We added some new perennial grasses to the garden this past season. There is a front triangle garden that was full of perennial bloomers like heliopsis, coreopsis, purple coneflower and lots of oriental and asiatic lilies.
It was a high maintenance garden. When I had my knee surgery in 2011 I knew I couldn’t keep up with the constant deadheading. And the lilies had those awful red lily beetles that meant “pick and squish” on a daily basis. With alot of sadness the lilies were dug up and those beetles never appeared again.
Here is a photo of the garden in 2009 with the lilies in full bloom. I sure do miss them. The thing is that they were never replaced and the garden seemed to go downhill from there. It was hard to keep up with the deadheading to keep a constant show of blooms. So early in the gardening season of 2012 I decided they all had to go. I belong to a Freecycle group and giving plants away is not a problem in our area. I had plenty of takers and could of given them away 10 times over. This is a north facing garden and across the road are farm fields that give us a wonderful view. That’s my rural mailbox on the other side of the road.
I love the feathery plumes and they are so interesting to watch in the wind. These will add winter interest to the garden. I’ve made sure there are leaves around the base as the garden center said that would help with protection over the winter months.
Here is a recent photo of the same garden with the three new miscanthus plants. There is also a new yucca plant that was a garden share from a friend. (lower right corner). The plants that remain from the previous garden are sedum, purple coneflower and a few globe allium. I’ve also added some new low daylilies and a transplant of another low grass we had in another part of the garden. This was taken before the leaves were added for a winter blanket. I’ll be watching this garden carefully next spring and looking for signs of growth.
Did youu plant anything new in your garden this year?
