Spring 2018 found me in eager anticipation for my flower garden. I was trying some new things since digging up all of my old salvias which had dominated the back garden worse than weeds. My sister had gifted me several dahlia flowers for Christmas 2017 and to my pleasure she also sent about ten more of her own tubers.
So on May 15th I planted all the dahlia tubers, and then like a ding dong, forgot to label them. I put four behind the back deck trellis.
I planted more morning glories back here again but I think I won't plant them again. They're completely out of control. I might try to buy another clematis. Anyway here is an in progress shot of how they all looked before they reached maturity.
And then the end of September. 💙💚💛💜 Perfection. I wish it could look like this all year long.
But alas, it looks like this most of the year (after I dug everything up on October 18th). 😭
I also bought two peonies for Mother's Day (the bushier plant on the bottom left) that did nothing above the ground this year but instead worked on their root system. I'm looking forward to Spring 2019 for those.
On May 15th I planted all my zinnia seeds.
Here are the zinnias halfway to maturity on July 22 after we returned from my cousin's wedding to my huge Linda's baby dahlias, which were the first to bloom.
Here are the zinnias strong and tall on the first day of school. I'm definitely planting them again. 😍
Back to May 15th in my front garden...
And a few months later! 😮
Zooming out a bit.
I love the antique bicycle Jerry got us last year. We had it hanging on the front of the deck for Christmas and will probably do that again though I love it better in the summer. Okay, I love everything better in the summer. 💚
My hydrangeas did fantastic for their second year in that spot. A little too well actually - the deer started eating them. I'm gonna have to prevent that next year.
Side view.
Love the happy purple faces of morning glories...but they are getting a bit out of hand.
Rewind to the back deck in May before I had many morning glories back there.
I love them their color before they grow on top of the trellis.
Their faces make me happy.
Rewind to when my first Linda's baby blooms.
I brought some to Kendra and Sarah one night.
Another project we...ahem, Terry, accomplished this summer was a little patio at the back gate. We have tried and tried to plant grass here but it just doesn't take. It's a giant mud hold and has only spread.
So Terry went and bought a few more flagstones and made another little patio.
This should keep Luna's little paws a little less muddy.
Okay, back to admiring my lovely flowers.
💙
Critchon Honey were next to the Linda's Babies and then again behind the trellis.
They were more peach when they first opened and yellow as they got older.
Linda's
They were so fun when they were just starting to open. So complex!
Joey Winnie was on the corner behind the trellis and was my favorite.
Maybe even cooler from the side.
I had two Koko Puffs, but one got choked out by the zinnias or something because after a few blooms it quit. The other was in the front bed and it did fantastic there. I got a lot of tubers off of this plant.
Joey Winnie again.
Critchon Honey.
Linda's Baby.
Linda's Baby and the zinnias. I just never got tired of them.
And then the frost came on October 5th. My sister's lived more than a month longer as of this writing. 😪😭👎
Beautiful sunset again.
This was the night before the frost. Loved how vivid these zinnias were.
Half Pint behind the trellis.
Joey Winnie.
And again.
LOVE.
Behind the Linda's were these Mystique. They were a lovely dark magenta shade at first but faded quickly.
Half Pint again.
Orange Puff I believe. This was at the other corner of the trellis.
Lots and lots of various bees this year.
Mystique again.
The back of a Linda's Baby.
Critchon.
I had a second very late to bloom Linda's Baby next to the unblooming peony.
Joey Winnie. 😍
Love that yellow in there.
Finally October 5th came and I had to clip all of my flowers. The first night of frost I had covered everything up but after the forecast showed no hope of bouncing back to nice temperatures like it often does, I gave up and bought everything in.
Goodbye sweet flowers!
Goodbye sweet garden!
Goodbye.
My Sweet Sensations Clematis hung in there through the frost for a little longer.
Pretty little delicate flowers.
I loved the golden light in the evenings.
One more night of warm fetch for Luna!
My pretties.
Neighbor's changing tree with my birthday mums.
A few nights later on October 10th we had our first snow!
And when it melted everything was dead, dead, dead. Except for that clematis.
On October 18th we had a really fine day so the kids and I spent the afternoon cleaning up the flower beds (they were actually super helpful - they're growing up!). This is an example of what it looks like to dig up a dahlia. They reproduce tubers so I can plant and share more dahlias next year!
I didn't know how to divide the tubers yet so I just packaged and labeled everything.
Until next year dahlias!
Back to empty flower beds.
And an empty back deck. Long live summer.
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