CMK- I think your branch obelisk is charming...and it does add a lot to the garden. What did you end up growing on it...was it beans? Sorry, I can't remember, but I do remember you putting that obelisk in :)

2011 was my second year of gardening, for the front gardens, the fairy garden, the kitchen garden, etc. I really like how things are shaping up...and I did expand the kitchen garden this fall, but there's still so much to do. My defining moment was probably when I realized that vegetables aren't really the best choice, in my kitchen garden. Instead, I'm concentrating on fruits, shrubs, perennials that will give me year round structure, in the garden. With our VERY short summers, at least the frost free part, vegetables will be much better in a smaller garden....maybe fenced off, from the deer! LOL

For 2012, I hope to finish my kitchen garden...but now my big project is a new bed, in the front of the house. I have my cottage garden with roses, on one side and now that we're rebuilding our porch (can I count that as a second defining moment?) I finally have a chance to move the steps and walkway and add another big bed, to balance out the front. Now I have room for more roses!!! I'll choose my picture to show you one of my prettiest 'frilly' roses that has really surprised me. It's so easy to grow, doesn't seem to have any problems (keeping my fingers crossed) and it just blooms its little heart out!

Echo (Baby Tausendschon) {{gwi:324786}}From Lavender's Garden

Not a picture yet to post but I have a wish for 2011 not to repeat itself in 2012. We are getting rain now but the reservoirs are still to low a level for next years dry spells. As you said, I hope Mother Nature is past her mood swings.

-LL, what a fantastic rose. I like the way it blushes pink slightly too. I ended up planting "climbing" nasturtium 'Moonlight' on it. Poor dears barely made it to five inches tall, let alone climb, lol!!! I did love the pale yellow color though.

Way to go making lemonade out of lemons!!! Plus having a new section to plant in right against the house means it will be more sheltered for some of your roses/the less hardy ones. ;-)

-chickadee, someone was just telling me the other day that Tx was at last getting some rain. Hope 2012 is better for your whole state!
CMK

Sheesh, this year was sooo strange weather wise...but that is why my yard survived!!! I had a horrible health year and did not get out in the yard much except for the initial scramble when I invited the Horticulture Club(WHAT was I thinking!!??)(Which was very early in the dreary year and I had NUTHING blooming!) But looking back now and seeing the pics of what I did accomplish; am pleased. New beds I planted flourished, new roses(have never mail ordered before)grew AND bloomed!! Clematis all were happy. Had fruit on all my trees and bushes!!!

This next year I plan to get all my water system working, finish planting whatever survives the winter in the pots, fertilize/water/weed>basically maintain what I have> the last 2 growing seasons I have put in about 1800 plants!!! It sounds like a lot, but I am not a great gardener and they have survived but not much else...

-calamityj, fantastic! I love the echinacea...and the water lily...AND the cute nesting frog...oh yeah and your cute dog ;-) I really like the tile I see in that picture with the burgundy daylily too. Did you put those in yourself? Did you make that seahorse by the pond too? Very neat! Thanks for sharing.
CMK

Great topic Christin! Love all the photos so far.

2011 was a strange weather year. I also hope it evens out a bit next year. A 19" snowstorm just before halloween was no fun. I lost my beautiful magnolia tree right outside my bedroom window and my gorgeous hawthorn is barely hanging on. But, it could have been much, much worse so no complaints.

In 2011 I had great success with starting perennials from seed under lights and was very pleased with just how many plants (hundreds) I was able to plant out in spring. Although it kind of wore me out before summer even started. Which, as it turns out was kind of nice. I did a lot of puttering in the garden this year instead of buying loads of plant material and frantically planting. The backyard gardens are maturing so now it's just a matter of plunking in a perennial here or there or some annuals. It was nice to sit back a little bit more this year and not "tend" the garden so much.

In the late fall we installed some vegetable beds in the cottage area. That was a bit of a project since all the plant material had to be taken out before we could do any work in there. The beds are ready for spring veggie planting! That's my big hope for 2012....to have lots and lots of tasty, fresh veggies.

