Autumn Garden Tour Extravaganza 2010

I had to make my podunk garden sound more impressive. Did that do the trick?



Decided to take a walk through my yard and take some garden pictures this morning, just before sunrise.

Because the name at the top says 'Crystal Coast Gardener' not 'Crystal Coast Liar Who Rambles About Other Shit When She Promised You Gardening'. Right?

I hauled myself out of bed and headed straight out there before I could procrastinate. Usually when I get the notion to take garden pictures, it's midday, and the sun is blazing, and the pictures look like crap.

This time, the pictures still look like crap, but at least there isn't all that annoying glare.

It's five days away from the official start of fall. Time for turkey. Time for pumpkins!



No, not those Pumpkins! Sillies.

These ones!



That's better. :)

My gardens look nice for about 2 seconds in the spring. They look horrible for 4 months in the sweltering summer heat. And then they look good again towards the beginning of fall, and stay that way till Christmas usually.


These are from my back garden.



All of the vincas you see? I didn't plant them. Those things reseed like mofos, they're all offspring from last year's planting. Because I was cheap this year, and they LOVE the heat of the west side of my house, I let a lot of them just grow.



This is the first year I planted purple gomphrena. Those bright globes have been delighting me constantly since springtime. I'll be planting them again next year. Ditto on the salvia.



Osteospermum IS something I plant every year. They fill in the garden nicely. Usually I plant the 'spoon' variety. This year I opted for the white with a purple center.



Moving on through the backyard...


The other thing that has perked up with the cooler temps and the sun not being so high in the sky is my okame cherry tree.

It stayed bald or burnt most of the summer. I planted it in full sun, hoping that it wouldn't be too much for the tree in NC, but it was hard on it. And hard on my water bill. But it's looking better right now. Especially with that beautiful autumn-coloured tree across the cotton-field as a backdrop.



I'm hoping that it will build up some tolerance to the sun as the years pass, if I just water it enough lol. Like my 'Ann' magnolia did.

This is the best year 'Ann' has had, despite the nasty hot temps. I also planted it in too much sun. It got crispy and bald three years in a row.

This year I've barely watered it and it stayed nice throughout the summer. No leaf loss, and it stayed completely green until the last couple of weeks. Had a lot of flowers on it this spring.



You're also looking at my project for next spring.

Here's another view.



I really want to find something that will hide the A/C unit and the gas can. Some sort of latticed screening maybe. That crap is on the south side of my house, and very visible to the road. Bleah.

Also on the south side...

My clematis has squeezed out a second flush of blooms. If you can call two blooms a 'flush'. :)



And my butterfly bush is looking the best it has looked all summer. That thing's kind of been a bitch to take care of. It looks all mangy at the bottom if you let it go.



Finally, the front of my house, which faces east. The only place I have shady enough to plant anything that needs part shade.



My 'DD Blanchard' magnolia is doing well. This is the first year I had to actively water it since I planted it, it was nearly leafless by the end of June. It's bounced back and is now a healthy 9 feet tall. When we planted it four years ago, it was 4 foot 2. We planted it on our first wedding anniversary, so I have a very soft spot in my heart for this tree.



It only had one flower on it at the end of May (when it is supposed to bloom), but I got 5 more last month as a surprise second blooming.



This is my front garden.

My rosebush is all blackspotty, but this is the most leaves and blooms it's had in the fall since I first planted it. Usually it's bald and yellow by now. I'd dig it out, but it's my baby. And it looks so nice in May...



Next to that are my toad lilies. They're just starting to bloom.



Nothing much else is in that garden besides my azalea. I'm planning on planting some stuff in there in the next couple of weeks...some petunias or pansies or something that will last through Christmas.




There is some colour in my front porch garden, although things are starting to look kinda ratty. Which is awesome since it faces the street :P

These pics don't look too bad.





My elephant ears look terrible. Oh well.



My potted coleus looks a little less sexy than it did a couple of months ago, but with a little makeup it would look fine.

The geranium needs a shock to the heart. It's been growing for two years though, maybe it's a little tired.



And I recently bought my first Japanese maple!!

My cheap ass found one on clearance at Lowe's garden center a few weeks ago. I paid a whopping $12 for it. They always leave these things in too much sun (pot calling the kettle black), and they look like crap by the end of August. I gave it some shade and it's popping out a couple of leaves. it's still on my porch because I can't figure out where I'm going to plant it. :(

For some reason the camera wouldn't focus properly on the new leaves unless my feet were in the picture. Sorry.



The 'Red Beauty' holly is sporting some shiny red berries! I highly recommend these.

They have such a nice upright, compact habit. And they were bred to withstand our southeast coastal conditions.



One of my neighbours must have a holly, because this is the only one I have and it still gets berries.

I'm starting to move in the autumn plants as well.

Orange mums.


Gaillardia. They look kinda sad though.



Being a gardener, you would think that spring would be my favourite season.

Not so! I love fall. I love the leaves turning. The cooler temps are refreshing after the heat of the summer. I love eating all the delicious food.

And in MY house, we get two thanksgivings. One in October for the Canadian, and one in November for the American.

This song makes me feel fall-y.