Gardening again

Saturday afternoon I saw a neighbor out. I have always admired her yard so I went down to tell her how much I liked it. She ended up taking me into her back yard and I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOO Jealous!!!!! Her dh used to be a contractor and he apparently loves gardening and projects. They have a nice hill in their backyard. It is kind of steep in one area so they dug a deep pond and made a waterfall. It is absolutely gorgeous. She said it took them a long time to do. It is made with flat stone and the walking surface is slate. They have a bunch of Koi and one is even 10 years old. Her dh also made a pergola and they are training Wisteria to grow up it.

She was really sweet and gave me some plants this evening that she dug up. I have no clue what they are. She doesn't know either. She told me that if she sees a plant that she likes, she asks for a cutting or to divide it and then plants it in her yard. These are green leaves that remind me of hostas, but they grow a large yellow flower.

In my yard, I am now desperately trying to think of how I will make my little perennial area beside my house. I have a Southern exposure and along part of it, I planned to plant some Purple cone flowers. I have them started and they are doing well. I think I will also add these new plants, but that means I need to get busy digging!!!!

I have also been thinking about a rose bush on this side. I have a terrible looking area in my yard that we call the "weed garden." It has some rose bushes in there that smell lovely, but are not very pretty. Plus, they are overrun by bugs. Blech. Also, there is wild mint and wild berries that never get juicy enough to eat unless you are a bug or bird. I was thinking of transplanting the roses, but I am not sure. I have been hearing lots of good things about the knockout rose and I saw one today at the neighbor's house. It is lovely and smells wonderful. I am considering planting one of these and ditching the entire contents of the "weed garden" with the exception of the daffodil bulbs that are buried somewhere in there.

The girls planted their tomato plants in pots today. And yes, I relinquished the cucumber to dd. I also looked closer at my cucumbers because I stuck a trellis in the tub. It turns out that one of them is a pickling cucumber!! I had not planned on that. My mom made pickles once and I didn't care for them. I am not sure if I am up to pickling cucumbers!!!


BTW....I wrote this post earlier, but didn't post it. My friend tells me that the plants my neighbor gave me are cannas. After reading about them, I debated whether to plant them by the window. Apparently some varieties can grow up to 15 feet!!! I am hoping that this is not the case with mine. If they grow too tall, I will dig them up and plant them somewhere else next year. But for now, they are staying.