The East Side

Along the east side of the house, between the driveway and the house, the bed is about 4 ½ feet wide, with about a foot of lawn. That bed starts at the Holly bushes. It has Chives, Crocus, Tulips, Daffodils, Spring Anemone, Fall Anemone, Gas Plant, Butterfly Bush (‘Nanho Purple’), self-seeding Love in a Mist, Yarrow (‘Strawberry Seduction’), Lady’s Mantle, Clematis (‘Comtesse de Bouchard’), Wood Hyacinth, Joe Pye Weed (‘Chocolate’), Mallow, Sedum (‘Autumn Joy’), Pinks, Geranium, Prairie Smoke, pink Spring Allium, Columbine (sometimes), Hosta ('Golden Prayers'), Lily of the Valley, Bishop’s Weed (Goutweed), a few mums, and 2 Barberry bushes at the end closer to the garage.

In the above pic, we're looking at the Barberry bushes with the Bishop's Weed underneath. In the distance to the left is the street.

In the above pic, we're looking at the Holly bushes with chives underneath. The light blue flowers are Love in a Mist and the red flowers are Yarrow. The flower pots are on the front stoop.

East Side of Garage and Driveway

Back to the front of my garage, on the right side, there are 3 Alpine Currant bushes in a tight cluster, a Peony (white), and snowdrops. The bushes were there when we bought the house and originally acted as a screen for the trash canister. However, the city gave all residents a bigger, rolling trash container and it doesn’t fit in the space. So the trash container now sits on the driveway, right next to those bushes. Our lot line is about 18” to the right (east) of the driveway (that’s where the bushes and the Peony are - almost on the lot line). Next to the garage on the east side is used as storage for the extra stones and bricks that I have, and for the extra yard waste containers. The ground in that area is “paved” with a motely collection of lannon stone slabs. Behind our garage, to the north, there is an 3 foot wide swath of grass. We don’t do anything with that space other than keep the grass to a reasonable height. The same little stone wall that borders the north of my property also borders part of the east side. It runs along the east neighbor’s side yard, back of garage, and back of den. On top of the wall is a short width of Arborvitae (screening their side yard), and then an untended garden bed which has many young elm trees, English ivy covering the stones, a struggling Wiegela, and some yellow daylilies. One of the previous owners (3 owners past) was an avid gardener, and there used to be many lovely plants in that bed. When you get to the front of the east neighbor’s house, their lot is almost the same elevation as mine, with only a slight rise from my driveway to their lawn.

In the pic above, you can see my "beautiful" white Peony (there was a thunderstorm last night), and behind it are the Alpine Currant bushes. The telephone pole in the "distance" is the end of our lot. On the right side of the pic, you can see the ivy growing over the short stone wall.

The Back Yard

Now the rest of the backyard. As you face the back of my yard, looking away from my house, you are facing north, looking at the side of the north neighbor’s garage and a little bit of their driveway. To the left is the side of the west neighbor’s garage. To the right (east) is the side of my garage.

The bed on the west starts at the end of the Arborvitae hedge. It is about 28 feet long and varies in depth from about 2 feet to 12 feet. It has 3 Ninebark (‘Diablo’) bushes, the 6’ stump of a flowering Newport Plum, a Redbud tree, Roses bushes (‘Nearly Wild’), Siberian Iris, several varieties of Bearded Iris that I am trying to get going (with little success), several Heuchera (‘Purple Palace’), Hosta ('Golden Prayers'), a Daisy, Coneflower (‘Cheyene Spirit’), Geranium, Pink Allium, Summer Allium (common nodding onion), the red Trillium (although this area might be too sunny for it to survive), some mums, several pink Coral Bells (with light green leaves), Spring Anemone, Grape Hyacinth, Wood Hyacinth, Lily of the Valley (in the shade of the bushes), Prairie Smoke, Heuchera (‘Caramel’), pink and white Bleeding Heart, Dwarf Goatsbeard, and two types of large leaved Hosta.

In the above pic, we are looking at my west neighbor's garage. You can see the Arborvitea hedge on the left edge of the pic. The bushes are the Ninebarks.

The Redbud tree is toward the right side. On the right side of the pic, "in the distance", is the telephone pole which marks the corner of our property and then a different neighbor's backyard.

The bed on the east along my garage is about 20 feet long and 2 ½ feet wide. It has a Clematis (‘Sweet Summer Love’), Astilbe, Prairie Smoke, Spring Anemone, a gazillion Summer Allium (common nodding onion), Tulips, Snowdrops, several Heuchera (‘Purple Palace’), several pink Coral Bells (with light green leaves), Globe Blue Thistle, Lamium, several varieties of Bearded Iris (a shortish (15”) Delft Blue colored one, maroon (‘Saturday Night Live’), bronze, deep blue (‘Dusky Challenger’), and more variegated leaved blue).

The pic above is our garage. We don't use that door; hence the clematis in front of it.

