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Saturday 13 June 2009

Happiness in colour and shade

June is the glorious month for my front garden .. the foliage is fresh .. unscathed by those dastardly slugs .. the heat humidity combo hasn't hit badly yet this year and we have had lots of rain, which makes us all happy ... but now we could use some plain sunshine .. not too hot please ?
Blues in the garden have a nice range of intensity and shade. It plays so well off of the different yellows and golds.
Every once in a while you have to have a dramatic hit of dark colour to wake up your eyes and take notice ? Gypsy Dancer heuchera does "it" for me : )
Pretty in pink and peach with the blue green combo with a bit of "August Moon" gold from one great cultivar of hosta : )
I have had a love affair with Pinot Gris heuchera this year .. I have three of them now and they sing in the garden for me.
Shaded or lit with sunshine they all look refreshing still .. for now ?

I know you think these are the same pictures but I move the camera angle just a tad ...

... and ahhhhhhh ! the shade is here.

Now wouldn't a hamock near by be perfect ?????? ZZZZZZZZ !!!

34 comments:

Darlene said...

Oh my word your gardens are GORGEOUS!!!!! What a green thumb you have. I only have a few container plants cause I seem to kill everything else!!

RURAL said...

Sunshine or not, your garden is absolutely lovely. Beautiful colors, textures, and shapes. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Jen

Barry said...

Joy:
The front gardens are looking nothing less than stunning! I so love the colour and textural presentation that you have created. I too love Hosta 'August Moon,' and have been eyeing one of the last in a tray for a week now, but have consternations regarding the slugs in the shaded walk, and truth be told, I limited myself to three in the gardens..... need the space for other rarities that keep crossing my path whenever I have a free moment to surf the on-line nursery catalogues! Great colour and texture my friend!

Grammy said...

I love your photos. I am a hosta collector also. My old home had over 250 diffrent variety's. Some day I will rebuild it. I left about 40 for my mom to care for. Have a great week end.

Janet, The Queen of Seaford said...

Beautiful shade garden, love the Heucheras, Heucherellas, and Hosta mix.

Gail said...

Joy, your garden is so beautiful...You are excellent at creating vignettes and combinations. Are you tired of me saying that? Because it's true!...you are excellent....The hostas are wonderful and so is the heuchera...sigh.

I saw Red flowering Yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora) combined with TES. You can't grow it, but the red of the flowers looked wonderful with Tiger's Eye.

Gail

Jill-O said...

I LOVE heuchera and plant a few every year. Yours looks beautiful with the hosta. My hostas are looking kinda holey right now. Check out my last posting to see why at http://jellyfishbay.wordpress.com/2009/06/11/invasion-of-the-slugs/ .

Kathleen said...

Oh, Joy ~ you are the queen of foliage. So many beautiful leaf forms and colors in these photos. I would never tire of looking at them even if it were the same photo over and over again! Really, really beautiful!

PS My passion vine is sitting (still). Ugh. Maybe it doesn't like where I planted it?? I don't think it's grown one inch....

CiNdEe's GaRdEn said...

Beautiful, outstanding and awesome!!!! I love your garden!
Something ate my hostas again...guess what? Snails. I killed 35 the other night and that was just the beginning. I gave up after that. I was tired of the crunch sound! So I guess I need some snail bait. I will never see my hostas grow if I don't. Plus they ate all the seedlings I transplanted. Grrrrrrrrrrr
Mr. Smiley says hi and to let you know he likes his new home(-: He hasn't experienced the heat yet as its been raining and cool here!!! LOL

Sheila said...

Beautiful plant combinations. It looks so cool and inviting!

Unknown said...

oh how beautiful! i just love the texture of each plant and your grouping of them! i might have to "borrow" your creativity for just a moment or two with my own shady part of the garden. just beautiful!

gittan said...