I'm really looking forward to my trip for 2012 where mom and I are going to The Netherlands for Floriade 2012. I always enjoy traveling to other gardens whether local or abroad, and especially on GW Cottage Forum, to get new ideas and inspiration. I've gotten so many great ideas from the photos everyone posts here.

Cheers!! Happy New Year!!
Susan

You are so lucky to be going to the Netherlands! I really have wanted to go for two trips, one with my hubby (some day) one with my Mom to see flowers. Mom fears it's a bit too much for her now, all the walking.
My defining moment in the garden this year is really not the flowers, at all. Nope, it is creating an entire new garden area heavy with "hard scape" (reclaimed concrete). I had a bit of help, but not all that much. {{gwi:702694}}
Many back problems this year! But I am so happy! This is exactly what I envisioned this area would look like(OK, it would look filled with beautiful flowers/herbs/shrubs too :) It is now pretty well planted up, a few changes (no straight walls, onion and asparagus beds planted). I can't wait to see it in spring!

WOW!!! What a great garden hardscape you have created!!!!Luv Luv Luv!!! I make my own garden art cuz I can't afford to buy it, so I recycle pcs I find/scrounge....

{{gwi:135303}}

-Susan, hope you plan on taking lots of pics in the Netherlands for us all to drool over!!! That is too bad your hawthorn isn't doing so well...

-GGG, your garden turned out so well! It is great you were able to salvage some concrete for it AND make it look so nice (which isn't always an easy feat!). What do you plan to plant in your new space?
CMK

Calamity, I always love your mosaics! I hope to be able to make something for the very center of my garden at some point! I did a few mosaics and my hubby said he dislikes mosaics in general. Sigh. He doesn't comment on much.
CMK, I have most of the area already planted. There's a jujube tree, pomegranite, strawberry guava, quince, juneberry and a line of sasanqua camellias that will be under the oak trees my neighbor planted. Along the driveway is now a bed of strawberries (currently with colorful kales planted there too). Where there is just a bunch of rocks (far right of the photo) are now two very long, curving beds one with perennial onions, the other ready for asparagus. In the very center to shade them are two che fruit trees, and at the very far corner (not in the photo)is a fig tree. In the center of the garden area herbs and flowers mostly. Several areas for a variety of tea and "honey" herbs (my neighbor is getting bees)and around this area shorter culinary herbs (also medicinal like thymes, oreganoes etc). There are two medicinal herb beds and in te very center is a bed with a rose, a few other flowers and some opuntia as I use the paddles as a vegetable and the fruits for jellies. I plan to continue to rotate seasonal vegetables etc. around these plants as they grow, just so that it looks more "gardeny" this past year okra between the small camellias shaded them in the hot sun while the oaks work on creating more shade. We planted many more herbs in and around the tree too, for both beauty and usefulness. Next will be to move all the arches from the house we live in (this is our food garden property) over to this area so they span the walkways. climbing roses and beans and other climbing vegetables can go on those arches (and more arches) creating a secret style walkway for fun, and ease of growing. The garden is now basically divided up into "rooms" or areas about this size, each is based on some sort of theme: eating, wild, fruit/orchard, enjoyment - low maintenance, more herbs, greenhouse, composting (of various sorts), food preparation and eating....I find dividing up the large yard into blocks this size makes it more manageable for me to complete each area, especially when hauling around huge amounts of concrete. We have many, many more dump truck loads of concrete needed to complete the garden!!

GGG, that reclaimed concrete looks great. How did you do it? What was it reclaimed from?

Wow everyone has inspired me!

2011 was a year of watching for me. Planted a new flowerbed in the front yard-and just watched to see how everything was growing. Added here and pulled out there-realized how much I love silver/gray leaves and anything varigated...how can you not notice that about yourself?

This year I am going to add some hardscape to my so shady backyard. GGG you inspired me! And I love the obelisk of CMK.

GGG-my DH is always a little less enthusiastic about my creative adventures than I would like too. Actually he does a lot of eye rolling but it does make me keep a sense of humor about myself. I have tendancies toward wrapping myself in kaftans and burning incense..lol.

Hope you all have a wonderful New Years. So enjoy the company of you and your gardens.

Tea

Lot of good ideas. But after doing our own siding and painting on house. DH reminds me to think (small) for 2012. Nothing I would have to rent skid loader. And heavy lifting.

