I was looking back at photographs of the past year in the garden and found these shots of the front sidewalk garden. When the weather is cold and rainy outside it’s nice to look back sometimes and see how things were where they were in bloom.
The sidewalk skirts the garage portion of our house and takes you up to the front porch (beginning sidewalk garden layout). While walking along the front sidewalk in September you would have passed by the red mums and our endlessly blooming, no not hydrangea, ‘Oranges & Lemons’ gaillardia! I can’t say enough good things about gaillardia, which is also known as a blanket flower. Our butterfly magnet bloomed until the end of the growing season. Even after the blooming was done the seedheads continued to provide us with fun little globes to look at. The gaillardia is still green, not all of it, but most of it.
You would also pass by the sedum garden on the right. You can barely see it in the picture but it’s there. The ‘Blue Spruce’ sedum and a little ‘Autumn Joy’ are peaking out for their photos. Directly oppisite of the sedum garden is a garden with liriope and daylilies. None of the daylilies bloomed last year. It was probably becaus ethey came in a box and were very young plants. I’m expecting an awesome show next year. Let’s just hope I’m not disappointed. I mentioned this little garden spot once before in a post of its own but blogger got hungry and ate my homework.
While on your trip down the sidewalk you might see the spikey silver green foliage of the irises. Or the grassy foliage of the daylilies. To the left you would see the Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia). To say that Russian Sage is a power bloomer would be putting it mildly! These drought tolerant and sun loving perennials bloomed all summer and well into the fall. The pollinators loved them. I may stick a couple Russian sages in my self seeding garden. That may be cheating, but who cares, they look great and I can propagate them over and over again. (Actually it may not be cheating since they can provide seedlings.)
If you look close enough you can see the salvias (Salvia nemorosa) I propagated in spring blooming. These salvias began small but managed to display nice bloom stalks by late summer. On the far end of the sidewalk the rosemary was doing well as an edible ornamental while the butterfly bush was peaking out from beside the front porch.
Hi … I love gardening too! But sometimes it can be a real pain. Especially at the beginning of the year when work load is mounting at the office. Hmm …
Wow that is something to look back on and share! Very pretty, love the fact that you combine all types of flowers, I love that cottage look!
What a big difference! I can’t wait to see it this year. You have done so much in such a short time.
Hi Dave,
It’s a lovely garden Dave! I especially like the Gail-lardias! Which ought to reseed nicely. The rain is coming down in typically TN fashion ~~all at once! So much for the mulch I added.
The dandelions are perfect…the early bees need nectar, so you can comfort yourself with providing them with this important nutrient;-)
gail
You have created a botanically interesting walk to the front door. I need to do this so folks will be enticed to the front door instead of the back.
Donna
A lovely walk!
Ahhh! Sweet memories! I love the Gaillardia! I sowed quite a lot of ’em months before and lost them all to the heavy rain. 🙁 I intend to try them again this year.
I have a sedum garden by our front door, too! It faces west and gets a lot of hot sun. I’ve found this to be the only thing that really thrives there.
I need to take a look back at 2008 during the times when it was sunny, warm, and green. I’m just too winter weary already! I enjoyed looking at your front garden!
Hi Dave,
Your walkway garden is gorgeous. I have azaleas there, but as the spring goes on, that area is mostly shady so I put impatiens in between the bushes for the summer, which looks nice. That of course, is just temporary since they are annuals. I love a cottage garden feel, and I have some of the same plants as you over next to my garage, which gets more sun.
I can’t wait for spring to get out there again…and I know you can’t either!
Jan
You’ve inspired me to redo my front yard. I love the sedums and have the same ones in my garden.
Your sidewalk garden is beautiful Dave! I thought about including mine in the tranformation of the front foundation bed.
Well goodness, you have done a remarkable job and I bet the blisters to boot. I’m guessing too that you will have a pretty showing this year. We’ve had some glorious rain to set those hopes high.
Your pictures are awesome and love the foggy one for the peace it tells.
Dave, Your sidewalk garden is beautiful, and I agree it’s nice to look back at summer blooms when it’s freezing outside. I planted some “Oranges and Lemons” gaillardia for the first time this year, too, and they exceeded my expectations. When the catalog said they were prolific bloomers, it wasn’t kidding!