Happy Monday GPODers! I love seeing familiar faces share updates from their gardens to the blog. I’ll never get tired of seeing a garden I’ve enjoyed before, and taking note of new additions as well as plants that delight year after year. However, there is something special about submissions that are the GPOD equivalent to: “long time listener, first time caller.” Today’s submission, from Kathy Rochon in Macomb, Michigan, is just that. While Kathy has been a part of the GPOD community for a while now, we’re just now getting a look at her lovely garden. Hello! My name is Kathy Rochon and I have been enjoying GPOD for many years, although this is my first submission. I garden in Macomb, Michigan. Attached are some photos from our yard, taken between May and September this year. I hope you enjoy them… We’re starting in spring, when Kathy’s bright pink peonies were in bloom and shoots of fresh greenery were just coming up through the mulch and marking the promise of more garden growth. Around the same time or just a bit later, Dutch irises (Iris × hollandica, Zone 6–9) burst into bloom with arching red valerian (Centranthus ruber, Zone 5–8) behind and a compact Spilled Wine® weigela (Weigela florida ‘Bokraspiwi’, Zone 4–8) adding another splash of color in this foundation planting. In a border along a pathway in Kathy’s garden, variegated Japanese water iris (Iris ensata ‘Variegata’, Zone 4–8) sets off a series of purple blooms with woodland sage (Salvia nemorosa, Zone 4–8). As summer started heating up, the garden got more and more vibrant. Angelina stonecrop (Sedum rupestre ‘Angelina’, Zone 6–9) is a bold border around orange butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa, Zone 3–9) and hardy purple geranium. Later in the season that butterfly weed has grown taller and covered itself in blooms while garden phlox (Phlox paniculata, Zone 4–8) and a clematis add a new punch of pink. A closer look Kathy’s clematis climbing all over that gorgeous trellis. This is potentially the Empress™ cultivar (Clematis ‘Evipo011’, Zone 4–9), which features those stunning light and dark pink stripes. Kathy has a mini coneflower collection that also erupts from this section of her garden in summer. The marvelous mix of colors keeps this planting exciting even with uniform shapes and textures. Kathy adds small touches of garden magic in every corner. This small corner next to an entryway gets a gorgeous pop of color with Golden Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’, Zone 5–9) and a mix of other colorful foliage plants with orange zinnias in a pot. As summer sailed on, the first signs of fall started emerging in the garden. This small ‘Karl Foerster’ feather reed grass (Calamagrostis × acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’, Zone 5–9) adds great vertical interest to this border bed next to purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea, Zone 3–8). Lastly, September gave Kathy the first touches of fall color in her garden, A gorgeous diervilla, potentially the cultivar Kodiak® Red (Diervilla splendens ‘G2X885411’, Zone 4–7), was beginning to transform while a bright pink rose bush was still putting on a spectacular performance. Thank you so much for sharing your gorgeous space with us, Kathy! Hopefully, your garden’s first appearance on the blog will not be that last and we’ll get to add you and your garden to our roster of familiar faces. If you’ve been enjoying the blog and haven’t yet shared your own garden photos, I hope Kathy encourages you to make this the season to spread some garden cheer. Much of North America is bracing for a particularly cold and snow-filled winter, so colorful garden scenes from warmer days will be needed now more than ever. To get your garden featured on Garden Photo of the Day, follow the directions below to submit photos via email, or send me a DM on Instagram: @agirlherdogandtheroad. We want to see YOUR garden! Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit! To submit, send 5–10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden. Have a mobile phone? Tag your photos on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter with #FineGardening! Do you receive the GPOD by email yet? Sign up here Fine Gardening Recommended Products Gardener's Log Book from NYBG Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. This weatherproof five-year log book includes the following features: · Sturdy waterproof cover to protect pages from rain and muddy soil · Lined pages and gridded paper for plotting beds · Five years of 12-month bloom and harvest grids for recording what you planted and when · Authoritative appendices on composting, pruning, pest and disease control, and container gardening · Useful reminders by season on fertilizing, mulching, and transplanting · Space for listing your favorite sources and suppliers. Lee Valley Mini Garden Shear Set Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. These shears have a distinctive finger rest that not only aids grip but allows greater freedom of movement than a conventional handle design. They have a durable powder-coat finish to resist rust and wear, and a simple clasp that locks the spring-action stainless-steel blades closed. 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By using the fabric plant covers over your plant, you can start the plant earlier in the spring and extending the growing season of your plants. How to Use the Plant Covers: you can cover the plant covers for freeze over your the plants loosely directly and then secure the plant frost blanket with soil, stones or staples. You can also support the floating row covers with a hoop, make enough room for plants to breath and grow. You could also cut the plant covers into different sizes for different purposes. Source link
