Ahhh, the garden. It is fun to tend our little flower garden and observe just how different one year is to the next. Blame it on the subtle variations in the weather. A warm, but cool, spring allows the hyacinths to flourish, while a quick and heavy thunderstorm will weigh down the peonies one night and knock their petals right off the next {same goes for the poor poppies}. Have a baby and lilac season comes and goes before you even notice! Go away during a rainy warm week, and your feeble lawnmower can't cut a path through the yard. Toss a few dried flowers into the bed one fall and with the right conditions you have more Queen Anne's Lace than you ever thought possible.
Between our little road trip and the spring thunderstorms, we only enjoyed one vase of peonies this year ::
But I'm jumping ahead, it was a killer year for the hyacinths in our yard {so much more stunning, fragrant, and long-lasting than past years}::
Going all the way back to hyacinth season, I have a backlog of yard photos to share. In previous years, I would have posted a few garden updates by now, instead this provides the perfect opportunity to post side-by-side updates of the flower beds as they've filled in.
The Mailbox Bed {April to the left and June to the right}::
This is where all of our lavender grows. I had so much success drying the lavender last year and making sachets that I'm excited to plan another project for this year's batch. After the daffodils and graph hyacinths in April's bed fade, they are replaced by lamb's ear, the blooming lavender, and asters come fall.
The Weeping Cherry Bed {April followed by June}::
The bed under the weeping cherry begins with daffodils in April, and then is quickly transformed into a lush bed of ferns, hostas, hardy geraniums, bleeding hearts, tiny pink poppies, and queen anne's lace.
The Lamppost Bed {April followed by June}::
This flowerbed is right in front of our porch. In April it's full of daffodils, tulips, and those fragrant hyacinths. May brings the poppies. Cone flowers and butterfly weed bloom in June, July and August, and the asters arrive after that. It was so sad to realize that the poppies were past their prime by the time we got home from our trip, but the pods and remaining petals were beautiful none the less ::
There's a border of trees between our property and our neighbor's. At the end of that border is a small space with flowers. I don't remember exactly what flowers were in the bed two years ago, definitely some little pink poppies, California poppies, and irises. Last year a few Queen Anne's Lace joined the bed, and it was those seeds that I scattered like crazy last fall. All of the green in the photo below? I can't wait for that explosion of lace to bloom!
The Sunny Side of the House {April to the left, June to the right}::
After the daffodils fade, these beds are bursting with a variety lilies, bee balm of cone flowers, black-eyed susans, and butterfly weed among others. Clemantis climb up and over the deck railing. Asters and autumn joy sedum arrive in the fall; although I've been neglectful when it comes to clearing out the taller flowers around the sedum, as a result we never get the lush blooms we should.
This bed continues right around to the back yard ::
Here it gets more shade and is full of bleeding hearts, herbaceous peonies, and a variety of lilies. directly across from the house are a couple of birch trees in a flower bed.
The Birch Beds {May to the left, June to the right}::
Following a the same trend, this bed is full of daffodils and tulips in early spring. I'm always surprised at our tulip luck considering the number of rabbits grazing in our yard {they like the tender tulip shoots}. I showed you a variety of tulips in this post two years ago, but realized that this year their show was even more brilliant ::
The Shade Bed {May to the left and June to the right}::
These beds are full of Lily of the Valley, Forget Me Nots, tree and herbaceous peonies, lilies, and others.
It's amazing to look at these photos and see just how quickly everything fills in each spring. In the three years that we've been in this house, I've watched many of these plants have multiplied in numbers, and I've realized that it's a blessing and a curse. A blessing because, obviously, it's keeping the beds full, a curse because I'm bad at thinning, and I've seen some of the less vigorous plants suffer. But worry not, I have a plan! The Saxis house needs a garden, and I'm hoping that we can successfully transplant a variety of our plants {ferns, bleeding hearts, black-eyed susans, bee balm, lily of the valley, etc.}. From what I understand, transplanting will be more successful if it's done in the spring or fall when they aren't in flower. I'm hoping to try my hand at transplanting this fall, looking for successful spring growth next year.
