16.
From 6/20/15:
Milkweed in flower with a butterfly.
Milkweed in flower with butterflies (hard to see).
Red lily - close-up
Red lily and pond garden
Mimosa flowers - in the late 1980's, we got half a dozen mimosa
trees, which are native to Iran, from my magic teacher. They are favorites of hummingbirds and butterflies.
Four of the trees grew huge but then, around 2000, they started to die one by one. The
leaves (which fold up at night, in the rain, and when touched) turned yellow, brown, and fell off. The trees then
fell apart. This tree was
self-seeded from one of the gone big trees. It too got the same deadly infection as soon as it flowered. I let it
grow so large next to my pond knowing it would probably die too and hoping that I would once again get to touch
and smell the sticky, soft flowers. And, I did. And, then it died.
From 5/9/15:
Pond and yucca gardens viewed from the front yard, facing north.
Side garden on the west side of the house.
Yellow weed blooming near the pond.
Ajuga
Carpet phlox
Yellow iris - it smells like lemons!
Photos on 4/26/15:
Pond garden facing south.
Pond garden facing south.
Pond garden facing south; I love fresh mulch!
Pond garden facing west.
Pond garden facing north.
Pond garden facing north.
Pond garden facing north.
King Tut rolling next to a red tulip.
Tulips in flower in the big pond garden on 4/22/15:
Orange tulip
Red tulip
Pond garden by the house, facing north.
Photos from 4/15/15 after fresh mulch:
Pond garden facing northeast.
Pond garden facing north.
Pond garden facing northwest.
Helloborus in bloom on 4/12/15.
Flowers in bloom, from 4/4/15:
Katherine Hodgkins snow iris
Crocus
Flowering sedum on 9/7/14.
Photos from 7/14/14:
Red gladiola
White lily
These photos are from 6/29/14:
Flowering milkweed with a bumblebee.
Flowering milkweed with a bumblebee.
White lily
Red lily
Firecracker?
From 6/7/14 after I expanded the main pond garden to join up with the garden on the side of the house:
Iris - it was supposed to be a dwarf iris but came up
like a Siberian iris in height and timing!
Asiatic lilies
Gaillardia and other flowers
Button groundcover - I forget the name but it was some kind
of button flower groundcover.
Peruvian daffodil - so rare that it blooms! This is a
bulb that I lift every fall.
Gerber daisy in a pot next to my pond bench.
White wild poppies
Peony tulip on 4/27/14. I had planted it the fall before.
I took these photos on 4/20/14 after I mulched up a new area between the main pond garden and the garden
on the side of the house (with a pathway between). All three photos are facing northwest.
Pond Garden
Pond Garden
Pond Garden
Wild white poppies on 6/4/13 (not sure of the species)
From 5/18/13:
White allium blooming by the 1800 gallon
pond
garden
New rubber pathway between the pond and
house
From 5/17/13:
Big pond area - view from below the
pond, facing
southeast.
Big pond area - view facing
southwest
From 4/26/13:
Candy stripe carpet phlox
Tulip
Pond area
Pond area
Flowers flowering on 3/24/13:
Winter aconite
Katherine Hodgkins snow iris
Winter jasmine
White poppy in flower on 5/31/12. I am not sure of the species.
From 5/13/12:
Blue standard iris next to my big pond.
These photos are from 4/17/12 at the big pond garden:
Stones at the entry to my big
pond
Pond Garden - part of the pond can be
seen, creeping phlox and daffodils in bloom
Gazing ball - my new gazing ball
Flowering wood hyacinth
Flowering purple flower - some new
perennial we have.
Katherine Hodgkins snow iris in bloom on 3/8/12.
Katherine Hodgkins snow iris in bloom on 3/6/12.
White phlox flowers - the cage is to keep the deer off. This plant was one I bought because it was supposed to have pink striped flowers. I got plain white ones instead. This photo was taken 7/14/11.
Red lily flower - the deer missed one for the first time ever! I forgot to put a date but I think it was 7/14/11.
These plant photos are from 6/12/11.
