At my last house, I had this great idea to take a series of photos of my garden from the same vantage point for an entire year. The year I chose to do this (2007) we ended up moving, but even though I only got seven photos, they turned out to be quite interesting. I'd expected to be interested in the documentation of the plantings, but I was happily surprised how educational they were for me. Here they are (click on any photo to enlarge):
January
Right off I notice that while there's nice forms from the dried maiden grass and sedum, they're totally carrying the border. As soon as they're gone, the border is going to be overly flat. And look at how cluttered it looks with the many garden art items, which are all too small. I was trying to solve the structure problem, I think, but it came out cluttered.
February
Clearly I knew instinctively that the grass and sedum were carrying the border, because during my early Spring clean-up, I didn't cut either of them back all the way, despite it clashing with the emerging bulbs. Wow, that does not look good to me now.
March:
Ah, Spring! The daffodils are in bloom. At this point, though, it would have been better to cut my losses and remove the dried grass and sedum and found some other way to provide height and structure to that middle section before the grass fills out.
April
Finally, the dead stuff is gone! Goodness, I've learned that lesson! :-) Though flat, I do still like this border. I like how the bright tulips are calling attention, so you don't notice the fading daff foliage while the other perennials fill in. And I like the contrast of the daff foliage to the other plants there. I always worry so much about the daffs leaving gaps, but this is working. I'll have to remember that.
May
Okay, now we've got irises, some Dalmation and some Siberian. Love irises. Still have that big ol' gappy look, in the middle there, though.
June
Finally! We have height! :-) It's hard to tell from the picture, but through the middle of summer this border had quite a few daylilies, orange and purple. This is where I discovered that I love purple and orange together. Who knew? I would have never known if I hadn't chucked the passalong ditch lilies in the back there for additional height.
August
Oh, that blasted grass! It's completely swamped the sedum. Which I love. I love the grass, too, but I don't think it was the best choice here. Looking back, I would have chosen something else, maybe one of my half-barrels of golden bamboo or a variegated elderberry. Either would have given the height while still maintaining some winter structure. And not swamping the sedum.
I do love the echinacea everywhere, though it's kind of hanging out there by itself. Now I would try to include another late-season plant to create more interest.
Wow, that was fun and educational (for me, anyway). I enjoyed that so much that I've decided to do a series this year, but this time I'm going to shoot the photos every week, starting tomorrow. In the morning I'll shoot my first photo of the year and post it. I think this is going to be fun!
Plants:
Variegated Maidengrass - Miscanthus sinensis 'Morning Light'
Showy Stonecrop - Sedum 'Matrona'
Daffodils - Narcissus 'King Alfred' and 'Salome'
Dalmation Iris - Iris pallida 'Aurea Variegata'
Sibirian Iris - Iris sibirica
Ditch Lilies - Hemerocallis fulva
Little Grapette Daylilies - Hemerocallis 'Little Grapette'
Golden Bamboo - Phyllostachys aurea
Variegated Elderberry - Sambucus nigra 'Marginata'
Purple Coneflower - Echinacea purpurea
