Spring Time at Staffordshire Manor

It's been fun sitting back and watching what pops out of the ground here at Staffordshire Manor. This is our first spring here and you never know what'll pop up. It's heavy on the pink so I will have to rectify this in the future by bringing in some more colors.

This little baby is called Columbine. I really like it and the hummingbirds love it.

Lots of Iris is popping up

Pink Rhododendron - with a honey bee

I am a little disappointed by the amount of plant death we had over winter. Not only did it hit my figs hard, but there's a few dead established in-ground plants that died. We had more long cold snaps than we usually have and that left a few plants suffering for it. I'm on a quest to go through my fig inventory and figure out who lived to talk about it and who I need to replace.

A few of my young figs have fruit on them though :)

The pups all seem to be doing well. Health issues seem to be leveling out, Vi's rehab has come to an end and is basically back up to normal speed - though we still interrupt her heavy play sessions to give her a break. She's still a little lighter on that leg compared to the other and she stretches it out often, but other than that she seems to be back at her pre-surgery level. It still luxates and she still skips, but it's not as often.

She's happy to be back to munching on her brother

Tucker and Sadie also get along well. Tucker loves to play keep away with the ball, which happens to be Sadie's least favorite game. But they're getting their rhythm down and figuring out ways to make the game work for both of them which makes it more enjoyable for me in the end.

Sadie plays fetch and every once in a while I slip the ball to Tucker and Sadie gives chase. She eventually gets it back and brings it back to me to throw for a while, then back to Tucker. Repeat x 100.

And here's how Sadie gets her ball back

It works for them and they have a good time before coming in to crash for a bit. Loving the pups and still loving the new house despite the curve balls it keeps throwing at me - like poorly draining soil and rocks. Lots of rocks.

More puppy pics can be found here: http://niroha.smugmug.com/Other/2014/

Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangeas

In our landscape plans are spots for two hydrangeas. Violet and I went shopping together and she helped me pick out one called 'Vanilla Strawberry'. Vi has good taste in pretty plants.

Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangreas are beautiful, in my opinion. They are a new variety of hydrangea and the price tag offered a little bit of sticker shock compared to the other varieties available. The new stems come up a dark red color instead of the usual dark brown or black color. The flowers are cone shaped and start out white and then go to light pink then darker pink, giving you a nice rainbow of colors as the flowers mature.

Picture courtesy of Association of Professional Landscape Designers

We purchased two and put them in the ground. The two blue chairs pictured below will eventually have to be moved. These beauties are expected to get around 6' tall and 4' wide.

Wine Cork Garden Labels

I saw this idea somewhere on the internet and decided to run with it.  It basically involves wine corks as the label and bamboo skewers as the support that goes into the ground.

I managed to snag a bunch of corks from some friends and family who had been saving them up for various reasons. I had a bunch of bamboo skewers already so the whole thing was a no-brainer. Basically you write the plant label in permanent marker, then shove the cork on the sharp end of the skewer. Then go out and put them in your yard!

I put in the skewer at an angle so that the words would be looking upwards a little, since we'll be peering down on the plants and labels, so it'll make viewing the labels a little easier.

Dogwood Tree (Sadius Maximus Arborus): May destroy nearby vegetation and tennis balls.

(Ignore the huckleberry label. It ruins the joke)

Out in the yard - looks nice! The skewers can go in deep, holding it firmly in place.

Many thanks to Leanna and my Aunt Jeanene for giving up their wine corks :)

Let's Talk About My Yard

I want to talk about my back yard. I recently invited someone over to look at my back yard and tell me if my ideas sucked or not. Basically I want patio pavers to make a border around my yard, maybe 4.5-5' wide and I was going to put more raised planter boxes evenly spaced for a veggie garden. The lady I invited over thought this was an awful idea. Her point of view was purely aesthetic - it wouldnt look pretty. It wouldn't invite you out into your back yard. If we were to sell our home it probably wouldn't appeal to anyone else.

