The long and short of the front garden
Autumn color is reappearing in the garden, and not just the dark-red of the oxblood lilies. Here’s a look at the south side of my front garden. The roses are flaunting new pink blossoms, the miscanthus grasses are hoisting their seedhead flags, and the salvias are tipped with bright pink. New growth this fall: the small kidneywood tree in the back corner has doubled in size this year, and new bamboo muhlies contribute a feathery bright green beneath it.
A different perspective, from the driveway, looking south lengthwise across the garden. This view takes in some of the plants on the north side of the garden, which is increasingly shaded by the vitex. This sunny strip hangs on: ‘Carefree Beauty’ rose, pennisetum (possibly ID’d as Pennisetum setaceum by Nada, a reader from Spain), ‘Powis Castle’ artemesia, bulbine, softleaf yucca, purple coneflower, and Salvia greggii. The “grass” in the central pot is Nolina texana , a relative of the yucca.
That’s it for the long shots. Here is a close-up of a ‘Belinda’s Dream’ rosebud.
And a freckled, blowsy ‘Belinda’s.’ Very fragrant!
Easily overlooked beneath big ‘Belinda,’ diminutive ‘The Fairy’ offers dainty clusters of white roses tinged with pale pink.
In bloom again after the rains, kidneywood (Eysenhardtia texana ) attracts a variety of insects, including this pretty one. Friend or foe? I don’t know. The flowers are fragrant, and crushing the leaves releases a citrusy fragrance.
American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana ) continues to delight me, especially as the heart-shaped leaves of black sweet-potato vine creep along the drive to meet it.
Mexican snapdragon vine is reblooming on the birdhouse post.
I stuck a few oxblood lilies in the front garden last fall, but their intense red isn’t working amid all that pink and purple. I plan to transplant them to the hot-colored back garden.
Orange flame acanthus (Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii ), tempered by silver artemesia.
Reminding me that fall is on the way, Mexican bush sage (Salvia leucantha ) burst into bloom this week.
I love those fuzzy purple spires!
I love your front garden. I love that you don’t have grass in the front yard! I aspire to do the same in time.
Beautiful pictures!
Thank you, Katie. I’m glad you stopped by. Yes, I just decided that I had too little space to bother with lawn, so I took it all out of the front and back a number of years ago. Since then I’ve added a little lawnette in the back, just for the novelty of it. —Pam
I really do like the way the slate blue cobblestones look around the center pot. Very dramatic.
It’s growing on me. I’ll probably keep it. Thanks for letting me know what you think. —Pam
I love your pot with the rocks around it, it’s very calming to look at. I also have some Mexican Bush Sage about to bloom here in Tulsa. It’s a great plant, huh?
Yes, indeed. It’s a great fall bloomer. Thanks for your comment, Becky. —Pam
Your garden is so beautiful, and I especially admire the grasses. I think the insect on your kidneywood tree is an Ailanthus Webworm Moth. It looks just like the ones I found a couple of weeks ago on my Agastache foeniculum.
Pictures, including mine, are at bugguide.net:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/430/bgimage
Oh dear, I think you’re right. There go my friendly feelings toward it. But thanks for the info, and for the compliments. —Pam
I really like the kidneywood but I’m not familiar with it at all – how nice (and I think that is a friend enjoying it’s flowers). Your front garden looks beautiful – my roses are just beginning to breathe again after a hot and dry August (I noticed alot of buds today), the salvias and sunflowers are still happy, and the fall-blooming salvias have a month or more to go before flowers appear, and they just look droopy and desperately in need of rain! Like you, we don’t have the traditional autumn color, but we do indeed have lots of color!
And then you get winter color in the form of sasanqua camellias, right? It’s one of my favorite Southern plants. I hope you get rain soon. Thanks for dropping by. —Pam
Your front garden is so beautiful, Pam, and I’m sure I’ve told you I lust after that birdhouse! It all looks colorful and serene at the same time. Nice to have a south-facing garden, isn’t it?
Thanks, Lost Roses! Actually, my front garden faces due west. The south end is the narrow side along my neighbor’s driveway. It’s more for my house than my garden that I wish for that south-facing orientation. —Pam
Very nice.
What is the low plant that is in the foreground of the first picture? Between the little path and the main courtyard.
That’s a big clump of bulbine, Bill. —Pam
When you first posted the shot of the river rock around the big central pot and mentioned you were underwhelmed by it, I could see what you meant. But seeing it in context really shows that it looks lovely like that… I’m glad it’s growing on you. 🙂
The salvia leucantha is absolutely gorgeous. I wonder if it would be worth trying to grow it as an annual here. Any idea?
I’ve seen it mentioned in Southern Living magazine as an annual in the more northern parts of the South, if I remember correctly. If you can find it up there, I’d certainly advocate giving it a try. It’s such a showy plant in the fall. Let me know if you do. I’d like to know how it works out. —Pam
Pam: A truly beautiful front garden! I also love those mexican beach pebbles laid on edge around the urn. Great focal point!
Thanks, Layanee! —Pam