Milkweed
Variegated Ajuga - not in bloom
Striped carpet phlox on 4/25/11. I am not sure why I refer to it as creeping phlox below twice.
Here are photos of the standard iris and blue star flowers blooming at the pond garden on
5/10/10.
Light purple standard iris
Orange standard iris
Blue star flowers
Blue star flowers - close-up
I took these photos on 5/1/10.
Stripped creeping phlox
Burgundy dwarf iris - not a true dwarf but not
full size
Veronica - I just got this plant; it is so
cute!
Helleborus
These photos are from 4/11/10.
Ajuga in bloom by the waterfall. This one was
supposed to be "chocolate" but looks like my regular Ajuga or bugleweed. Those
are lemon balm leaves on the left side of the photo. It is taking over parts of the garden.
Creeping phlox by the pond. This one was
called something like candy cane, and you can tell why. Half the plant has reverted to 100%
white though.
Here are some snow iris and crocus in bloom at the big pond's garden on 3/21/10:
Snow iris - what a clump; I think these are called
Katherine Hodgkins or something like that.
Orange snow crocus - love orange!
Orange standard iris with the pond and
fish behind them on 5/26/07. Those iris are one of my favorites.
White flowers - they are some sort of wild
flower we got, on 5/26/07.
I took these photos on 4/29/07 of the pond and the garden around it since I had just mulched a lot
of it so that is about as good as those gardens get:
Pond facing southwest. The red bud tree
is in bloom. The red beech tree in the distance has just leafed out.
Pond facing west.
Pond facing northeast
Pond facing northeast (further back)
Iris on 5/25/06 by the big pond.
On 4/19/06, I took these photos of the pond garden after I mulched the south and east sides.
Unlike my pond photos, these were taken to show off the terrestrial garden. Not much was in
bloom but a few daffodils.:
View of the east side, facing south
View of the east side, facing
northwest
View of the south side, facing
north
View of the south side, facing north -
slightly further back than the last photo
View of the southeast side, facing
southwest
The peony garden includes two old gardens that were joined together with the creation of my 153 gallon pond. One garden was a rose garden with three roses (one died). Another was the peony garden with three tree peonies. In between them now are three ponds - the 153 gallon on the east side, the 20 gallon tub, and a buried 50 gallon tub on the west side. A few other plants were added later like two regular peonies.
This garden (the old section, not the one with the roses) was never fully mulched before. On 3/13/12, I mulched half of this garden. It helps to be unemployed! I hope to do the other half soon. I did most of it on 3/20/12 and finished it all on 3/28/12. It was fully mulched for the first time!
Photos are listed from oldest to newest:
Snowdrops near my 153 gallon pond on
2/24/06.
Glory of the Snow in flower next to the 153
gallon pond on 3/30/06.
Peony Garden on 4/26/06, facing west. The
biggest plant is a butterfly bush. The 153 gallon pond can be seen and the red peony in
bloom.
Peony Garden on 4/26/06, facing north. The
red and pink tree peony flowers can be seen and a yellow dwarf iris as well as the ponds.
Iris at the rose portion of this garden on
5/25/06.
Peony flower on 5/25/06. This is one of the
regular peonies.
I mulched the front part of this garden on 8/6/06. Here is a photo of the garden right after mulching.
The snowdrops in 2007 bloomed almost two months early because it was so warm! Here is a
photo of the snowdrops from 1/6/07. That
same day, I took a photo of the vinca flowering
down by our garage.
Glory of the Snow in flower next to the
153 gallon pond on 3/29/07.
Glory of the Snow in flower next to the 153 gallon pond on 3/21/10.
White tree peony on 5/1/10.
Red/purple standard iris on 5/10/10.
Glory of the Snow I think. I found this photo when putting in the next photo. It was not linked in for some reason, and I do not know when it was taken but it was between 2007 and 2010.
Glory of the Snow on 3/13/11.
These photos of bulbs in flower were taken on 4/17/11:
Pink and white butterfly daffodil
Pink and white butterfly daffodil
Grape hyacinth (muscari)
Tahiti daffodil in flower on 4/20/11.
Peony in flower on 5/25/11. This is a herbaceous (not tree) peony, "sorbet" I think.