Wow, I relly like that flowerbed of yours! Do you know the name of the Heuchera that's lime and a bit dark in the middle? That one I'd like to have in my small collection =) The combination with Heucherasand Hostas is great! I'll have to take another looka. Have a nice day / gittan

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hello there Darlene girl ! Thank you so much : ) .. it has taken a few years to put this together and I have a hard time thinking of changing it .. so I'm "stuck" for now because I love it too ! LOL
Hey .. containers are great too .. I have lots on the deck : )

Jen girl .. thank you very much ! Sometimes things just work out perfectly for a while ..this is one area I can count on for most of the year .. phew ! haha

Hi there puppy guy ! Thank you : )
I understand your hesitancy with the hosta .. not only the slug problem but most certainly the space issues and how many more plants you want to collect . It can really frustrate you .. but I just know what you come up with will be stunning : )

Hello there Grammy and thank you ! .. wow ! I can't imagine having that many hosta .. it must have been amazing to see .. I have a slight ? weakness for them now though so I do understand that urge to rebuild the empire girl ! LOL

Thank you Janet ! .. I have been lucky to find some great plants and have them "take" to my garden here .. it really makes me happy to see them happy !

Gail girl ! .. how on earth could I get tired of hearing THAT ?? LOL
Bring it on ? LOL ... Oh my .. that combo sounds amazing with TES .. any pictures ? .. how is yours doing ?? Mine seems fine where it is so far .. but I think I need a few more contrast plants and much more river rock .. Bella and Lugosi have not been able to settle in a new home yet .. I have to work on that one !

Jill girl .. I'm almost afraid to look .. I just know those slugs have had their way with you ? .. I'll close one eye as I peer into the crystal ball ? LOL

Kathleen .. Thank you so much : )
I have a theory on our Passion Flower vines .. I think we need MORE sun and heat to kick start them .. mine has grown a little .. I will post the picture .. but nothing near to what I had hoped for yet , because time is passing by and we need them to grow girl !!

Cindee girl .. thank you !! .. I feel badly for you with the war of the slugs going on .. that is awful .. soon I will be hunting lily beetles no doubt .. I hate THAT ! YUCK !!
Mista G is sitting, relaxing with the boys .. but I think he is actually cold with our rainy days .. but I told him the heat is coming .. so he seems patient .. waiting for it ? LOL

Hello Sheila .. a lot of days when I have been so hot working on the back garden .. I come here and cool down .. it does have that affect indeed ! Thank you : )

Hello cat : ) thank you for visiting ! and yes ! borrow all of what you like because we all need a little oasis don't we ? LOL

Hi there gittan ! .. Do you mean the red vien one ? that is "Stop Light" .. or "Sunspot" .. it was bred to have that bold streaking .. if you look up those names you will see which is which .. let me know if you get one ?

our friend Ben said...

Drool. As always, your beds look so fantastic, Joy!!! It's such a pleasure and inspiration to look at them!

tina said...

Yes, I can see a hammock nearby. Love your garden. It looks so very perfect. Not a leaf out of place. Tell me your secret please??

Tatyana@MySecretGarden said...

Joy, your plant combinations are astonishing! Those slugs should stay away from this garden!Don't save on beer please.

Jan said...

The contrasts are eye-popping, Joy! You have arranged your garden into an absolute JOY to look at! These foliage combinations are meant for each other, and their textures compliment one another so well. I'm glad you took photos while they look so gorgeous--I hope the slugs, etc. stay away from them so they look gorgeous all summer long;-) Jan

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hello 'ben" and thank you ! .. things will get out of hand soon though .. we are having a wet season and the garden monsters have too much fun in this weather ! Slug patrols ahoy !!

Tina .. good grief girl .. I only take pictures of SAFE places in the garden .. the rest is a MESS !! Lots of everything out of place, believe me : )

Hi Tatyana and thank you very much girl ! .. no worries about saving the beer .. the slugs will be drunk in no time ? haha

Jan girl .. the slugs are coming .. the word got round about my place and they are dressed in tuxedos now ! haha .. Yes , I am glad to get pictures before the buffet starts here .. and it most certainly will ... ughh ! LOL

Pat said...

