Our JCHC Garden Bed

 The Jefferson County Health Center Garden Bed is now completing its first full year of being in existence!  We need to pat ourselves on the back, as maintenance was a shared responsibility this summer... and look how the garden looks now that it's Fall.  Marvelous - especially for its first year!

 Red Admiral butterfly found the asters today.

This flower bed is 40 feet long!  Too long to capture in a "straight-on" photo.  A few more plants were sunk in the ground today... a salvia (I'll add the name later) now resides in the back left-hand (west) corner behind the lilac bush.  It will be pretty there.  I wonder if Julie can locate another trellis like the one we already have?  It would be great between the wooden fence and the Karl Foerster grass.  I even purchased a smaller trellis that might be nice behind the lilac (there's plenty of room).

Someone in the hospital decided it would be good to have hummingbird feeders here and there around the grounds.  As long as someone is maintaining them, WE won't mind.  And the hummers have already located them!  

 

 Click on the photos to see larger images.

A few Fall-ish touches...

I'll update these photos if anyone would like to add a couple of pumpkins and something "cute" to sit on each of the bales.  (These are small bales.)  Whatever sits on them should be stuck into the bale somehow.

The three pink coreopsis are also residing in the garden as of today.  The mums and small asters will be relocated later.  The mums will go in a garden node downtown, but the asters will be placed in this bed.

Happy September 15!
"Shady Gardener"

Speaking of Umbrellas...

... here are the beginnings of the "Great Artists of the Garden series!"

And the lengths to which we go to aid and abet our gardens in the extreme heat and dry weather!  ;-)

Perhaps I'll be able to provide photos of each of the finished products!

A Tour at Nancy's!

What did she say?  How many hosta did she plant in this bed??

 

Look!  There's Matilda!

(click here for a little story about Matilda and her friends!)

More Whimsy!

 Thank you, Nancy, for a lovely garden tour!!

GGG

Visiting Joan Today!

 Whew!  It was even HOT by 9:30 A.M. today.  If you look closely, you can see a few outstanding features of Joan's yard.  But to tell the truth, we didn't even walk around the house to see the Other Outstanding Features!  

However,  just look at the way were afforded the coolest spot available!  Shade, frozen fruit cups, cold drinks and Fans!  (Yep, count 'em!)  :-)

 

 

 I love these Mushroom Stools!

Looking forward to visiting Nancy, next.

JCHC Garden

Water and Photos

June 12, 2012

'Stella d'Oro' - left foreground with 'Little Missy' behind.

'Little Missy'

Clematis

 

Two more views of the garden

A Garden Tour - Check It Out!

ISU Extension Linn County Master Gardener Garden Walk - Cedar Rapids/Marion, Iowa

Saturday, June 23, 2012 from 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.

 $5 per adult or $10 per family

Explore 5 diverse Linn County Master Gardener gardens that will inspire you with ideas you can apply to your own garden or landscape or simply provide you the opportunity to tour beautiful private gardens.  Gardens will include ornamental grasses, conifers, vegetables, perennials, containers, rain gardens, raised beds & will range from a facility garden to an acreage garden.  You will also see ideas for landscaping even the most difficult of terrains.   Master Gardeners will be at all of the gardens to answer your horticulture-related questions.

Download a Brochure as your Tour Guide - here.

There are Five Gardens, for your inspiration and enjoyment, on the tour.  You may begin at any garden and proceed from there.  Grab some friends and have a Wonderful Day!

A little lemonaid, a few cookies, 11 gardeners and lots of conversation.  After beginning our summer "tour calendar" and a walk around my yard, we recessed to the garage and created concrete stepping stones.  :-)

I was so engrossed in mixing concrete, I forgot to take photos - until the end.  Here are a couple of stepping stones - curing in the garage.  :-)

Looks like an anniversary stone!  :-)

Fun times!