Snowdrops in bloom on 1/25/12. They had been in bloom for a few weeks due to a mild winder.
Crocus in bloom near the 50 gallon pond on 3/6/12.
Glory of the Snow in flower next to the 153 gallon pond on 3/8/12.
Ponds - the 50, 20, and 153 gallon ponds (left to right), facing north on 3/18/12. The daffodils were starting to bloom.
I took these photos on 4/21/12 at the 153 gallon pond in order to get photos of the white tree
peony flowers but there was a male green frog in there too.
Peonies and green frog
Peonies and green frog
Peony flower on 5/20/12. This is one of the herbaceous peonies.
Hydrangea on 6/10/12.
Hydrangea on 6/28/12.
From 3/24/13 by the 153 gallon pond:
Glory of the snow
Snow iris
Pink/purple iris on 5/17/13.
Flowering herbaceous peony on 5/24/13.
On 9/29/13, I took these photos of the 153 gallon pond area (peony garden area). It is all
weeds and goldenrod (a nice "weed!").
153 gallon pond area but you
cannot really
see the pond. The garden is all weeds!
153 gallon pond
The snowdrops were in bloom on 2/23/14:
Snowdrops
Snowdrops
From 3/23/14:
Snow iris
Winter aconite
Snow iris blooming with snow on them on 3/27/14.
Glory of the snow on 4/1/14.
From 4/20/14 with the daffodils blooming:
153 gallon pond area and back yard.
153 gallon pond area, closer in.
Glory of the snow on 4/4/15.
Here are peonies in flower from 5/9/15:
Red peony
White peony
White peony with my hand in the photo to show
how huge the flower was.
From 2/28/16:
Snowdrops
Snowdrops
Winter aconite
From 3/26/16:
Glory of the snow
Glory of the snow
From 3/30/16:
Grape hyacinth
Daffodils
The peonies were in bloom on 4/27/16:
Pink peony
Red peony
The front iris garden is small and my only fully fenced garden. I wish they were all fenced! This garden includes iris, daylilies, grape hyacinth, and a few perennials.
I weeded this garden on 10/29/06 finally but most everything had died back by then anyway. I did not have any good mulch to lay down (it is all rotten). I bought some bagged mulch for the first time in my life and mulched this garden on 11/5/06.
Here are some of the daylilies on bloom in the front iris garden (although it should now be
called the daylily garden as there are many more daylilies than iris!) on 7/20/13:
Daylilies
Daylily - close-up
Tulip on 4/26/13.
Daylily flower in the front iris bed on 7/11/10.
Iris in the front iris bed on 5/26/07.
Iris in the front iris bed on 5/27/06.
Iris and a pink daisy on 5/27/06.
Front Iris Garden on 4/26/06. The grape hyacinth are in bloom.
The back iris garden was planted with iris in the late 70's by my mother. The iris are so close together that they almost never flower and cannot be divided (too solid). I have added a few perennials in and around this garden over the years. I will list some here later.
I mulched half of this garden on 11/26/06 and the other half on 12/3/06.
Here is a photo from 4/26/06 of the back iris garden. The rabbit hutch is in the back of the photo.
I took these photos on 5/1/10 of shrubs at the back iris garden:
Sweet shrub
Pink variegated weigela
Old purple standard iris on 5/10/10 in the back iris garden which is named for these standard iris planted in the late 1970's. The flowers are much smaller than the newer standard iris.
Variegated weigela in bloom on 5/18/13.
The tree garden contains 11 caged small trees in a partially shaded area. All these trees were added in the 80's and 90's but are stunted. There are also a few daffodils.
A list of the 11 trees and shrubs can be found below as the first group of plants in the mulched list. The oak tree is the oldest, planted in the 80's. It is maybe two feet high. It is sort of like a Bonsai in that the limbs are thick. It died in 2010. Shade, very poor soil, and deer eating anything that sticks out of the cage is why the trees are stunted.
Tree Garden on 4/26/06, facing northeast.
Pink weigela in the tree garden, 5/10/10.
Rose of Sharon in bloom in the tree garden on 8/11/10, view looking up in the sky.