The bed in the back is about 35 feet wide and varies in depth from 6-8 feet. It is bordered by some lannon stone slabs. It is up about one step. It has 2 Peony (deep rose, but not quite the same as the previously mentioned peony), tall Goatsbeard, Switchgrass (‘Heavy Metal’), Purple Coneflower, Ratibita Pinnata (Grey-Headed Coneflower), Summer Allium (common nodding onion), Poppy, Salvia, Lavender, Feverfew, Bee Balm, Chives, Daffodils, Tulips, Siberian Iris, and a Common Buckthorn on the right hand edge which screens the neighbor’s driveway. Just outside the bed to the right is a Mock Orange, which also screens the driveway. The back edge of the bed is the lot line and the north neighbor’s property is about 30” higher than mine. There is a short stone wall right there. In between the top of the wall and the neighbor’s garage there are aggressive orange tiger lilies and thistles. I do my best to keep them in check. In front of this bed, I have started an annex. The annex currently has Black Eyed Susans, Rose (‘Nearly Wild’), Siberian Iris, and Spring Anemone. The annex was expanded this year to accommodate 3 cherry tomato plants.

In the above pic, we are looking north at the side of my neighbor's garage. The light green bush with white flowers is the Mock Orange. The chicken wire on the right side is protecting some lettuce and chard. The tall plants with white-ish plumes are Goatsbeard.

The Amoeba, Fence, and Arbor

The entire back yard, including patio and beds along all 4 sides, is about 35 feet wide by 50 feet deep. In the back yard, there is a Linden Tree placed to give a little shade on the patio and beneath that tree are some Astilbes. 

There is a birch tree near the driveway. Off the driveway, in between the garage and where the birch tree stands is a bed that I call “the amoeba” because when we bought the house it was shaped like an amoeba; it has since been expanded and is now more of a blob, but I still call it the amoeba. The amoeba has Hosta (‘Golden Prayers’), Dwarf Lady’s Mantle, Bloodroot, Helebore (Heleborus Purpurascens), Tulips, Crocus, Snowdrops, Grape Hyacinth, Fritillaria, Spring Anemone, Fall Anemone (white ‘Whirlwind’ and pink), 2 Clematis (‘Sweet Autumn’ and ‘Jackmanii’), Pasque Flower, Prairie Smoke, Dwarf Goats Beard, pink Bleeding Heart, many Astilbes, and Heuchera (‘Caramel’). 

The above pic shows most of the amoeba, prior to moving some sedum out and the Caramel Heuchera in. You can see the very edge of the driveway in the lower left corner of the pic. The Birch tree is out of the pic to the left.

On the west side of the amoeba, we put in a fence consisting of two pieces of lattice board shaped into a shallow “V”. The 2 clematis vines climb up this fence (and basically cover it), providing some shade for the Astilbes. On the other side of the fence, there is about 18” of a garden bed with more Spring Anemone, Grape Hyacinth, Crocus, Meadowsweet, Ratibita Pinnata (Grey-Headed Coneflower – I call it Pinnate), Prairie Smoke, Summer Allium (common nodding onion), and Hardy Hibiscus (‘Midnight Marvel’).

In the above pic, we are looking at the west side of the fence - the amoeba is behind the fence. The 'Sweet Autumn' Clematis is going strong, but the 'Jackamnii' (on the left) is sputtering. The back part of the house is the kitchen. The Hibiscus is just to the left of the fence (it isn't very big yet). You can barely make out the Birch tree in the background due to the poor lighting.

Perpendicular to this little bed is a metal arbor with a Honeysuckle (‘Goldflame’) vine. The edge of the Honeysuckle is bumping into the edge of the Linden branches.

In the above pic, you can see the Linden tree in its round-ish bed. The Honeysuckle is on top of the arbor. And, you can see the back door of our house.

West Den and Back of House

So we looked at the west side of the house in a previous post. Still on the west side, but continuing toward the back yard, a hedge of tall Arborvitae runs along the lot line creating a nice privacy screen between our neighbor’s backyard patio and our backyard patio. The bed that wraps around the back corner of the house has a Peony (deep rose), Chives, Penstemon, Campanula, Baptisia (False Indigo), Dwarf Goatsbeard, Pasque Flower, Prairie Smoke, Daffodils, Achillea Ptarmica (Sneezewort or Rough Baby’s Breath), Siberian Iris, Switchgrass (‘Heavy Metal’), Yarrow (‘Paprika’), Pincushion Flower, Geranium, creeping Sedum, Wood Hyacinth, summer Phlox, Liatris, Hosta (a variegated and a plain), Balloon Flower, Goldenrod (unknown type), an unidentified bush, pink Bleeding Heart, Dwarf Lady’s Mantle, and Rhododendron.

In the above pic, we are facing mostly south. The green bushes on the right side of the pic are the Arborvitea hedge. The pink flower is the Peony.

In the above pic, we've shifted a little so we are facing the back window of the house. In between the A/C unit and the bush is a Bleeding Heart. The yellow debris in the grass is bracts from the Linden tree (described in a later post). You can just see the edge of the round-ish bed where the Linden tree is located on the lower left side of this pic.

In the above pic, we're standing on the other side of the A/C unit. There's the Rhododendron and a Dwarf Lady's Mantle. Plus a Cherry Tomato, basil, and flowers in pots on the patio.

The West Side

Along the west side of the house, there is a bed jutting out from the middle of the wall where the chimney is. That bed has Globe Blue Thistle, Brown Eyed Susans, Hyacinth, Daffodils, Heliotrope, Penstemon, Grass (Miscanthus Eulalia), New England Aster, Lamb’s Ear, Purple Coneflower, Artemisia (‘Silver King’), and Summer Allium (common nodding onion).

In the above pic, we've walked around the large bed in the front of the house to the west side of the house. The scraggly bushes on the right side of the pic are the Dwarf Lilacs mentioned in a previous post. They were recently trimmed, so they are not looking their best. The pink flower is a Peony, which will be mentioned in a later post.