I have many more areas of reclaimed concrete "walls" this is but one area. It is from foundation work. The man who renovated our home brought it from the next place he worked on, the walkway is the driveway of that home (which burned and was rebuilt). We got the first stuff ourselves, we went to dump sites (including across the street from me, which is were I first got the idea, I'd not seen it done before) and scavenged it for ourselves (plenty of illegal dumping along roads & empty lots in my area a few years back). Another neighborhood friend is a concrete contractor and I can get all I want from him. I pay a hauling fee (basically, tip the driver $50), but do not pay for the materials. It is lucrative for them, they have charged the client a hauling fee and also the dumping fee - usually they haul it only a short way and of course don't have to pay the dump! I only take the stuff I can use, the small bits go to the dump in a pickup truck and the concrete (or whomever) company pays that.
Someone told me some stone places are now actually carrying reclaimed concrete! They charge a nominal fee for the material and earn money on the transportation of it to your home. After a few years it really just looks like rock.

-calamity, you are a true artist! Wish I lived closer so I could take classes from you about how to do stuff like that...

-GGG, hope you have room for a house guset, cuz' I am moving in when your pomegranites and guavas are in fruit!! LOL. That is so awesome you have the room and zone to grow those. I agree when you say concrete starts to look like rock after a few years. I have some hunks along the alley garden I put there a few years ago to keep the neighbors from driving into the plants when they backed out of their driveway). They were kind of glaring at first, but after a few years they got a nice age to them. Now they are quite nice with lamiums and groundcovers trailing over.
CMK

This year I decided to try selling some plants at a farme's market. BIG MISTAKE. It took all the fun out of gardening for me, and distracted me from my own gardens. In the process, I made mistakes with how I potted the plants and lost a number of them to heat and drying. I also became a little tired of my "wild" field looks. So I had DH mow down a bunch of areas. I am going to redo several beds for 2012. I have already started planning and wintersowing. I'm going to plan more and work toward more organized and well- designed beds of flowers, nestled inside a sea of wide swaths of messy wildflowers. I want people to see wildness out front, then be surprised by order and simplicity in the interior, near the house. I am still eager to keep restoring native plants in my riverbank. All I am doing is still for butterflies, insects, and birds. I feel like I lost focus on what is really important for me in gardening this year. I want to get that focus back in 2012. My biggest lesson: I DON'T LIKE MAKING A BUSINESS OUT OF THIS. It's my escape and retreat. Worrying about how to make it marketable ruins it for me.

I'd like to try clematis and other climbing plants, as well as a few more annuals or biennials. I am going to relax my rigid stance on natives a little bit, and try some more compact or long-blooming cultivars of my favorites. But I am still going to be careful to plant plenty of native, nonaltered host plants for caterpillars.

We removed a number of tall evergreens which were way too large for the area (a mistake of knowing nothing about gardening and not doing a proper homework prior to planting them).
Disassembled a hand-made patio and made several raised flower beds.
Removed a number of "garden art" pieces - it no longer appealed to me.
Have too much red in a garden: pillows, flowers. Want to change the color - possibly yellow, orange, and green. Never did like orange, however now everything orange calling my name.
Also, will be planting a number of different kind of conifers and shrubs for privacy.
In a meantime - there is so much more sun in a front and side of the garden - most plants will thank me for that.
~Natalie

Been working on my Vision board...got a corkboard 3ftx4ft and am filling it up with my inspiration for this year! I am also working on an insulated planter box for my espalier 3 variety fruit tree(peach,plum,apricot).

Here is a link that might be useful:

Love your vision board Calam!!! I do that with pretty much everyting I am creating!!! In fact, I have probably no need for wall paper in this old house!! And half of those pics are of a new house!!! Lol!

Did my seed inventory on new year's eve and found many to be about 5 years old so not sure if they will be viable. That's ok cause I am pretty much focusing on vegies this year. I really don't want to do much work in this old house as we are most likely to be selling soon. This old house is coming to the end of it's life but I am looking forward to a new garden with transplants and new ideas in my new place. It's time. * doing the you-go-girl dance*

My plans are to learn all I can about SFG and growing fruit. I really am still a newby in many areas of gardening even though I love it and have been gardening a bit all my life. My big, long range plan is to establish a foundation for the rest of my years and have my kids come live on the prooperty with me. Many solid ideas, just need to be aligned to the powers that be! :) So excited to get going and growing!!!