Rose of Sharon in bloom in the tree garden on 8/16/10, close-up of a single flower.
This was the first garden that the house had that was put in by my parents in 1977. It started off with bushes and lots of perennials and various bulbs. Today, all that remains are two huge evergreen bushes (they have little flowers in May that the honeybees come to from miles around), a different large evergreen bush (more yellow), a huge cedar tree that blocks my bedroom window, pachysandra, and one surviving daffodil. On the west side of this "garden," there is a smaller area with a daffodil, and my mother still plants a few plants and vines there each year but they usually do not live long term. The vines grow up a line on the side of the porch. That is about it! This is one garden I have not weeded since the bushes are huge and full of various stinging-insect nests.
The blizzards of 2010 (see photos here) destroyed the 33-year old cedar tree in front of my window which you can see in photos on the blizzard page. In March, I planted a dwarf variegated pink Japanese dogwood where the cedar tree was. My mother bought a globular blue spruce bush and planted that in that area as well. I added a few daffodils too.
These photos are from 4/3/10:
Front of the house
Front garden with newly planted dwarf
variegated pink Japanese dogwood and blue spruce bush. The older ground cover there is
pachysandra. [Both the dogwood and bush would die within a few years.]
Mini daffodils in bloom in the front garden on 3/8/12.
Small-cupped daffodils in bloom on 4/26/13.
Here are some photos of a Batik iris in bloom on 5/24/13:
Batik iris
Batik iris - close-up
The first garden that the property had in 1977 is now a disaster. It originally contained a Scotch broom bush, a soft evergreen
bush, two prickly evergreens (the honeybees love the yellow flowers), pachysandra, and daffodils. Around the late 80's, an "expert" told my
mother to control the huge Scotch broom by cutting it to the ground. Well, that controlled it all right! It killed it. The soft
evergreen then started to take off. The prickly ones kept getting smaller (deer eating them) and full of weeds. You can perhaps
see why it is my dream to replace this mess of a garden with a solarium so I do not have to haul the potted plants in and out of the house
twice a year which requires two days off of work and a lot of pain. Here is that "garden" on 5/9/15 which is mostly that huge
soft evergreen bush.
Original garden.
I have so many gardens to tend to that I forgot these ones initially!
Pink Asiatic lilies in bloom on 5/31/12 in the garden on the west side of the house (near the big pond but a separate garden). We never had so many flowers, and the deer did not eat them!
By the front porch, on the west side is a small garden with a mini rose bush (huge plant though!), yucca, iris, and hardy hibiscus. The hibiscus died in 2004 but I just planted more on 5/14/06 (did not survive). I mulched this garden on 7/4/06.
Here is an iris at that garden on 5/25/06.
Here are photos of the huge yucca in bloom by the west side garden on 6/21/08. The huge
"mini" rose bush is also in full bloom:
Yucca in flower
Yucca in flower
Purple standard iris on 5/10/10 in the yucca/mini rose garden.
Yucca in flower on 6/16/11.
Photos of the mulched yucca side garden on 4/15/15:
Yucca garden facing south.
Yucca garden facing northeast.
Yucca in flower on 6/20/15.
Near the electric box are some iris and a small garden that I let go to pot that had some mint, fragrant mini daffodils, and the other plants I think are goners.
By the back wildlife pond, there are three astilbe plants in cages. Because I mulch a general area there, it almost qualifies as a garden.
Around the main animal graveyard in total shade, there is one of our three azaleas in a cage that flowers pink, a liriope barely alive in a cage, a hosta barely alive in a cage, various daffodils and other bulbs, bluebells, and a few other plants.
In 2014, I removed the dead stump of the weeping cherry and made the area a garden. It includes the
offshoot from the weeping cherry which is a stock cherry tree and wisteria growing up a new trellis. There
are also four small shrubs and lots of bulbs which were blooming in this photo from 4/20/14:
Small garden
Here are bulbs blooming in the cherry tree garden on 4/22/15:
Hyacinth, tulips, and daffodils in bloom.
Orange tulip in flower with a few hyacinth on either side.
