Looks really nice. And better yet it draws butterflies! What vine do you have on the trellis there? Are you planning to put mulch between the stepping stones? I figgure you must or they wouldn't high like that. Or else you just didn't get around to sinking them yet. I like the idea of the stepping stone pathway. It helps define the gardenbed areas.

Rita,
That is a honey suckle that is still struggling. Not only will there be mulch, but the stones will be about half buried, just haven't gotten it all done yet. Also, There will be some edging.

And just so you know, I ordered lupines fromAmerican Meadows today. I don't expect much, but I couldn't resist the lower price too. I also ordered daffodils from Brent and Becky. I should know better than to look at pictures.

My pitiful little pawpaw tree came today. I planted it and stuck it in the greenhouse so it can grow a little.

High Country Gardens will be mailing me an order next week, mainly various goldenrods.

kay

My gosh- that's a big bed. It's go a nice shape to it- I like the curving path. Most of all I love the trees in the background- you must live in a beautiful neighborhood.
Renee

Oh Kay. I knew you would not be able to resist my yakking about the Lupines and my pictures. I really don't understand why they wouldn't grow down south. Aren't Texas Bluebonnets lupines? Those are the state flower of texas and thrive there so why not the rest of the south?

About the pathway. Sorry, I didn't mean to imply you weren't working fast enough LOL :-(( I just wondered what you did and how you handled the stepping stone paths. I know you have more of them. I remember the pretty home made stepping stones last year. My paths are either grass or straw so I wasn't too sure how the stepping stones are placed.

It's looking very nice. Watch out, next year it will look fantastic. I have
a pretty big Paw Paw tree. So far have seen the zebra visit my garden
2 weeks ago.

Looks terrific and is going to be just lovely.
I love stepping stones in paths.

Mine were mostly just dirt or grass, but I am slowly getting them all filled with either chipped wood, flat rocks or the brick pathers in the same color as my native rocks. We don't have lawn - we have Bermuda grass and weeds, so when I mow it, it gets thrown into the flowerbeds and then the danged stuff grows. Ugh. Thus the need for something else besides grass.

Anyhow, You must post pictures of the Butterflies, if you can capture them. I want to see your Zebras! Then I can tell my friends that I know somebody who has zebras eating right in her garden. :)

~Annie

Do you have have a problem with the plants that are on stands that are beside your walkway? They look very similar to some stands that I have and they will blow over. Are yours secured some way? Also how far apart are you placing your stepping stone? I have a pathway that I would like to put stepping stones in and DH and I looked at them yesterday but couldn't decide how many we would need.

Lilyday, I do anchor the legs of the stands with garden staples, but the pots are temporary, just until I am through planting.

I usually place the stones about 16 to 18 inches apart. I walk it to see if it feels right and rearrange until I have the right stride and I don't to "minch" along like I'm wearing a hobble skirt,nor stride like the giant in jack and the beanstalk. It's my garden so I suit it for me.

My soon to be 3 year old grandson thinks it is great fun to walk the paths :)

You may notice four small stones veering off to the left. Those are so I don't step on the soil and compact it. I make frequent forays in that direction, so I try to plan for it. I have small square stone in the new iris bed so I have a place to stand when I take pics and groom the plants.

I learn as I go.

kay

I ran across this yesterday when I was doing a search, and I wanted to post a a picture taken today of that garden:
{{gwi:673739}}

And this is my HG Young clematis...it is a bodacious bloomer:

{{gwi:673740}}

kay

Lovely color on your light purple clematis. Honestly, it is just amazing the difference in the two pictures of that garden between last year and the same time this year. Sure does look good this year :-))

Yes, it sure does. Just beautiful!

MeMo

Stunning!
What part of the country do you live in? I really covet your blue hydrangea. We have alkali soil here, so we have pink. Your zinnias are good size. Mine are coming up from last years' scattered seeds.

