Our Yard
Views from Around Our Yard
The purpose of this page is to showcase some of the areas in our yard that we have filled with the plants, shrubs, and trees that we sell. There are also many other varieties of perennials and shrubs included.
We have several growing beds throughout our yard. From the front yard, both sides of our 100-year-old house, and on into the backyard.
Clicking the words in blue italics will show you the plant list for that particular growing bed or area. These lists seem like they are always being added to. We do like to add new plants once in a while.
The front yard is on the north side of our house, shaded by the house and a large old maple tree. It is not an ideal place to grow most sun-loving plants. So we have several varieties of hostas and some coral bells lining the Front Porch area beds.
Palace Purple Coral Bells (Heuchera micrantha ‘Palace Purple’) takes care of the backdrop. There are also some Hydrangeas along here as well. The sun is rarely seen by most of these plants. This can also be an advantage for some because it will limit their size.
The Driveway Corner bed gets a peek of morning sun and some dappled shade from the maple tree. The leaves are not as thick as they used to be. It is good enough for some tulips early in the spring and irises later on. Some flowering onions (Allium ‘Aflatunense’), prosper there while some bachelor buttons, irises, and gladiolas grow through the summer. Anchoring the corner is one of our several varieties of Japanese Maples, a red seedling (Acer palmatum atropurpureum). The driveway overflows here after a hard rain so it is often a wet area as well.
Around the base of the old maple tree, a very difficult area to grow things, we have some hostas, yuccas, and perennials like dianthus varieties and sundrops. We also have some Variegated Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum odoratum ‘Variegatum’) that makes an appearance here.
Areas like this are hard to grow in because a large tree has lots of roots that not only make planting difficult, but they also hog most of the water and nutrients. By planting small plants carefully amongst the roots and making sure they get watered well, you should be able to have some success in these areas.
Plants that need more sun are planted on the west side where they get some afternoon sun. Most plants that don’t get the ideal amount of sun will still grow in these areas. They may not grow as large or flower as much. That can also be used to control some more aggressive plants.
Our pair of Blue Princess Hollies (Ilex meserveae ‘Blue Princess anchor the front of our large Island Bed. They get plenty of red berries in the fall thanks to the Blue Prince Holly (Ilex meserveae ‘Blue Prince’) planted nearby next to the porch.
Hollies need male and female plants to produce the berries. One male plant can take care of several female shrubs. This bed is divided into 3 areas. The front has the hollies, some tulips, grape hyacinths, daffodils, torch lilies, and more.
The middle section is the newest part of our island. It is mostly made up of plants that we grew as rooted cuttings and planted here to show how much they prefer being planted in the ground versus being in a pot.
There are spireas, potentillas, butterfly bushes, and others. Anchoring this section is one of our newest additions. I planted a Tricolor Beech (Fagus sylvatica ‘Tricolor’) late summer of 2018.
An underplanting of Blue Rug Juniper (Juniperus horizontalis ‘Wiltonii’) will eventually fill in as a blue-green evergreen groundcover. A Julia Jane Boxwood (Buxus microphylla ‘Julia Jane’) and Blue Chiffon® Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus ‘Notwoodthree’) were also added in this area.
The back section of the island has three varieties of tall garden phlox that add height, color, and fragrance. We have Laura (Phlox paniculata ‘Laura’), David (Phlox paniculata ‘David’), and Bright Eyes (Phlox paniculata ‘Bright Eyes’).
Angelina Sedum (Sedum repestre ‘Angelina’), Dragon’s Blood Sedum (Sedum spurium ‘Dragon’s Blood’) as well as some hens and chicks can also be found here acting as some groundcovers. A seedling spruce tree that was rescued from the basement wall several years ago, has been made into a topiary for decoration and also to limit its size.
Several different irises and tulips also call this home. A Coral Bark Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum ‘Sango-kaku’) and Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’) stand out here almost year-round. Two varieties of Black-Eyed Susans fill the bed from summer until fall. Newest addition is a Weeping Yoshino Cherry (Prunus x yedoensis ‘Shidare Yoshino’) that looks real awesome in the spring.
This large bed is the result of filling in between three smaller beds. As more places for plants were needed, the gaps were filled in. Just like that, an island was created.
Along the west side of our house is a narrow bed that contains some azaleas, viburnums, sedums, rhododendrons, daffodils, tulips, lilies and irises. Two Japanese Maples, Glowing Embers (Acer palmatum ‘Glowing Embers’) and Viridis (Acer palmatum dissectum ‘Viridis’) call this area home.
Our backyard entry arch connects this bed to our newest and largest growing area. This bed cuts across the yard and runs along the property line, ending in a round peninsula. This was added in 2013 and contains many young shrubs and trees.
There are viburnums, both native and Asian varieties. Young Fringetrees (Chionanthus virginicus) and Chokeberries (Aronia arbutifolia ‘Brilliantissima’), as well as St. John’s Worts are growing here with several different hostas and ornamental grasses.
3 different Japanese Maples can also be found here. The end of the peninsula is home to lilacs, spireas, daylilies and Rheingold Arborvitaes (Thuja occidentalis ‘Rheingold’). A Golden Times Forsythia (Forsythia x intermedia ‘Golden Times’), with variegated leaves.
Annabelle Hydrangeas (Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’), and a couple of Green Velvet Boxwoods (Buxus ‘Green Velvet’), plus a couple of other plants act as the edging with a Zelkova tree at the point. Some are still young and small in size now, but most of these will mature to several feet, making this a screening growth of flowering shrubs.