Hyacinth, tulips, and daffodils in bloom.
Hyacinth, tulips, daffodils, and cherry tree in bloom, view farther out.
Here are flowers in the cherry tree garden on 3/26/16:
Hyacinths
Pink hyacinth
Blue hyacinth
Nearly 100 individually caged trees, shrubs, and a few perennials are on our land. There are thousands of uncaged trees and shrubs that were planted back in the 70's and 80's so they were able to grow before the deer became so prolific. There are also some uncaged individual plants such as the snow iris below. I try to weed, fertilize, and mulch most of the cages each year. It takes almost the entire year.
Photos of some of my plants that are planted individually (or not in a specific garden):
2016:
These photos are from 3/26/16:
Front yard - shows blooming forysthia, daffodils,
and flowering almond
Pink butterfly daffodil
Flowering almond
White hyacinth
Daffodils
Forsythia
Forsythia
Magnolia bush
Quince flower
2015:
Pink lilies on 6/7/15 - this was the last bloom as they died the next spring when some animal ate them.
From 5/9/15:
Lilac flowers
Globe allium - notice I got a bonus photo of
a native bee.
Amaryllis
Ground ivy
White bleeding heart
Pink bleeding heart
Flowering double Japanese yellow rose
Flowering double Japanese yellow rose - close-up of one flower
From 4/15/15:
Front yard with forsythia, daffodils, and flowering almond
in bloom.
Yellow weed - I do not know what species of wildflower this
is but my father had me transplant it to the front yard around 2010, and it is doing well, a nice ground cover.
Flowering almond flowers - up close.
Tahiti daffodil
From 4/4/15:
Snow Crocus out front.
Giant Crocus out back.
Giant Crocus - close-up. The striped one is my favorite!
2014:
Photo of the canna blooming on the back porch on 7/20/14:
Red canna
Every year, I bring old amaryllis bulbs in and out. My mother kept telling me that I was wasting my
time, that they would never bloom again. It is too bad that she was not alive to see this one bloom on
6/19/14.
Blooming amaryllis - two flowers!
Blooming amaryllis - close-up
From 6/7/14:
Yellow and white dahlias on the front porch.
Pink rose by the front porch.
From 4/27/14:
Cherry tree in bloom.
Front yard with red bud in bloom.
Here are the crocus that my mother bought in honor of her uncle that I planted in the shape of a smiley
face. They were blooming on 4/1/14:
Purple crocus in the shape of a smiley face
Purple crocus close-up
2013:
Fig tree - looking through it, an un-rip fig is in the photo, 7/20/13.
Bridal wreath spirea in bloom on 5/18/13.
Bluebells by the chicken pen on 5/17/13.
Tulip garden on 5/6/13.
From 4/26/13:
Scotch broom- in bloom.
Redbud out front.
Pink daffodil with split corona
Tulip
Yellow hyacinth
Daffodil - pink and white
Yellow wood poppy
White and purple violet
Purple violet
Garlic mustard - an invasive species
Bluebells in flower
Fragrant daffodils
Wild flowers - may be related to Oxalis
Redbud out back, the back yard facing
east.
Vinca
2012:
Flowering tropical canna on the back porch on 7/22/12.
This yellow evening primrose sprouted by the pool in 2012 and provided beautiful flowers for
months. These photos are from 6/28/12.
Evening Primrose
Evening Primrose - flower close-up (sorry,
it is not in focus).
Buckeye - in flower on 4/17/12.
Cherry tree in flower on 3/25/12, a month earlier than last year.
12 standard hyacinth and daffodils in bloom on 3/18/12, a month sooner than last year.
These photos are from 3/17/12.
Daffodil. This is one of my favorites.
Flowering almond in bloom.
Honey bee on flowering almond
Giant crocus in bloom on 3/6/12.
Giant crocus, close-up of the white
flowers.
Flowering daffodils - this small fragrant daffodil was in bloom in January instead of April! This photo is from 1/25/12 but the flowers had been open for weeks. We skipped winter this year.