OMG
Your shade bed is amazing !
Great combo of plants plus nice and crowded...just the way I like it. I see you have much the same plants that I have...cool.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hi Patsi girl .. Thank you ! Glad to have company with the same plants : ) Hey .. the new season for True Blood starts tonight at 9 PM ... Yahhooooo ! LOL

Unknown said...

Love all the fresh foliage colours, Joy! The slugs are already quite at it here, but I'm a laissez-faire gardener so they'll just have to chew holes in stuff.

donna said...

These photos are so amazing and absolulely beautiful. Pretty foliage like you have almost always outshines flowers, in my mind.

Northern Beauty Seeker said...

Wow! I am just stunned by the gorgeous combinations of colour and texture. Foliage rules in this vignette!

You have inspired me as I consider what my brand new shade bed will look like. (I even had Hubby come take a look at this post!)

Thank you for sharing!

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hi there Jodi girl !.. I didn't want to be tied up in knots over slugs at this either .. so I picked tough ridged hosta when possible .. a good layer of mulch to make slug trails difficult .. what ever I could think of to avert extra work ? LOL .. then let nature take its course if need be : )

Hello Donna ! .. I have to admit I am a foliage fan .. when you can find combinations that you like, it is hard to beat ! flowers only last a short period .. foliage is "there" for the whole season : )

My goodness Ms. S ! Thank you so much .. I am more than happy to share any ideas that I have with all gardeners : ) .. hope to see how you put your new shade bed together !

Helen said...

Joy, a beautiful bouquet of foliage -- and everything looks perfectly spaced and so darned healthy, which is even more amazing. How do you do that?

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hello there Helen : ) Thank you !!
A lot of my design is purely a gut reaction to what I like .. it doesn't work all the time believe me girl .. LOL
This bed is going to run into problems soon though .. the hosta are getting BIG and I will lose sight of my heuchera, heucherella etc .. if I don't split and cut back .. so it can be really tricky as it matures .. a lot of sweat equity went into this bed : )

Anonymous said...

I love your front gardens Joy! The color & texture from the foliage is fabulous! :)

Yvonne said...

You have a wonderful eye for color and texture. Just beautiful!

Plowing Through Life (Martha) said...

Wow Joy, I just can't get over how gorgeous your garden is...everywhere! You sure have a knack for this type of thing. You really should put a hammock in there somewhere. Imagine sleeping amongst all that gorgeous display? Can’t wait to see it up close. You’ll have to keep an eye on me though. I might shove a plant into my purse when you’re not looking. If you see me carrying a BIG purse, something I never do, be suspicious! LOL...

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hi there Racquel .. this is as good as it gets for my front garden .. although I have to say with 3 different hydrangea in it now, well there might be a bit more to it come late summer early Autumn : )

Hello Yvonne .. thank you so much girl ! .. I'm very envious of your beautiful area .. now that is a gorgeous country setting : )

Hey Martha .. I had to rethink the hammock issue .. seems the birds leave more calling cards than I estimated ?? haha
I have a plant sensor .. so you might just trip the alarm if you try to make a get a way with an unapproved gifting ? : ) LOL

Pomona Belvedere said...

You're so inspiring with your heuchera/hosta combinations, enough color for anyone and beautifully done, I was happy to see all the shots from different angles. Foliage-planting is a different and more subtle art than planning for flowers; I'm learning a lot here.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Thank you so much Pomona ! .. We have a rather severe growing climate here .. from one extreme to the other .. so it can be tricky trying to manage different views for all the seasons .. it is challenging to say the least ? LOL
I'm so glad you have been enjoying it : )

Anonymous said...

Your gardens are some of the prettiest around. Nice combinations.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hi Anna .. thank you girl ! They aren't always pretty after the aphids and slugs have their way with them ? haha