It is Christmastime again! And you know what that means, it it time to show you my gardens from this year. 2024 was the 9th year of gardening on our property, but that does not mean that things are safe. Gardening is always changing and the garden never looks exactly the same from one year to the next. So each year it is always something to see. I did not give any live garden tours this year, I was too busy.
Above is the backyard in winter, looking to the east towards the meadow garden. Winter time is often considered to be the down time for most gardeners. But we are usually busy in our minds, planning out the next season. Catalogs, books, Pinterest, and other blogs become our daily obsession on the way towards spring start up. Here in my backyard, I was planning on zinnias, luffas, and much more for the 2024 season. It is amazing what all I got done before the fall drought hit!
The Potager
In the vegetable garden, this is almost all that got done in 2024. After ripping out the pallet fence, I cleaned this area out and put in these mineral tubs, with the bottoms cut off. They are connected to the soil, and all the life in that soil. About half of these were planted to carrots and beets. The other half went into sweet potatoes. And it was the biggest harvest of sweet potatoes and carrots I have ever grown! Around the sides of the planters, on the ground, I planted perennials such as yarrow, echinacea, butterfly milkweed, and salvia.
The Daylily Bed
This garden area started off as just a kidney-bean shaped bed for daylilies and ornamental onion. And it does continue to be the daylily bed. But it is so much more than that too. Iris, ‘Jade Parade’ sandcherry, sedum, hydrangea ‘Vanilla Strawberry’, ninebark ‘Center Glow’, and so much more fill out the edges of this bed. To the left in the photo is the stock tank I got from Ted, in which we plant various herbs: basil, lavender, calendula, stevia, and rosemary. Next to it is a Corneliancherry Dogwood ‘Saffron Sentinel’, which has edible fruit in late summer.
The Sunny Cottage Garden
I was unable to keep this bed weeded this year. With all the extra time I spent at work, there were many times I did not feel up to weeding in the evening. But despite my lack of efforts, the flowers still performed well, especially the liatris and greyhead coneflower. The one chore I wanted to get done in this space was to re-mulch the path, but it never happened.
The Meadow Garden
The meadow garden continues to improve each season, and is the most impressive spot on the property. And I cannot always remember what I added into it! I know I threw some seed down this spring for various things, but I only vaguely recall planting the Obedient plant (pink flowers in center). Usually, I add plants that I find growing in areas where construction is coming. Or if I find a mutation, such as a pink or mauve colored New England Aster, or a white fall phlox. Also, across all the gardens this year, we counted 32 yellow garden spiders.
The Vine Tunnel
This was supposed to be a kids play area, with vines covering the sides to shade it. But it really did not get shaded enough, and it was very weedy. However, we did grow our best crop of luffas yet. And I got moonflowers! I already have a new plan for this space for 2025, so just wait to see what happens next year!
The Entry Garden
Also known as the Monarch Waystation, this garden features a variety of native plants and nativars around the flagpole. This season I planted summer annuals that are great for pollinators (gomphrena, bidens, verbena, alyssum, helenium) along the west side. Just like the Meadow Garden, this is another bed which is maturing without weeding. I will have to remove some of the seedling ‘Dallas Blues’ switchgrass, and some of the goldenrods, but overall it is a very full bed which has few issues. There is smooth sumac in there which I did not plant, that has to be cut off repeatedly.
Flowers and Pollinators
It was a great year for the flowers, and insects too in the garden. Above are just a few of the many flowers that bloomed so well for me. As for pollinators, I think it was a good year for the bees, wasps, and skipper butterflies, while being a down year for large butterflies and monarchs. In fact, I did not see more than 1 monarch butterfly before August 1st, and there never was a single monarch caterpillar in my garden in 2024. Otherwise though, I saw more species of bees and wasps, and spiders as well in the garden.
Conclusion
I love sharing my garden with all of you. In my garden, there are secrets which are yet to be revealed, about plant trials and insects. But some of these things you will see in the blog in 2025. SO I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Happy planting!