2011:
These photos are of flowers taken on 5/21/11:
Orange standard iris
Salvia
Wood anemones
Blue standard iris
Jack-in-the-pulpit - one we bought last year
Jack-in-the-pulpit - a different one
These photos are of plants taken on 5/11/11:
Bulbs - I do not recall the name of these
blue flowers but they resemble wood hyacinths which they are not.
Burgundy dwarf iris in flower.
Globe alliums in flower. There are also some
snapdragons flowering.
Globe allium - close-up.
These photos are of plants taken on 5/5/11:
Buckeye - in
flower.
Buckeye - another view.
White Bleeding Heart in flower.
Pink Azalea in bloom out front.
These photos of plants in flower were taken on 4/25/11:
White crab apple
Kwanzan cherry - I finally have one!
Kwanzan cherry - close up
White cherry - a sour pie cherry my mother
bought
Bleeding heart - my first one!
Flowering double Japanese yellow rose -
close up
Flowering double Japanese yellow
rose
Cherry tree in flower on 4/20/11 - this is the one that grew from the base of the dead weeping cherry.
Nine standard hyacinth in bloom on 4/10/11.
Flowering almond in bloom on 4/7/11.
Yellow snow crocus out front on 3/13/11.
Yellow snow crocus out front on 3/13/11,
close-up.
2010:
Both my standard and dwarf red canna (both potted plants) were in bloom on the back porch on
8/7/10:
Two red canna
Close-up of the dwarf red canna flowers
Close-up of the standard red canna flowers
Yellow calla lily on 7/11/10.
Red calla lily - our first calla lily flower after
the deer chomped on it on 7/4/10.
Anise hyssop in flower on 7/4/10.
Pink lily - for the first time ever (since 1977), the deer let a terrestrial lily flower on 5/26/10! In the past, they always ate the flowers even when caged (the flowers invariably stuck through the wire). Amazingly, about four lilies put out lots of flowers for the next week. The deer are falling down on the job! The girls are busy with newborns but still should be eating what they are not supposed to!
Multiflora rose bush - this invasive Asian rose, better known to us as sticker bush, is great for the week that it flowers. Here is one cascading over the weeds by the edge of a mowed area on 5/19/10. It smells so good. The birds like to eat the small red rose hips in the fall and winter.
These photos are from 5/10/10. Note there are two other weigela photos I took this day that are
under the back iris garden section and the tree garden section as we have four weigelas
total.
Unknown plant in my mother's deck
planter; one of many.
Red weigela out back.
Pink weigela out front.
I took these photos on 5/1/10:
Wild aster
Ground ivy or creeping Charlie, better
known as the purple weed around here.
Free plant - the neighbor dumped this house
plant in the trash, and my mother rescued it. I repotted and fertilized it. Do you know what it
is?
This photo is from 4/11/10.
Cherry tree in bloom. We had a weeping cherry
tree which was grafted on to an unknown species of cherry tree. The weeping part died but this
tree sprouted up next to the tree from the roots so it is the stock tree. This cherry tree has white
flowers and small green cherries that form.
This photo is not from my gardens but I really wish I had one of these!
Kwanzan cherry - at the Tidal Basin in
Washington, DC on 4/8/10.
These photos are from 4/3/10:
Front yard - forsythia and flowering
almond in bloom.
Butterfly daffodil
Flowering almond in bloom.
Striped squill - a spring bulb.
Snow iris on 3/21/10.
2009:
Flowering double Japanese yellow rose on 4/27/09.
These three photos are from 4/25/09:
Flowering ornamental plum tree.
Flowering red bud tree by my big pond.
Flowering red bud tree out front; a few years
old, from a seedling of the previous old tree (about 30 years old). The yellow is the forsythia
bush just finishing its bloom.
Daffodil on 4/19/09.
Giant crocus on 3/21/09.
Yellow snow crocus on 3/8/09.
Purple snow crocus on 3/8/09. The cage is
there to try to keep the deer from eating them.
2007:
Orange puff shrub in flower on 4/29/07. I did not know what species this was until April of 2009 when someone finally told me. It is a double Japanese yellow rose shrub.
Daffodils in flower on 3/29/07, far away,
also the swing in the back yard. Notice how the deer pruned the Leyland cypress.