But for now I have my energy focused on filling our deck pots. The flowers are in, and I'm sticking with sweet potato vine and nasturtiums. This combination has worked well for us the past couple of years, producing lush growth that cascades over the sides of the pots::
We have mint in big pots on the deck {mojito season is right around the corner!}. More herbs will go in the flower box in the kitchen window, and I just placed my order for plants to refill our water garden.
Between our little road trip and the spring thunderstorms, we only enjoyed one vase of peonies this year ::
But I'm jumping ahead, it was a killer year for the hyacinths in our yard {so much more stunning, fragrant, and long-lasting than past years}::
Going all the way back to hyacinth season, I have a backlog of yard photos to share. In previous years, I would have posted a few garden updates by now, instead this provides the perfect opportunity to post side-by-side updates of the flower beds as they've filled in.
The Mailbox Bed {April to the left and June to the right}::
 |  |
This is where all of our lavender grows. I had so much success drying the lavender last year and making sachets that I'm excited to plan another project for this year's batch. After the daffodils and graph hyacinths in April's bed fade, they are replaced by lamb's ear, the blooming lavender, and asters come fall.
The Weeping Cherry Bed {April followed by June}::
The bed under the weeping cherry begins with daffodils in April, and then is quickly transformed into a lush bed of ferns, hostas, hardy geraniums, bleeding hearts, tiny pink poppies, and queen anne's lace.
The Lamppost Bed {April followed by June}::
This flowerbed is right in front of our porch. In April it's full of daffodils, tulips, and those fragrant hyacinths. May brings the poppies. Cone flowers and butterfly weed bloom in June, July and August, and the asters arrive after that. It was so sad to realize that the poppies were past their prime by the time we got home from our trip, but the pods and remaining petals were beautiful none the less ::
There's a border of trees between our property and our neighbor's. At the end of that border is a small space with flowers. I don't remember exactly what flowers were in the bed two years ago, definitely some little pink poppies, California poppies, and irises. Last year a few Queen Anne's Lace joined the bed, and it was those seeds that I scattered like crazy last fall. All of the green in the photo below? I can't wait for that explosion of lace to bloom!
The Sunny Side of the House {April to the left, June to the right}::
 |
 |
After the daffodils fade, these beds are bursting with a variety lilies, bee balm of cone flowers, black-eyed susans, and butterfly weed among others. Clemantis climb up and over the deck railing. Asters and autumn joy sedum arrive in the fall; although I've been neglectful when it comes to clearing out the taller flowers around the sedum, as a result we never get the lush blooms we should.
This bed continues right around to the back yard ::
Here it gets more shade and is full of bleeding hearts, herbaceous peonies, and a variety of lilies. directly across from the house are a couple of birch trees in a flower bed.
The Birch Beds {May to the left, June to the right}::
 |
 |
Following a the same trend, this bed is full of daffodils and tulips in early spring. I'm always surprised at our tulip luck considering the number of rabbits grazing in our yard {they like the tender tulip shoots}. I showed you a variety of tulips in this post two years ago, but realized that this year their show was even more brilliant ::
The Shade Bed {May to the left and June to the right}::
 |  |
These beds are full of Lily of the Valley, Forget Me Nots, tree and herbaceous peonies, lilies, and others.
It's amazing to look at these photos and see just how quickly everything fills in each spring. In the three years that we've been in this house, I've watched many of these plants have multiplied in numbers, and I've realized that it's a blessing and a curse. A blessing because, obviously, it's keeping the beds full, a curse because I'm bad at thinning, and I've seen some of the less vigorous plants suffer. But worry not, I have a plan! The Saxis house needs a garden, and I'm hoping that we can successfully transplant a variety of our plants {ferns, bleeding hearts, black-eyed susans, bee balm, lily of the valley, etc.}. From what I understand, transplanting will be more successful if it's done in the spring or fall when they aren't in flower. I'm hoping to try my hand at transplanting this fall, looking for successful spring growth next year.
But for now I have my energy focused on filling our deck pots. The flowers are in, and I'm sticking with sweet potato vine and nasturtiums. This combination has worked well for us the past couple of years, producing lush growth that cascades over the sides of the pots::
We have mint in big pots on the deck {mojito season is right around the corner!}. More herbs will go in the flower box in the kitchen window, and I just placed my order for plants to refill our water garden.
