Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Some New Spring Plantings at Crest Avenue

Yesterday I shared with you our early morning trip to our Wal*Mart garden center and all the many things we found.  Today I will share with you how some of those purchases are looking.


This picture was taken this morning.  As you can see in the background, it was a little foggy.  We have had two days of nice, gentle, soaking rains, which the plants love.  Here are two baskets of Mandevilla.  These will vine down over the sides of the baskets as we make our way through spring and summer.  Super beautiful.  If you live in Zone 7 (as I do) or lower, and you want to try Mandevilla in your garden, you must know that special care will need to be taken if you would like to continue it from season to season.  Mandevilla is a woody vine, native to Central and South America. It is a tender perennial, hardy in Zones 9 through 11 and, with winter protection, in Zone 8. It will not withstand prolonged freezing temperatures but can be overwintered indoors.  We can trim these back in the late fall and bring them indoors and enjoy them again next year.

Read more: Are Mandevillas Annuals or Perennials? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/facts_7634099_mandevillas-annuals-perennials.html#ixzz2Rxp1CVfW




The two Andromeda (Pieris japonica) are in pots on either side of the front entrance.  These are so dramatic.  I love the showy little pearl-like flowers.  They are an evergreen shrub.  You will recall last year I found two topiaries which I thought were perennial, but turned out not to be.  About midway through the winter, I had to remove them from these planters.  This year I made sure I was planting an evergreen.  These should be very happy in this location.  They get the morning sun for about 4 hours and then indirect sunlight for the remainder of the day.


Taking a slightly different direction, I found these wonderful little asparagus ferns for the pot on the entry table.  I had not been happy with the look of this table for some time, but could not figure out exactly what I wanted to do.  Two small asparagus ferns in this cute little tole painted, footed bin was what we needed.  (The bin came from a store called "Z Gallerie" in Las Vegas.)

Tomorrow we will talk about the Garden Fair which was held at the Arboretum in Washington, DC this past weekend. 

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