I mulled it over. I really thought about her suggestions and what I want from my back yard. I still want my paver border and veggie boxes but I decided that maybe incorporating her ideas into it would be a good idea. We have a lot of pretty things in our back yard and this might be a good way to keep them and do it in a healthy way (instead of putting them into containers).

So in the below pic, here's my thought: The upper two corners would be where my "pretty garden" would be. In the bottom right I have two beautiful hydrangeas and I do love them. I would be so sad to see them go. They do very well in the shade and the top right corner is very shaded. To those who don't know, the chain link fence is gone and replaced with a wood fence so that side of the fence gets less sun thanks to that fence. I think they would do well in that corner.

Edited to add - the below 'corners' measure 12' x 12'. I could extend it out to 12' x 15' but will probably keep it even at 12' x 12'

 Here's my drawing showing where the pretty area would be and where the pavers would be. Eventually these borders would meet up with the house where a large patio will eventually be built, once the majority of the house is remodeled. To do it now would be silly because the work being done would destroy the patio up by the house.

The below pic shows our Rose of Sharon. I would like this to go in the top left corner (see above) but this RoS is pretty big. I suppose we could cut it way down before transplanting, but either way it'll go back to being huge.

 

The only reason I even care about the amount of space the RoS and hydrangeas would take is because I do want other things planted back there. I have my serpentine blooming cherry tree and I would like to plant some (dwarf or semi dwarf) fruit trees like plum and fig. I also have some dwarf & semi dwarf Japanese Maples that would give some gorgeous color and texture back there.

I definitely would need someone to plan this out for me. Where to put the plants, how to arrange them, and they'd have a better sense for what I can put in there without over crowding. Anything else I have I think I'd just have to keep in a container (if I really love it) or find i a new home.

First Snow

Yesterday we saw the first signs of snow for the year. Just a little dusting, not even enough to cover the ground. I woke up this morning to enough to actually cover the ground! This is Violet's first exposure to snow and she was pretty excited to zip around in it. Sadie couldn't have cared less. She wanted to pee and run back inside where it is warm!

As I was looking out over my yard, I noticed my pineapple sage finally came into bloom. Perfect timing!

My hydrangea looks pretty in a snow cap

And last but not least, Princess Violet enjoying her first snow romp

Toad Lily

My Toad Lily is a fall bloomer. I love it :)

My yard is kinda pretty

All our hard work paid off. I figured I'd post this almost updated pic so when winter comes around I can go back and remember what was. Most of my yard is still similar but some of the veggies are starting to end their season, blooms are coming to an end, etc.

Poor Little Dude

I found this HUGE dragonfly in the grass the other day.  I took some pictures of it and then left it be thinking it would...you know...fly away. Well it didn't and the girls smooshed it :(

Serpentine Flowering Cherry

I love this tree. I can only imagine that this tree will continue to get more gorgeous as time goes on. I love the shape of it and in early spring it gives off some pretty white blossoms. Even after the blooms are spent I enjoy the tree very much. I can't wait for it to get huge!

And here are some more recent pics of this beauty after the blooms had past. I just love it.

My Asiatic Lily

I forgot to show off my beautiful lily! I may as well show off my other small containers as well.

Here is a picture from earlier this season showing off a Japanese Maple that I ended up giving away as a gift, some Hebes (4 actually), my asiatic Lily pre-bloom, an Azalea, and something else I can't remember the name of.

Various Flower Photos

Red Lace Leaf Weeping Variety Japanese Maple, Blue Variety Hosta, Blue Hydrangea, Purple lacecap Hydrangea

Blue Hydrangea

Purple Lacecap Hydrangea

Blue Variety Hosta

Red Heart Hibiscus

Daylily

Beautiful Red Rose

Rose Bush. The 1st pic shows Sadie enjoying herself in front of it

Random Pansy that found its way into my garden somehow

California Poppy

Blue flower whose name I cannot remember

 These last two pics were taken last April and was the first thing in my garden to wake up.
 Red Currant