Very neat idea! Count me in!

I'd love to add my own experience + photos since I've now lived here since 2005 and the garden beds are significantly different than the garden was when I moved here. My little green acre had 3 evergreen, pyramid-shaped shrubs either side of the front door when I moved to this address. There were also two rectangular, weed-choked beds up near the road. Those are gone as are the shrubs. I now have multiple garden beds with hard-scaping and some unusual ornaments (read, "gifts" from my offspring). They're not the usual garden features but then my kids aren't usual either. I also gave each garden bed a name that seemed relevant to me.

I stumbled upon the winter sowing forum in (I think) 2006 or thereabouts so my garden beds are chock-full of WS perennials & shrubs. My first year, I winter sowed 500+ milk jugs. My successes are now planted in my various beds. My failures were few.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to post photos since Houzz changed things so even though I took lots of pictures as the garden beds evolved I don't know if I can post them.

I would love to see this! I love seeing wide garden shots so you can see from year to year how things fill and change, season by season would be even better.

Garden_HO_Z5 - a watering tip: save up plastic/gallon milk or jiuce jugs, poke a hole an inch from the bottom with an ice pick, fill the container with water & set it up close at the base of your plants. The water comes out gently and waters the plant. Once the water falls below the pinhole, the remaining water will keep the container from blowing around/away when the wind blows. Plants need water for their roots, not their foliage or blooms.

I'm experiencing a severe drought where I am but my perennials are thriving. I don't supply supplemental water other than gallon milk jugs filled with water for things like astilbe and newly planted perennials.

I use flat rocks to level any jugs I set on sloping garden beds.

That sounds great, but do you have a couple thousand jugs to spare? Lol

This is just one of my beds.....

I normally don't water, but I've planted lots of new perennials this year, so it's a must. Water the plants, water my feet lol....only way to keep cool in this heat!

Thanks very much posting that sequence of pictures GardenHo. (I would imagine that the choice of plants for a slope would need to be different than for "horizontal" gardens.)

Thanks, GH. I love seeing that sequence, and hope that others will start taking photos that show transitions, though I don't mind if they are less frequent. I mostly haven't been organized enough to take such regular photos; mine are usually several weeks to a month apart. I don't think I've seen such a large over-view of any of your beds before - that is really lovely. I find maintaining plantings on a slope is more difficult than in a flat garden and only the toughest thrive there, especially since I only rarely water. My sympathies on having new plants in a drought! So far I haven't planted some of my new perennials because it's been hot and dry, but it's cooler right now and we have had 1.25" of rain this week, more than the rest of the previous month, so now is probably a good time to get to work here. I hope that you get some rain soon; if you can get new plants through the summer, they should come back strongly next year.

If folks want to post now, great, but I am also fine with starting a new thread mid-January when we are all missing the opportunity to garden. I think depending on location, the sequence will look quite different, since the ones 'Mara posted on the Can we see the whole garden? thread show the gardens in spring glory and now as a much more quiet time, while for many gardeners in cooler or wetter zones, the gardens are now blooming well.

Gardenweed, do you have your photos stored somewhere on your harddrive or only on a photo hosting site? If you send me GW mail, I am happy to help you post either photos directly or links to your photos so you can share.

NHBabs - I'm a neighbor in north central CT. My photos are digital and stored on my laptop in folders sorted by date assigned automatically when they were downloaded. I'm also grateful for any help with posting photos.

Gardenweed, Click on my name in one of my postings to get my page, and then click on the message button to send me a message. That way I can send directions but also some specific instructions depending on what you see. For now, what do you see when you click on the photo button below the box for input into a thread? You should see the folders on your hard drive pop up, and if you click on them you can navigate to where the photos are stored.

If you'd rather use the Test forum, rather than email, I'll move over there with you. You can start a new thread there and I'll help as you play around.

INSPIRATION, nudge nudge..every year I think; "This year I will take a picture each week from the same spot and end up with a time lapse of the year." Here's hoping this actually gets me TO DO IT! Now with digital photography there is not reason not to!!

March

July

Ok, I am going to try to play along with what I have so far. Here is my main perennial bed, about 3 years old. Sunny on the left (service berry end) trending to shady on the right side.

This spring I realized I need more spring in my bed! I don't have any bulbs or spring ephemerals and most of my plants are summer bloomers. I don't usually cut much back in the fall (I get lazy) but my goal this year is to clean up and plant a bunch of bulbs to change that for next year. I do struggle with figuring out how to place it all but maybe I just need to start planting and not think about it too much.

I think I will also have a problem with few if any fall bloomers. Taking photos like this to watch the progression really helps illustrate the trouble spots, doesn't it? Fantastic idea for a thread - thanks for starting it.

GardenHo - what is the yellow spring flowering plant? Your garden is gorgeous!

It just struck me this could also lead to a discussion (winter or otherwise) about garden design & purpose. My own was to sustain pollinators--bees, butterflies & hummingbirds. It was my Mom's intent as well but she didn't have the resources (i.e., Internet) as I do so I've worked to achieve what I expect she wanted to grow. She was really disappointed she "couldn't" grow clematis. Not long after I moved in I discovered the one she'd planted was thriving & blooming but was choked with weeds. I started planting them soon after she passed. All of them are thriving & blooming.

Re: design - all the garden beds here were either square or rectangular. I redesigned them with curved edges, added ornamental grasses, trees and a wider variety of perennials.

The north side of my garden was lawn. Yawn. The grass is gone. I wanted it gone so my neighbor didn't have to continue to mow it. It's now a part shade bed with hosta, brunnera, hydrangea, daylilies, daphne, hardy geranium, black snakeroot, columbine, lady's mantle, among others.

I drove a ways to a reputable hosta grower and carefully selected varieties that fit my garden plan. Fast forward and they've now ALL supersized themselves, far exceeding the real estate I apportioned them. The concrete walkway/path that curves along the edge of the bed is now blocked.

Guess the lesson is, go ahead and plan, but be prepared when the plants don't fit after a few seasons.

Thank you for the nice complements.

Barb yes the slope is challenging and surprisingly, the plants do pretty good....Considering there is a thirsty maple 4-5 feet away.

Rain is in the forecast this week. I'm praying it actually makes it here this time.

Gumper the yellow flower is a Sundrop (Oenothera fruticosa). Such a cheerful color and one of my favorites. Your garden is lovely! Not sure of your zone, but for fall I get the most color from Mums, asters, anemones, and some shrubs.....

the yellow flower is a Sundrop (Oenothera fruticosa).

I just bought a couple yesterday. I am a sucker for that so bright yellow.

I've divided mine several times :)