Do you have flowers?

[Tak]

I'm now having to water on the days it doesn't rain. To keep my new pretties alive. So bummed about our veggie garden. Even if I manage to dig out all the dirt. I'd still need to buy seeds and a couple bags of topsoil, then get my dad to rototill it. I'll still work on it. If I can't get it going this year, we'll try for next year. Need to prep the area either way. I did finally mow my yard. So here are my pretties.

Out front, a dwarf rhododendron with purple flowers by the mailbox. Red tulips, the daffodils and hyacinth are done already. Then there's two bushes of white peonies and one of magenta ones. The grapevine covers the trellis, with clematis coming up on the right, and our pretty little birch trees to shade the deck. I love having so little grass in the front.

Out back, our pretty little crab Apple with the willowy branches. Smells like love.

Verbanum, another lovely scent.

Two of our heather, green all year and blooming repeatedly from February through August.

The lilacs will be amazing.

Spirea, no flowers, just pleasing colorful foliage. This plant was half off dying and shriveled. Two years later it's three feet tall.

These pretty things come up every year. Purple

Lastly, my daphne. It was a rather expensive present and for two years it was doing awesome. Last fall a raccoon fell on it and I was sure that it would survive. I taped, yes taped, it together and it's alive. A little pancake shaped, but time should fix that. Meanwhile, another lovely scent.

Question. What is the purpose of a lawn?

 

[Skybreeze]

I want to live somewhere warm!!
It snowed here today and it’s freezing cold.

Thankfully the snow didn’t stick to the ground but I’m so ready for summer and warm weather again. Mostly just nice sunny days, being isolated in the house is really starting to play on my brain. The out doors would be so so so nice.

 

[IceCrystal]

Lawn? What is that? We have a natural garden and therefore no lawn. We've got a small herb & veggie patch, the rest is a garden for wildlife, with native flora (with a few exceptions), piles of dead wood and stone, offering protection to wildlife. The current difficulty we're facing is to be able to distinguish between weeds and desired flora, which isn't always easy and with some plants, it depends on the point of view.

In front of the house, we have a ruderal patch where ruderal plants that don't need lots of nutrients and like sunny, gravelly and dry spots grow. Then we have a patch of calcareous grassland, as these are rare here because of extensive farming, and a flower meadow. Only irises, daffodils, Muscari, Anemone, Pulsatilla and Aurinia saxatilis are in bloom at the moment or were blooming in March (the irises have already faded).

 

[tsukikakushi]

My lawn is there to feed my ducks & goose. It serves no other purpose.

@Tak so jealous of all your flowers! I'd love to put in some raised beds & do veggies & pretty things; maybe once the weather gets nicer. My gladiolas are starting to poke through the dirt so maybe soon.

 

[Tak]

I don't mind the little lawn out front. We have mostly clover or moss, not grass, anyway. It adds to the curb appeal. In the back, though, so much just open space. I want trees and undergrowth.

 

[IceCrystal]

I don't mind the little lawn out front. We have mostly clover or moss, not grass, anyway. It adds to the curb appeal. In the back, though, so much just open space. I want trees and undergrowth.

I recently read an article by a natural garden specialist and moss fan, he said "you shouldn't ask yourself how to get rid of the moss in your lawn, but how to get rid of the lawn in the moss!".

 

[Tak]

I recently read an article by a natural garden specialist and moss fan, he said "you shouldn't ask yourself how to get rid of the moss in your lawn, but how to get rid of the lawn in the moss!".

I love it! The only thing I fight here is BlackBerry bushes. Birds leave droppings that will sprout and flourish anywhere. They take over so fast. I don't mind wildlife, but we're in the city center. So just rats, raccoons, and opossum. I don't want my dog or kiddo hurt. The bunny we leave alone.

