You may remember that I was nudged into planting a perennial garden in front of our door last fall. Or maybe you don't remember; I cannot find anything more than a passing mention of it on the blog.
So I'll tell you about it now.
When we remodeled and added on to this house we also had a new septic system put in. The old drain field was actually on the neighbor's property; the original owners of this house and that one were good friends so the encroachment didn't bother them. Thirty years later, we thought a little differently on the matter. The new septic tank had to be intalled pretty much right in front of the house entrance. Not the most attractive feature of the place.
Here is how it looked early this spring before anything was up. The area inside the red triangle had been full of brambles; more on this below.
The septic tank itself was buried, of course, but the pump-out access, vent pipe, and electric box were all too visible. (Drain field is uphill so there is a pump in the tank, hence the electrical box. Ah, the wonders of modern plumbing.)
The metal pole to the left of electical box was put in the first winter after the septic installation to help us avoid backing a car into the above-ground equipment. The pinkish stakes in the background are makeshift plant markers.
The equipment was ugly, and I always planned -- but never did, due to back pain and later The Hip -- to camouflage it with plantings. Over the next few years wild raspberries completely took over the area between the septic cover and the paved entrance. The brambles never bore much fruit and the thorns were annoying and the whole thing was threatening to take over the front entrance, so last summer Smokey had Scotty The Wonder Teenager rip out the bushes. I hit up a local nursery and a couple big box stores for perennials on sale at the end of summer and Scotty planted them for me.
Those photos were taken in late April. Look at it now, not quite three months later.
Closest to the stoop are hardy geraniums, which bloomed a couple weeks ago, and astilbe, which is blooming now. The bright and dark red blotches are lilies. The row of grassy things in front of the septic stuff are tall red daylilies; I'm not sure if they are going to bloom this year, no sign of buds yet. A couple Stella d'Oro daylilies are growing, too. There are two hosta; I planted more at the edge near the driveway but they didn't survive the winter. The green blob at far left close to the stoop is a creeping juniper. There is an artemisia (the whitish feathery thing in lower left in the photo below) and a sedum of some kind at the driveway edge that just started to bud and something in the middle whose identity baffles me. It just started to bud so I hope to remember what it is soon.
Here is the best shot (Julie, see how the sun lights up the lily you brought me?):
The hosta near the front edge was nicer earlier this summer... before a certain shy woodland creature nibbled it back to ground level. This is only the second deer we have seen on our property in 22 years, even though the surrounding woods are full of them. (Note to self: purchase some wolf urine to discourage future cervine snackers.)
It will take a few years and more plants to fill in the empty spaces, but I am so happy to finally have a garden again.
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In related matters, I had my final checkup with the surgeon earlier this week, and all is healing nicely. At my request he gave me a referral for physical therapy for my lower back and knee pain. First appointment is next week. I know it will take a long time to regain strength and mobility after the last several years of reduced activity, but my goal is to be able to work in the yard and garden next summer. That would roll back my clock over ten years, w00t!
