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Sunday 26 June 2016

Layering and Lounging ?

We are in the throws of a hot summer weekend .. although I managed to actually get some gardening done early Friday before the heat really knocked me on my blank ?
I thought I might chat about how much I like to layer plants/shrubs/roses.
A great deal of my garden is in a layering affect ... it just seems like a natural thing to do.
Some shrubs that go well together :
Sorry I was shooting in morning shadows so the plants look rather bland and dark when they aren't.
The bees love these small yellow flowers of the diervilla
The unopened spirea flowers remind me of intensely hot pink pearls ?
My spireas look fabulous this year .. flowering like crazy.

Layering here starts with the Yellow Wax Bells or Kirengeshoma partner with lilies (Casa Blanca) then to astilbe .. heuchera .. hosta .. ferns .. Gold Creeping Jenny .. creeping sedum.
The trick is try try and find smaller forms of the plants you like to sweep downwards.
I still have to tweak that but I am getting a pleasing affect (for me) so far.
Amber Moon astilbe is a bit large for the affect I want to create but I have fallen hard for that fabulous colour it has so I trim it up to try and fit it in a little less conspicuously.
You can see I even go as flat down with Hen's&Chicks for fun. 
If you look left to right you can see I tried to compliment Curly Fries hosta with a similar leafed one.
I think it is Little Miss Sunshine, which I have transplanted way too many times.
This poor rose lives  in the ally way of neglect .. heat and drought and forgetfulness... guilt guilt !
Yet it insists on blooming and looking wonderful .. it catches my breath with it's determination !
Russian sage, oregano that blooms with amazing little white flowers, blue bell flower, alchemilla mollis .. they just look right altogether.
Though the colours are muted in shade .. I love the way it looks coming in from this direction.
Well ... this is too short a post to really get into layering but who wants to be glued to the computer when you should be enjoying your garden ... right ?

7 comments:

Nadezda said...

Your poor rose is pretty Joy! I love blooming spirea as well and mine is the same, with raspberry-color flowers.
Enjoy your garden!

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Your garden is jammed packed with beautiful color and texture all layered beautifully. I love the look on your walk as you enter this area. So inviting. It would take forever to walk through so you could stop and see all the different plants. I think roses like hot and dry. What a big bloom on such a small plant. Do you have to keep cutting back your plants to give them space. You have them spaced so nice so you can see them. Mine are all a jumble and not so many different varieties.

Jennifer said...

I think you have a gift for layering Joy. Your garden has such a neat tapestry of forms and textures. Truly, it almost sparkles with colorful foliage! I think I'd like to emulate bits of your garden into mine, which is wild and messy. Yours feels calm and serene in comparison.
Can you believe this heat? And where is the rain? My garden is bone dry!!

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hello Nadezda girl : )
Yes that little rose is amazing where I stuck it .. still smiling. My spirea have been so pretty this year, can't stop taking pictures of them ? LOL

Lisa girl hello there : )
Thank you so much .. it is coming along with the new stone finally. Yes Roses seem to like punishing conditions and that one has quite the site, haha
Yes I do a "nip & tuck" type of maintenance to try and keep it orderly .. but sometimes they just go over the edge when I can't get to them and that is alright too !

Jennifer girl, thank you so much ! we have a bit of cooler weather at the moment but OMG the lack of nice natural rain this season is scary isn't it? Hey girl .. you have a gorgeous garden .. and that white picket fence is such eye candy with the plants.
I don't know what to think of this drought, as a permanent thing or just a bad season?
I hope it is just this year but climate change is happening and we all better get on board somehow .. BIG sigh!

A Cuban In London said...

Great photos. Love your layering! :-)

Greetings from London.

Carrie said...

You are just to talented, it knocks my socks off (and yes the weather is so bad here that socks are a necessity - sad times). You just have that special something for landscape design and it all looks to natural as well.

Thinking of you and was going to write a letter but I see that the Canadian Postal service is on strike! Cheeky.

Love and hugs
Carrie

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hello Mr. Cuban and thank you : ) ... I enjoyed your post on"corners" it had me thinking!

Carrie girl you are so sweet to stop by, thank you : )
You are too kind with such praise .. I mean that .. I just do what my unconscious ? LOL brain tells me to do ? .. Yes .. CHEEKY is right ... at it isn't even Xmas when they usually threaten this ! haha