Frontyard Flowerbed in December

Winter has taken hold around here, as it was bound to do,  and the flowerbed has been cleaned out for the season.  While I did that, I planted a couple dozen bulbs.

I’ve a lot riding on the Spring of 2021: actual leadership in this nation, prospects of a vaccine to fight this horrible pandemic, the usual joys of longer days and warmth.  And now we’ll have some extra crocus, daffodil, and tulip flowers to admire.  That's happy!

Fading Hostas

The summer’s heat has begun to take a toll on my hosta plants, an August development that I am accustomed to.  But there is still beauty to be seen in the vivid colors of these leaves.

Even as they begin to fade, they make me happy.

Frontyard Flowerbed in August

Things are a tad overgrown here in the frontward flowerbed, the outcome of a hot July, plenty of rain., and less time for gardening than I would like.

If I’m being honest, I have a fondness for the jewelweed’s yellow flowers and when I do clean out this flowerbed later this month, I’ll let them stay around.  Summer green in abundance is a daily gift in this world gone mad and I am grateful for that blessing.  

Frontyard Flowerbed in July

 It’s the lush and overgrown season around the garden and that is just fine by me.  

I enjoy the morning dew cradled in the elephant ear hosta leaves.  I like the jewelweed showing off in between the hostas and the variegated leaves are especially pretty to me.

And how about those hosta blooms?

I spy this flowerbed from my perch on the front porch each morning and it never fails to make me happy.  In this strange Summer of pandemic anxiety, it is a reminder of the beauty to be found all around me.

January 1: Front Yard Flowerbed

In 2012, I made a picture of the my front-yard flowerbed on the east side of my house for first day of every month.  This year, I'm going to make a picture of the bushes and bulbs on the other side of the house, to the northwest, on the right side of this picture.

 Planted here are a rhododendron, a lilac tree, some evergreen bushes, and hidden against the porch is a small hydrangea.  The lot of them are supplemented by tulip and daffodil bulbs that I put down this fall.  Those that weren't eaten by the local wildlife will provide a hopeful set of spring blooms.

This bed is a work in progress and this year I will document those changes on the first of each month in 2013.  It's front yard flowerbed, part II.

June 1st: Front Yard Flowerbed

Spring started early around here and it's been a season of lovely warm days; the best spring in my memory, in fact.  I had my vegetable garden planted by the middle of April, which means that I am actively watching the rain totals and that too has been right on target.  The result is that everything in the yard has the fresh color and texture of new green.  The front yard flowerbed is no exception.

 The azaleas have finished blooming.  A few weeks ago, I put some gladioli bulbs down and those flowers will be the next color in the bed.  Come August, the rose-of-Sharon tree will bloom.  Making a picture of this patch of garden each month has made me mindful of how it changes, a nice metaphor for the progress of the calendar year.

May 1st: Front Yard Flowerbed

The careful observer will note that I like a lush and full garden.  In the case of this frontyard flowerbed, that means planting with an awareness of the timing of blooms.  Tulips and daffodils bloom early (the last of them are finishing up this week) and that's a good thing because the hostas at the front of the flowerbed have grown full and lush.

The rose of Sharon tree is starting to fill in and the azalea bushes are in their full glory this week. Things are lovely.

When we get home each afternoon, this is the first flowerbed that I see.  Often, there's a cat in the windowsill above to welcome us.  And life doesn't get much better than that.

April 1: Front Yard Flowerbed

This past week felt more like the usual spring weather in our neck of the woods, with cooler temperatures than the days we experienced earlier in the month.  We even enjoyed a few evenings of light spring rain and on Thursday there was a brief thunderstorm.  All over town, things are greening up.  My front yard flowerbed faces north, so it blooms a bit later in the season.  But everywhere I look, I see progress.  The yellow jonquils have bloomed.

The tulips are just a few steps behind.

The azalea bushes are coming along nicely.

The rose of Sharon tree is starting to green up.

The hostas are a lovely shade of green and are getting ready to unfurl.

This flowerbed is the first thing I see when I get home in the afternoon and each day I take a minute to check out the changes.  It's a welcome reminder to stop and enjoy the season.

February 1st: Front Yard Flowerbed

For two reasons, I'm finding it  a bit hard to believe that it's already February 1st.  The first reason is the usual one…the month of January just flew by me.  I'm still having to remember that it's 2012 when I write the date and yet February has arrived.

The other reason I'm confused is that the winter weather has felt more like a between-seasons set of days.  We've had a few frigid days, but for the most part it's been a mild winter.  Yesterday, the temperature rose to 60 degrees and JT changed into shorts as soon as he got home.  Today is a similarly warm winter day, and we've already achieved our forecast high of 61 degrees. 

All this warm weather has me a bit addled.  Yesterday, I found myself wondering if I should head outside and plant some seeds for a spring herb crop.  My head knows that we likely have some cold days ahead but my gardener's heart is unrealistically excited.  And as the peeping hosta and flower bulbs in the front yard flowerbed reveal, I'm not alone.

I've no doubt that winter still has some cold and snow in store for us.  But for now, the garden and I live in spring hope.

January 1: Frontyard Flowerbed

For the last few years, I've started each month with a photo of something in my garden.  It's a welcome opportunity to mark the changing of the seasons and time.  Last year, I chose to write about my backyard clematis vine, though the venture was unsuccessful, largely because of a brief dry spell during which I dropped the ball and didn't get the plant enough water.  The clematis and I have worked out our issues and things should be better next year, but the vine still deserves a year off.  This year, I'm going to make a monthly photo of the flower bed on the northeast  side of my front years.  The bed features quite a few plants.  There is a rose of Sharon tree.

There are two azalea bushes and a juniper.

There is plenty of ivy and some hostas live there as well.  In addition, it's a bed where I slip in some daffodil and tulip bulbs each fall.

It was unseasonably warm today, so I planted the last of my spring bulbs, a fitting tribute to the first day of the new year.