Daffodils in flower on 3/29/07, close-
up.
Snow iris in flower on 3/29/07.
2006:
Grape Hyacinth in flower on 4/26/06.
Bluebells in flower on 4/26/06.
Giant snow crocus in flower on 3/18/06.
Flowering almond in flower on 3/18/06.
Snow iris in flower on 3/18/06.
I wanted to get an idea of how many plants I actually have that I mulch. This does not include thousands of mature trees and shrubs that are not mulched. To care for the following, I remove the cage if present, weed, fertilize, mulch, and replace the cage if there is one. I try to do this once a year. Below is a list of just a very few of our plants. Because these are the ones that are caged, they are mostly small. We do have some big plants! By the end of the year, I should have a tally for plants I mulch that are NOT in one of my gardens.
Key:
First letter = T for tree, S for shrub, P for perennial
Second letter = C for caged, N for not caged
Third letter = B for big, M for medium, S for stunted (small but old), T for tiny (young, not
stunted)
Forth letter = F for it has flowered at some point, N for no flowers
I would add in the ages of the plants but I never wrote it down when I planted them from 1977 to
today!
11 plants in the tree garden, done 4/9/06? (weeded November 2005 so just mulched):
Douglas fir (T, C, S, N), 2 white pines (T, C, S, N), pawpaw (T, C, S, N), holly tree (T, C, S, N),
red cedar (T, C, S, N), mimosa (T, C, S, N), oak (T, C, S, N), weigela (S, C, M, F), rose of
Sharon (S, C, M, F), and Bradford pear (T, C, M, N).
10 plants out far front, done on 4/19/06:
Colorado blue spruce (T, C, S, N), 3 butterfly bushes (S, 1 C and 2 N, S, 1 F and 2 N), maple (T,
C, S, N), beech (T, N, M, N), wild plum (T, C, M, F now for the first time!), rose of Sharon (S,
C, M, F), pear (T, N, B, F), and apple (T, N, B, F).
15 plants out far front and along the road on 4/26/06:
Bradford pear (T, C, S, N), Washington hawthorne (T, C, M, N), weigela (S, C, M, F), raspberry
(P, C, S, N), 2 pawpaws (T, C, 1 B and 1 S, 1 F and 1 N), crabapple (T, C, M, N), some perennial
plant (P, N, S, N), gum tree (T, C, S, N), purple smoke bush (S, C, M, N), yellow rain tree (T, C,
S, N), azalea (S, C, S, F), double Japanese yellow rose (S, C, M, F), crabapple (T, C, T,
N), and rosy summersweet (S, C, M, F). I removed three dead cages from my last rhodendron
and two pussy willows.
4 plants out front on 4/30/06:
Redbud (T, C, B, N), crape myrtle (S, C, B, F), flowering almond (S, C, B, F), and an unknown
tree (T, C, S, N). The redbud was only transplanted from our one adult tree's offspring a few
years ago and is already some 8 feet high! The crape myrtle and flowering almond are both
about 10-years-old and pretty big. The cages cannot come off (they would have to be cut off).
The unknown tree was a spot where baby trees kept dying so I would try yet another one. The
leaves look like a persimmon so it could just be self-seeded. I am not sure. I love the flowering
almond (photo above). Most people do not know this but the fruits are edible. Each year, only a
few of the flowers turn to fruit but they are like little sweet cheeries.
9 plants out front on 5/7/06:
Lilac (S, C, S, F), crab apple (T, C, S, N), 2 red currants (S, C, M, F), 2 blueberries (S, C, S, N),
yellow rain tree (T, C, M, N), buckeye(S, C, S, N), and a royal paulownia (T, C, M, N).
The currants shrubs have about 13 fruits on one this year and 30 on the other. I love eating
currants! Another blueberry bush and some old raspberries were all dead. I used to mulch a
white button spirea next to the royal paulownia but it is big enough now and has runners all over
so that I did not mulch it. I found a dead catbird that I think hit a window on the house. I also
found a 10 foot beech tree in the woods that I did not know we had! We have two that I knew
of that we planted. Most of our adult trees are 50+ feet high. When we moved in in 1977, there
were only a few trees.
