Fire Island and friends

BlueberryBundtcake - 6a/5b MA

6 years ago

I just had to share my Fire Island glowing in its pot:

(The pansies really complement it well!)

And here are some other hostas around the yard:

Blowing in the breeze as I was taking this picture ...

This one has nice pure white, slightly fragrant flowers. (Flower stalks are last year's, but they were helping with deer defense while it was coming up.) It's grown so nicely since I got it a couple years ago at a garden auction (for $7!).

Golden Tiara on the right, unknown that may be Blue Boy or Blue Cadet on the left. They've previously lived in pots and overwintered here, but they look so nice under this forsythia that they've moved in permanently.

We were so worried this one might not come back after an oil spill over the winter ... we cleaned it up as best we could (thank goodness there was snow at the time) but weren't sure how much might have penetrated ... it also got stepped on by one of the oil company twits just as pips were coming up initially. Good thing hostas are tough!

Only half weeded, but this is such a cute little shade garden with the toad house tucked in by the hosta and gingers.

Hoping the one towards the back will grow into its space; the closer one I don't expect to get very big. The columbine have been slowly naturalizing in this space, as well. The rocks go around a red maple, so there's a fair amount of competition between it and the lilacs, so nothing's getting anywhere fast. We were going to get rid of the metal chunks, but when they got set by the weed barrel to go to the dump, we decided they made better garden ornaments than junk.

Columbine along the woodland path. Mulched with leaves and naturalizing nicely.

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Comments (5)

nicholsworth Z6 Indianapolis
6 years ago
BlueberryBundtcake..thanks for the tour!..I see a woods in the background behind your fence..is your lot wooded?..I have a woodland garden and I love working in it..I have several Fire Islands..the spring color is gorgeous..I love your yellow and purple combination..I tried a couple of clearance columbines..they didn't make it..yours look great..I'm working on our stone edging..I told my husband it's a "safety feature"..it keeps the twits off the plants 😂..none of us here would but without a barrier people will step right on a plant..
BlueberryBundtcake - 6a/5b MA
Original Author
6 years ago
Yes, one corner is wooded. The woods extend along the stonewall behind the columbine the section is probably about 20' wide by 100-150' long.

These columbine get morning sun, since the stonewall is to their east and the neighbor doesn't have much to shade them, then the woods protect them through the day. We never deadhead them, since we're happy to have them increase in number.

There's a path going back into the woods, where we have a little bench area and lots of daffodils in addition to whatever wildflowers would like to grow. We've tried to remove the invasives and encourage the natives. Fortunately, the neighbor seems to have mostly taken the hint and no longer tosses all their branches and such over the wall.

Some people are just totally clueless as to what's a garden or a plant! We've had weedwackers chop up English ginger, iris, young dogwoods ... They managed to get feet into a bed to chop some of the iris; they only stopped when they got to the caged blueberry bushes. The weedwackers have been banished from the garden areas, and we're trying to convince them to stop bringing the weedwacker guy entirely. A contracter walked through a garden bed of daylilies just to get from point A to point B and basically stood in the little bed with the metal pieces, right next to the bunny crossing sign; I guess it wasn't enough of a hint.
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nicholsworth Z6 Indianapolis
6 years ago
I have only about 20 feet of east facing light..east sounds perfect for columbines..my sister had pretty columbines in front of her east facing house..even though I KNOW where my plants are even I appreciate a border to guide my steps..and it's useful when plants are dormant..here's a pic of just a portion of my backyard from the kitchen..shady isn't it?..
nicholsworth Z6 Indianapolis
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
oops..tapped the wrong pic..I used a filter for fun in the one above..here's the real look..
djacob Z6a SE WI
6 years ago
Blueberry, what a wonderful property! Love all the plantings you have and the metal.....for us dufuses that step on our own plants like me! 😳 My city lot is so filled up I am having trouble placing all my new ones. I love the creative mix of plants you have and FI looks great in that pot next to the purple pansies...... lovely!