A pair of small beds nestled in the corners of the house and back porch are home to several varieties of coral bells all summer. Lots of yellow daffodils and grape hyacinths grow in the spring. Some Trout Lilies (Erythronium ‘Pagoda’) and Virginia Bluebells also make an early spring appearance before fading away for the summer. Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis) surrounds the base of the maple tree that helps give shade for the coral bells.
Some coral bells and hostas can be found growing around our patio area. Stairway to Heaven Jacob’s Ladder (Polemonium reptans ‘Stairway to Heaven’ PP 15187) adds some variegation to go along with the Kousa Samaritan Dogwood (Cornus kousa chinensis ‘Samaritan’) and Ariadne Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum ‘Ariadne’).
Spring brings up the small flowering alliums in colors or white, yellow and purple. Ornamental grasses stand proud from summer through winter.
Our rock garden starts the next large area of plantings. It includes a chair for sitting and watching our most colorful pets, the goldfish. A Waterfall Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum dissectum ‘Waterfall’) shares the limelight with bleeding hearts.
A new growing area added this past summer, 2018, is now home to several new Japanese Maple varieties, coral bells, sedums, and a couple of evergreens. This is an artificial mound area that contains lots of stones and less than perfect soil.
I have added several rocks for visual interest as well. It fills in the area between the rock garden and the patio. Not too many areas around here don’t get used for growing plants. Hopefully, this area will start to really show off in the coming years.
They are joined by balloon flowers, coral bells, and phlox. Young maples, lilacs, and Black Cherry trees shade the bed. The mound above the pond serves as a bog type filter with three pools of gravel filtering the water.
This provides areas to grow water-loving plants like Sweet Flag (Acorus gramineus ‘Oborozuki’), Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) and Yellow Flag Iris (Iris pseudacorus), which actually grows in the pond.
The mound is also home to 2 more Japanese Maples. Orangeola (Acer palmatum dissectum ‘Orangeola’) and Seiryu (Acer palmatum dissectum ‘Seiryu’), the only upright laceleaf variety. Many perennials and ornamental grasses are flanked with sedums.
Some rose varieties grow next to the mound in our old brick garden such as Perfume Delight, Champlain Shrub, red Double Knockout, and others.
Under our large Black Cherry tree, you will find the Hosta Haven. This area is home to over 20 named varieties of hosta as well as coral bells, yuccas, hydrangeas, and a Higasayama Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum ‘Higasayama’).
There is a white lilac growing next to the cherry tree with some Porcupine Grass (Miscanthus sinensis ‘Strictus’) and a young Royal Purple Smokebush (Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple’).
Hostas are one of my favorite plants. Most people think of hostas as just green or green and white shade plants. They actually come in yellows and combinations of green and yellow.
Sizes range from minis of just a few inches tall up to ones almost 4 feet tall. Long narrow leaves up to wide corrugated ones. We currently have over 110 different named varieties of Hosta growing here.
Across from the cherry tree is our pergola. Elvira Grapes (Vitis labrusca ‘Elvira’) and Amethyst Falls Wisteria (Wisteria frutescens ‘Amethyst Falls’) grow up the posts. There are two beds next to the pergola.
The north side has some butterfly bushes, irises, dogwoods, forsythia, summersweets, and a few others. The south side ties into what we call our slab bed, an old slab foundation that is fronted by this bed.
Many plants and shrubs make their home here on the south side of the pergola. Purple Leaf Sandcherry (Prunus x cistena), viburnums, weigelas, butterfly bushes, tulips, daffodils, spireas, coneflowers, ornamental grasses, and many more. A flat stone walkway makes things accessible from the center.
On the backside of the slab, we grow gladiolas in the summer with some hydrangeas, dogwood, coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, and ornamental grasses. Tulips, sundrops, irises and some daffodils pop up in the spring.
A long raised bed that runs near our property lines contains quite a few of our stock plants and shrubs. Butterfly bushes, spireas, weigelas, willows, hydrangeas, euonymus, junipers and arborvitaes all grow in this bed with several others. This bed frames our nursery area on two sides.
Probably the largest bed in our yard helps make up most of our property’s back border. It is a randomly curved and long bed filled with several types of blueberry plants, lilacs, irises, daylilies and more.
A pair of oakleaf hydrangeas are at one end. Munchkin (Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Munchkin’) and Ruby Slippers (Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Ruby Slippers’). There’s an interesting spirea, Dolchica (Spiraea x bumalda ‘Dolchica’), Green Giant Arborvitae (Thuja plicata x standishii ‘Green Giant’), Little Giant Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis ‘Little Giant’) and some other evergreens.
Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) shows off in the center. A large Pink Weigela (Weigela florida ‘Rosea’) helps anchor the other end. Since this bed covers such a large area of the border, I placed a white archway between this bed and the next, the Circle Bed. This gives both us and the neighbors a convenient and decorative passageway between yards.
We used to have a pine tree growing on the property line. I cut it down and turned the area around the stump into the Circle Bed. This bed is round in shape and has several daylilies, weigelas, alliums, daisies, coneflowers, and others.
A Phantom Hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata ‘Phantom’) puts out some really large blooms in summer. A Mock Orange (Philadelphus coronarius), and a pair of Glossy Abelias (Abelia x grandiflora) also add flowers and fragrance during the seasons.
Millenium Alliums (Allium ‘Millenium’), Concord Grape Spiderwort (Tradescantia ‘Concord Grape’) and Becky Shasta Daisies (Leucanthemum x superbum ‘Becky’) add extra flower power to the several coneflowers and coral bells there as well.
There are several other plants, trees, and shrubs growing around our house and yard in random areas or small beds that someday may be part of a larger bed…?