Lovely!!! It is like 48degrees,cold,raining buckets,windy, I don't know wether to grr or brrr! So thanks for warming me up!!!

Thank you all for looking...I was surprised at how little everything had been last year whenI came across this post. Rita, this is one of the clematis you bought. It does take about three years before it really takes off, but there is no stopping it then. It is one that needs only dead pieces removed.

Thank you for the compliment, Memo.

Plantmave, I live in Central Alabama, and it was almost ninety degrees the last three days.

Calamity, we always want what we don't have. I have been watering almost constantly for three days. It is dry here, but rain is supposed to be on the way.

I am really pleased how well the perennials I bbought last year are doing.

kay

I have to go look for that clematis on my trellis by the garage were I put them. I hope its still there as some critter dug up some of them over winter.

Sleep, creep, leap.....what happened to creep? lol.....your's just leaped.

Like the additions of the trellises in your garden to give it height.

I need to get that clematis. Btw how is clematis pronounced? For some reason I have never heard anyone say it. I must be the only person in my circle who grows them.
As I seldom see them in nurseries. The 3 I have came from Sam's Club.
Cle-mat-is or clem-a-tis?

It has been that hot here until yesterday's rain. It will be back in the high 80's today.

Kathy

Rita,
It is a very wonderful bloomer...ripley529, Sometimes do the sleep/leap here and I had to go up when I run out of "across"... besides I had a bad case of "tower envy" from Rita's psot

Kathy, I have so idea...I've always called them cle-mat-is so it's probably wrong.

Thank yoo all for your comments and for looking at the contrast in two years.
kay

It really is amazing what some time will do for a garden. I just love the this years picture with that lots of color cottage garden look.

Kay- Your garden is just lovely! The butterflies are very lucky to have such a beautiful place to enjoy :)

WOW! Great before and after shots. Unbelievable what a difference one year can make.

I think you can really pronounce clematis either way. Below is a link to a Fine Gardening pronounciation guide that I've found really helpful.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pronounciation Guide

What a difference a year makes! Beautiful - I especially love that clematis.

Thyme, thanks. I will like using that.

I thought lilacs was prounouned lie-laks
But I had a friend from MN and she prounouned it lie-locks.

Of course, I am probably one of the few posting here that says "y'all". lol

Nice to see how your garden has matured. It is lovely.

I couldn't see the Pronunciation Guide list but will confirm that my friends and I here in MN and SD say lie locks.

Gorgeous. Love the purple clematis. What's the tall, slender purple blooms in front of the blue hydrangea?

PM - can't you change the soil composition from alkalid to acidic by adding peat moss? When I had a bed full of hydrangeas they were all colors of the rainbow. I added a lot of peat and over time the oak leaves added their own brand of organic nature. Unfortunately the two lots next door were 'changed' to make room for houses so I lost the shade, so I lost the hydrangeas too. It was July/August and they didn't recover from the transplantting.

Thank you all for looking and for your nice comments about the garden.

Chickadee, you can add sulfur to change the PH to acid a bit faster and there is another chemical, I think it is aluminum sulfate that is really so strong I would be afraid to use it. I would love to add lime to get a purple color, but I also have azaleas close by and that would be the kiss of death for them. Peat Moss, Pine Straw, and oak leaves are all mildly acidic too.

The purple blooms in front of the hydrangea belong to another clematis on a modified trellis...it is Romantika, and you can see a few pink blooms from Comtesse de Bouchard on it. Each year it should get fuller. Ashwa is also on the trellis, but blooms weren't showing in this picture.

Plantmaven, I get most of my clematis from Debbie at Silver Star Vinery. I love the look and you can;t get it any other way that I know.

I am constantly making little changes in the garden.

kay

Wow, I love seeing before-after pics like this. I was inspired and just posted my own, even though it's not nearly as sensational as this!

Whatever happened with your paw-paw tree? I have 3 planted in my backyard now, in 3 different stages of development, but I have no idea how long I have to wait until they start looking actually tree-like.