Friday, January 6, 2017

Perennial Slope Garden Through the Seasons

The last couple years have been spent removing 3 ft tall weeds from the slope below the sport court. I have slowly been clearly it and replacing with perennials. Sometimes the plants work, sometimes not so much and I shift things about. As it is, I have snapped pics of all 4 seasons, which turns out, is pretty neat.

So, here is Spring and as you can see, there are many iris on this slope on the right. I split a 30 year old declining iris bed up and moved several of them to this spot:


The iris love it here and are really making a comeback. I think they just needed split up:


There are also species tulips I planted here. The rabbits don't seem to bother these like they do the hybrids:


Closer. These are Tulipa Sylvestris:


I think these were Tulipa Clusiana Cynthia:


And Byzantine glads. Yep, these are the real deal:



Same slope in the Summer. Crocosmia, Guara, Lavender, Jerusalem sage, California poppies, several varieties of Penstemon, Achillea, and many others fill this space. And look at the rampant grape vines! Glorious! Beyond the Crocosmia and escaping the camera shot are 2 Gooseberry shrubs and maybe 11 or 12 Lingonberry shrubs that are really starting to take off. I'm really excited about those.


A closer look at the slope plantings and a garden lantern surrounded by OxEye daisies and California poppies:


Nasturtiums and California poppies:



And here we are in the Autumn. Goodness, I do so love having real seasons again! Here, the grape vines are turning fabulous colors, the blue gray of the Lavender really stands out, Guara foliage turns more reddish as the nights cool way down, and the huge fuzzy leaves of the Jerusalem sage add texture:


Winter! Snow blankets the perennials with the Achillea and Jerusalem seed heads providing texture to the winter garden.


I have expanded this bed even further along the slope this year adding shrub roses, more guara, more herbs, and other interesting plants. I can't wait until spring so I can watch the slope fill in the rest of the way.

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