Year End Wrap Up 2007

Jumping on the blogger bandwagon, wanting to be part of the group, now presenting the Faire Garden year end wrap up 2007. Beginning with January, hey, this doesn’t look very gardeny! A college football bowl game in Florida was this month’s big event. Our team even won.

Oh boy! Come February a sunny space to plant vegetables was prepared after the very old and very deep rooted Japanese privet hedge was removed. Between the arborvitae and chamaecyparis (now there’s a mouthful) with Ferngully I standing guard at the end of the bed, vegetables grew large and well. Well, the green beans, peppers and tomatoes anyway. It was the best tomato year ever.

By the time March rolls around things are starting to pop. Journal entry, get more of these tulips next fall, tulipa greigii ‘Zampa Parrot’. The leaves alone are reason to grow it. Shown with species miniature daffodil, narcissus canaliculatus and violas.

Bad news April. Just as the garden was starting its biggest show a sudden and sustained drop in temperature put a halt to all that beauty. Azalea ‘ Girard’s Rose’, planted en masse in one third of the front yard went from hot pink to burnt toast.

May brings hope. Japanese maple ‘Garnet’ looks like it is going to re-leaf. Japanese painted fern was unscathed. Note the hosta ‘White feather’ behind. The new leaves emerged pure ivory. It turned green over the summer. It will be interesting to see if the coming spring’s new growth will be this white.

By June there is still no new growth on the Japanese maple ‘Crimson Queen’. It is replaced with sambucus ‘Black Lace’.

With a continued drought into July it is decided to go xeric. A partial failure in trough making, this was supposed to be a deep round vessel. Instead it became a shallow home for agave parrasana, euphorbia ‘Diamond Frost’, and thymus ‘Hi Ho Silver’. Dichondra, silver ponyfoot in front. This is wintering over behind the shower door by the back of the house. So far there is still life.

August sees a decline in blooms, still no rain, but the lilium ‘Stargazer’ is a punch of color.

The light changes in September as the sun shines from lower on the horizon. Rosa ‘About Face’ has some pretty red new growth and a few flowers giving a home to an unknown insect.

October is the Susan B. Komen breast cancer walk. Our entire clan meets in Knoxville to participate in celebration of a loved one.

November has had some light frosts but these pepper ‘Black Pearl’ are still strong. Swiss chard ‘Bright Lights’ is usually evergreen here, going to seed in the spring with a tall flowering shoot.

December will be remembered as the beginning of Faire Garden, the blog. Photos of the garden are more carefully composed now that they might be viewed by others. More artsy, less journaly.

Looking with optimistic anticipation to the coming year,

Frances

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