A trip to Gerber's nursery netted 4 new hydrangeas, a daylily, and a variegated Virginia Creeper.
I managed to plant the Strawberry Sundae hydrangea in the back where it will receive about 6 hours of sunlight daily, most of it afternoon sun. But this type of hydrangea thrives in full sun and will start out with white blossoms that turn rosy pink and then strawberry-red by the end of summer.
This is a photo of the two hydrangeas on the west side of the back yard. In the foreground is the new Strawberry Sundae, and nearest the fence is the Annabelle that was planted late last summer.
I plan on putting the 3 Limelight hydrangeas in the front yard on the perimeter. They will only receive filtered morning light, but I want to have as many self-maintaining shrubs as possible and I am willing to have fewer blossoms on these three. They should grow to about 6 feet tall and, when fully grown, will help to define the property limits more clearly. Right now, we look as if the wild is just dying to get in and overtake the yard.
They will go on the edge of the front yard, between the birch tree and where the boat trailer is currently parked.
Now, this next one is a challenge. We have one of those old ugly television antennaes rising up high above the roof. And the triangular structure calls out to be covered up with something. So I bought a variegated Virginia Creeper at Gerber's and put it right next to the tower. When I dug the hole, I realised that this thing is set on a huge base of concrete, so I don't know how much chance this climber has of growing but it is worth a try. For now, it is a pretty vine.
And Home Hardware had all their perennials 65% off so I picked up another brunnera. This one is Jack Frost and I put it in the front bed, replacing the struggling Lady's Mantle that was planted there.
I thought Lady's Mantle liked shade, but I have since learned that it thrives in dry sunny locations. So I moved it to the bed by the driveway that faces east, but actually gets more than just morning sun. It also gets a lot of afternoon sun as it is open on the south side as well. The petunias are loving it there, so perhaps the Lady's Mantle will too.
The daylily is very pretty and I put it in a bed in the front right next to another daylily. If one is thriving, the other one should too. This one is called Purple de Oro.
Before last year, I only really knew tiger lilies and one Stella d'or that tried to bloom in my shady Halifax yard. So discovering all the variations of daylilies is a great thing, and the ones with variegated colours are charming by far. Even though the flowers last only a day, there are so many on the plants that you can get a full month of blossoms if the plant is happy. They are pretty much maintenance-free as well, and that puts them at the top of my plant list.
I also cleaned up the edge on one of the beds in the front yard. It was getting taken over by grass and milkweeds and ferns, so a major weeding was in order. It didn't take that long to re-edge it, but it was very humid and I was so hot by the end of it.
There is so much that can be done with this large property. It really is a matter of how much energy I have and how to water these plants more efficiently. I figure I should invest in more shrubs as these won't require watering once they are established. The hydrangeas should only require pruning once a year to keep them looking nice. I currently have 11 hydrangeas in the garden and it could easily taken another 11 without feeling that I have overdone it.
And these past few days, we have had rain every day. The farmers are thankful as they were on the point of losing their corn crops, which in turn would affect milk production and the price of milk as corn is the primary feed for cattle in this part of the world. I selfishly thought "oh yeah, I don't have to water the garden". And I am very thankful for the reprieve.
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