Love the pics you guys or gals as the case may be have posted! We sure are a bunch of colorful folk ain't we?! I have had a blast being part of this forum so far and look forward to sharing many pictures and accomplishments in the future. Looking forward!!!

Namaste

Ginny

CMK that obelisk works very well there.

Gotta love the mosaic eye of calamity.

GGG nice re-use of that concrete. Looks good.

My favorite pic of 2011 combines conifers and perennials.

The big hosta going up the hill are 'Striptease', 'Fragrant Bouquet' and 'Blue Angel'. The small conifer in the foreground is Tsuga canadensis 'Lewis'.

As for 2012, I may tuck a few conifers with small footprints here and there and I start annuals from seed every year, but after 25+ years here it's more of a maintenance mode for me.

tj

Aftermidnight gave me some hosta and Your pic makes me inspired to have them!!!

Going to plant even more plants for hummers.Had so many last year. Love sitting in arbor swing area and watching them. But got 2 pick up loads of street bricks. Making paths. And I'm getting even more red flowers. And looking for blue ones that bloom longer.

Lovely pictures.

-TJ, great garden shot once again! I particularly like the stone stairs you have- so unique. Did you make them yourself? Kind of reminds me of the lovely stonework you see in Asian inspired/zen gardens around here.
CMK

Thanks CMK. The steps are iron (likely from a factory) that were propped against a railroad tie wall when I moved in here. The slope was a pain to mow (and no fun in winter) so when I decided to terrace it, I dug out a spot for the stairs and embedded them into the slope. I put pavers (that I found at our city dump) behind the steps just to cover the bare soil and the pavers happen to match the patina of the rusted iron.

tj

It's been so nice I'm not waiting until spring to tweak parts of my garden. Today I decided that every woods garden needs a bit of a secret, so I spent a little time clearing out a spot under a huge old mock orange and a snowball, next to a fence, right around the corner from the "gnome home" under the brush pile. It's about 6' across and just big enough for a grandkid to spread a blanket and hide out when the woods has greened up.

I can remember having a spot like that when I was a kid, under a hedge row. I spent a lot of time reading and just hiding out from my mother's chore list in my secret spot.

There is a little path that goes back there that I am
going to line with mini daffodils and a few wildflowers, or maybe pansies and when there are no grands I will put a small statue back there for garden visitors to "find".

Maybe that's where the teddy bear picnic will be when the garden club comes to tour the garden.

Sandy

Sandy, it sounds lovely and enchanting! What a beautiful way to create memories for your grandkids.

tsugajunkie, I love those stairs. You've made a beautiful garden spot to show off just how unique they are!

I've been really enjoying this thread! I started a project last summer that I thought I could accomplish in no time , but the summer got the best of me so I don't have any great pics to share. I have really loved seeing every one else's gardens and hope to have better pics this upcoming year. My goals for this year are to add a cutting flower bed, and design some kinda garden for my backside of the house that gets early morning light then is shady rest of the day. And to spend time working in the garden. Last summer I worked so much at my new job my garden became neglected and rebelled against me! I don't blame it tho....

Here is my Ceramic beehive, I absolutely love. It's in the perfect spot under the fairy rose bush. Next year I'll plant sweet allysum with it. And maybe a little yellow asiatic lilies too. I admired it in a garden center shop and couldn't splurge on it. One visit to the center I noticed a chip on the side , and asked if they'd discount it for the chip. I thought I'd save a couple dollars, they gave it to me for20$! I was so excited!
{{gwi:769567}}

-Sandy, awwww! That is such a charming idea. Even I would love such a spot to hide out!

-lilyfinch, OMG I love that beehive!! I was reading a Fine Gardening online article awhile back (think it was picture of the day or something like that) and they showed a woven beehive in a field. This would last so much longer and be easier to bring in/clean than a real one, lol! So neat, thanks for sharing!
CMK