 

[IceCrystal]

Oh yes, blackberries are so tasty, but they overgrow other plants so fast! I haven't yet had a problem with blackberries in the garden, but I'm a mushroom hunter and I know quite a few spots that were rich with boletus that are now completely overgrown by blackberry plants.

We live in the countryside now (we used to live in the suburbs before) and the wildlife is quite rich here. Lots of various butterflies and wild bees, mice, hedgehogs, yellow-bellied toads, slow worms, various birds, a large bird of prey that regularly circles above our house...and there is a poisonous snake species that is said to have its habitat in the area. We improved our garden for wildlife last year, we now have two large dry stone walls that are supposed to offer shelter to reptiles and the gardeners also dug out a small pond for the yellow-bellied toads, as it's an endangered species. I haven't seen any toads yet, but hordes of wild bees, they seem to be attracted by the water.

 

[Sunkissed]

All of the Flowers were Beautiful

 

[Skybreeze]

You guys and all your lovely flowers! It’s killing me. This was us yesterday all day, and more today.

Picture is from my friend who literally live 5 minutes from me. She has like 15 huge gardens full of flowers normally...

 

[The Cleo Collector]

I don’t have a green thumb at all. I kill cactus I am so bad. So to all the ones who can grow my hats off to you.

 

[cannibalcow]

gorgeous pics, i would love to have a small little flowery area to toss some seed into. i'm not quite ready for a flowerbed and all the effort that comes into that. i'm afraid if i first start with some flowers it will all go downhill from there XD for now i'll excuse it with the boys would probably stamp all over them

 

[IceCrystal]

cannibalcow asked me for a few pics of our garden, including the newly planted apple and apricot tree, so here they are.

Apricot tree in the foreground, apple tree in the background to the left:

The meadow (or what it's supposed to be) in which we planted the two trees. I still don't believe the gardeners sowed flower seeds like they claimed, as mostly weeds are growing now. The alliums (the purple and white flower balls on a thick stem) were planted by us, the rest seems to be mostly weeds. Well, I asked a different gardener to have a look at it, I'm sure he'll be able to improve our supposed meadow.

tiny pond at one end of the big dry stone wall:

smaller dry stone wall:

Calcareous grassland behind the smaller dry stone wall. Looks shabby at the moment, as its mostly grass now, but the wild oregano will be in bloom soon, then it'll hopefully look a bit better before it's time for its first cut of the year:

Ruderal patch with alpine garden:

The edelweiss I bought last year looked dishevelled and puny (I only bought them because there weren't any better looking ones ,) so I'm very happy they grew back much more beautiful this year:

 

[Gingerbread]

What a beautiful mountain view you have @IceCrystal and lovely flowers!

 

[Sunkissed]

tiny pond at

View attachment 30271

The cat caught my eye. If it's not too personal, is the cat your pet, neighbors pet or stray cat?

Just wondering and you have a gorgeous place...

 

[IceCrystal]

Thank you both! This is one of our four cats, she turns sixteen in August, but still very fit and always "helping" me in the garden.

 

[evilbunnyfoofoo]

It's all very lovely. I struggle to have beautiful flowers because of the heat, bugs and flower munching ponies that live with me. One day. One day...

 

[IceCrystal]

Heh heh, could you please bring your ponies over when the meadow needs its next cut?

The heat is also a big problem here, most areas of the garden are exposed to sunlight the whole day, so everything dries out quickly, especially in these dryer-than-normal times we've had for a few years now.

 

[cannibalcow]

oh my gosh @IceCrystal so pretty! your place looks like heaven for bees! And people and cats

I have only heard of edelweiss never actually seen them, that is so cool! the little water rock area is gorgeous. what a dreamy garden

 

[IceCrystal]

Thank you cannibalcow! Yes, wild bees and bumblebees really seem to like our flowers, lizards are grateful for the stone walls, and the cats love to scramble over the the big stone wall, jumping between the levels. They certainly enjoy towering over me from above when I'm weeding, like queens overlooking their realm.