OK, I'll play - I don't have anymore "have to's" on my list for a while.

This first pic is of a geranium and peony that have been on this property for over 30 years. They were growing in shade and weren't blooming anymore so I moved them. Anything that wants to live in bad conditions can be given a good place to grow. {{gwi:631316}} The peony is a hot pink color.

Not very far away and blooming at the same time as the peony is Heucherella Sun Spot. The blooms on this are actually a darker pink than the picture shows. It looks great with the peony in the background. {{gwi:631318}} The foliage is chartreuse with a dark reddish center in the leaf.

Almost forgot, here is a close up of the geranium bloom, can anyone ID it? {{gwi:631321}}

This is geranium Rozanne and I love this plant. If you can grow geraniums, I highly recommend this one. I have it growing and wandering, around the base of a clematis and it hides the twiggy clematis base. {{gwi:631323}}

This is Spanish Bells but it has lots of other common names. Again, these have been on the property for years. {{gwi:631325}}

This is a dicentra I planted about 15 years ago. Last year it was 4 1/2' tall - they aren't supposed to get that big. I call it my bleeding heart shrub. {{gwi:631328}}

This is a Conoy viburnum I planted about three years ago by the front porch. It has shiny evergreen foliage and a very pretty bloom in the spring. {{gwi:631331}}

Last but not least, one of my Japanese maple leaves with the red blooms just starting to appear. The leaves are a bright chartreuse color and the red blooms are outstanding. The leaves actually stay a light bright color for most of the summer. The name is Aureum. {{gwi:631335}}

Brooke

Wow!!!The Japanese Maple almost looks fake the color is so intense on my Puter!We have one dwarf burgandy laceleaf Maple that is outstanding that we bought 7 years ago before the prices got so high. I got two dwarfs at Walmart this year for $14 but the really pretty ones were $70 even at Walmart! I had to pass on them even though they were just plumb goregous.

I've just the last 2 yeaers started getting Viburnums and they are such wonderful shrubs. I bought two of the Walmart "Stick in a bag" two years ago and they are now close to 6' tall and bloom so profusely and I just love the foiliage. Mine are "Shastas" and I bought a new one this Spring that is a Jap Vib snowball. I'm bidding on an Euporean Snowball now. I'm really loving the ease of care that shrubs have in my deadly clay soil.

I also love the "Wild" Azeleas or Natives I think they are called. They have the pretties blooms to me.

Thanks for sharing, Mona

Mona the Aureum is my favorite JM and I had to wait ALL summer a couple of years ago for the nursery to have their 50% off sale. I used to go there and check on it every couple of weeks - the day their sale started I was there when it opened to get it. The foliage really is as bright as the picture.

My other favorite is a Shin Deshojo - I have had one as a bonsai for several years and got one almost 6' tall for the garden this year. They start the year with Cardinal red foliage, then the foliage turns a green color but new shoots and leaves are bright Cardinal again. Then in the fall, back to bright red again. It really gives quite a display all growing season.

The Virburnum's are great shrubs if you have room for most of them. The Conoy will live in a smaller space - some of our big ones are huge. I love the Snowball but don't have one, yet. I just need a space big enough to accomodate one.

Brooke

Brooke, I am probably not telling you anything you do not already know, but I suspect your Geranium is a wild Geranium. I like all Japanese Maples. Yours is very nice. Must be nice to live near a nursery that has 50% off sales. I have a JM that someone gave me in a trade. I need to plant it, but it is doing ok in the 5 gal. bucket and I am in no hurry as long as it does well. I really like the assortment of things you grow. As I said earlier, I started with that idea, but got sidetracked by the hybridizing.

You still have time to add things to your garden! I can't do daylilies year round so I feed my plant addiction with other things.

Japanese maples are great container plants. I just got a Sharp's Pygmy JM and will grow that in a whiskey barrel type planter. It is about 2' tall now and maxs out at 3'. At this size, it is a small shrub so to enjoy it, I will elevate it to you don't have to bend over to see it.

My favorite nursery around here sits on 6 acres and their motto is "like a walk in the park". It is so beautifully landscaped and you can see plants in a natural setting. They have a gorgeous koi pond with a meandering creek that goes into a waterfall as it enters the pond. Yearly they have a 50% off sale the 4th Thursday in August. People line up to get in when they open. We buy most of our trees and shrubs then or we couldn't afford them. They are the most expensive nursery around by about 25% but their trees/shrubs are also much larger than offered elsewhere. At my age, I can't wait forever to see a mature plant!

Brooke

As royce said, the closeup is a wild geranium but I don't know it's botanical name. I have gobs growing in my wildflower garden. I suspect your peony is a Sarah bernhart.. I probably mis-spelled the last name but when mine opens in about 2 or 3 weeks, ( I'm really far behind you ) I will post a picture.

Royce, your native azaleas will get taller and fill out beautifully. Mine is about 7 ft and I keep it that size. I have one hot pink, 1 pale pink , 1 orange from the smokies, 1 yellow orangy and 1 yellow. All natives. Because I stole, ( not me but someone ) the one from the smokies doesn't do well. Mine will be blooming , in a few days so then I'll show you. The pale one blooms later and the orange and yellows even later....I think your is cute and they do smell wonderful..Ellie

Sorry I gave the impression all those plants were blooming now - they ain't! My redbuds are still working up the courage to open completely and the dogwoods are just now considering if they should pop.

Thanks for the ID on my wild geranium - lucky me, that is how I identified her in her pictures. The two peonies I have are common as dirt around here and are old as the hills. They are planted enmasse in this area. The people we bought the property from had lots of flowers but they were all common and the usual passalong plants. We had some daylilies here that were probably hybridized in the 40's but we couldn't ID them so they left.

I'm glad I moved these plants that were struggling in their previous locations and gave them some TLC. I have lived here for 28 years and the people before lived here for 20 years. No telling how old these plants are but their will to live caught my attention.

Brooke

Ellie, my pink Native Azalea was appropriated. Actually, I have a small clump growing in the woods on my property. I dug several clumps, leaving most undisturbed. I planted a couple of clumps in other spots in the woods, but they did not survive. I kept two in pots and have planted them near the greenhouse. The orange one blooms later and was given to me by friends, who really legally bought it. lol