10 plants out back on 5/29/06:
Butterfly bush (S, N, M, F), variegated pink willow of some sort (S, C, M, N), cherry tree (T, C,
M, N; baby offshoot of deceased weeping cherry but the baby is not weeping as it is the graft
host
species), wisteria (vine, N, S, N), crab apple (T, C, M, N), Washington hawthorne (T, C, M, N),
holly (T, N, B, male "flowers"), butterfly bush (S, C, S, F), variegated forsythia (S, C, M, F), and
a Leyland cypress (T, C, M, N).
6 plants out back on 6/18/06:
Peach tree (T, C, B, F; used to be one of those 5 fruits on the tree trees but the other parts died; it
has peaches on it), yellow rain tree (T, C, M, N), red yarrow (perennial, C, S, F), hazelnut (S, C,
M, N), hazelnut (S, C, S, N; just planted, barely alive or visible), pyracantha (S, C, M, F). Also,
I
removed the cage from a multi-colored (my only one) butterfly bush
that was fine last year but is now dead.
10 plants out back and far back on 7/23/06:
Variegated weigela (S, C, M, F), inkberry holly (S, C, M, F), Leyland cypress (T, C, M,
N), red rose (S, C, S, F), weigela in the same cage with a multi-colored spirea that I planted
together and never separated (S, C, M, F), 3 astilbe (perennials, C, S, F), and a mini rose way out
back (S, C, S, F). The weigela/spirea and rose are in a small garden of their own.
19 plants (7 groups) in the old garden out back on 8/27/06:
Unknown bush (S, C, M, N), Canadian hemlock (T, C, S, N), Canadian hemlock (T, N, S, N), 5
baby trees (T, C, S, N; 1 rain tree, 1 crab apple, 1 dogwood, and 2 unknown trees), 6 baby
redbuds (T, C, S, N), 4 trees (T, C, S, N; 1 crab apple, 2 Bradford pears, 1 regular dogwood), and
a pink dogwood (T, C, M, N), The last four listed were all trees that came in groups of 10 from
the Arbor Day Foundation. I just planted them as a group because I did not have the time or
ability to individually plant them all. It is survival of the fittest among the groupings. There is
no one willing to dig the hole or make cages but me. Plus, they always send the free trees during
a drought or after the ground freezes.
8 plants in/near the animal graveyard out back on 9/3/06:
Yellow ground cover of unknown species (P, C, T, F), Virginia Bluebells (P, C, T, F), yellow
wood poppy (P, C, T, F), hosta (P, C, T, F), liriope grass-like plant (P, C, T, F), azalea (S, C, M,
F), and two trumpet vines that are at least 6-years-old but under a foot high (vine, netted, S,
N).
2 plants on 11/5/06:
White butterfly bush (S, C, M, F) near the garage and a willow tree and butterfly bush that I
transplanted out of a pot that had seeded themselves. I kept those together (roots intertwined) in
case only one lived and planted it where water pools when it rains by the road out front.
So far, that is 92 cages or plants that I mulch individually. I have half a dozen or so left so my guess of 100 was about right! I still need to do the white butterfly bush and some smaller plants. My mulch has gone all fungusy. My father refuses to get more. It is getting cold. Time is running out!
Additional mulching records:
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
I took a bunch of photos of our woods and some with the deer on 1/6/07. The trees are dormant
but some of the photos may be of interest. The front of our land is the south end.
Woods - out front right, notice the grape
vines.
Woods - out front left.
Woods with deer - out front left.
Woods with deer - out front left.
Woods - out back left.
Here are some links regarding terrestrial gardening and plants.
Plants For a Future - includes a 7000 plant database of plants that include edible or medicinal parts.
The National Arbor Day Foundation
Garden Web - internet gardening community
National Gardening Association
Garden Messenger - a global gardening community
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Go to the main plant page (full index).
Go to the aquarium algae index.
Go to the pond algae index.
Go to the aquarium plant index.
Go to the pond plant index.
See the master index for the plant pages (quick index).
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