What's your 2018 Garden Like?

[Flailing Idiot]

that, and being pummelled by dating ads...

Those lilacs are quite mature, man they get big. Thats why I got the smaller ones, unfortunately while my front yard is larger than many Toronto fronts, its still only 20x20.

I did plant a smoke tree against the front porch last year. This year its really hopping.

[feranaja]

Smoke tree as in one of these?

[Flailing Idiot]

yep. We had one in the first house, and after a couple years the 'smoke' blooms were just incredible.

[feranaja]

I have a story about that thing. The picture I attached is from 2005, my first summer there. I was in Heaven (despite inner Hell, as john had just died a year earlier) with all the flowers - white roses, salmon coloured poppies, the lilac, HUGE wild rose bushes, peonies - amazing. And so every spring I started bringing flowers into the house - first lilacs and then peonies and finally roses, with wildflowers all summer. Now, in my attempts to make everything beautiful, I looked for greenery to add a- nd one day got the idea to use some of the deep burgundy foliage from the smoke bush. The arrangements looked gorgeous! I was so pleased, fulfilling my love of beauty was and is a healing thing for me.


The next day, I noticed some foul stink in the house...I mean, Godawful. It was a very odd stench too, not something you could identify like cat-peed-on-the-rug, dead mouse behind bookcase, or canine anal gland episode...not moldy, not bodily stuff, but horrible. I was under heavy cursing back then so I started to get a little worried it was related (as weird smells can often be, especially with hoodoo). Two days f looking and finally I realized,it was the bloody smokebush. As pretty as it was in those arrangements it was just evil-smelling. In the remaining 11 years I lived there, trust me I never brought it in again.


Just a word of caution...looks lovely, smells like a hoodoo curse with a bit of burning hair and some snake poop attached.

[Flailing Idiot]

Huh. All the years we have had one, we’ve never notice anything smelling bad... but then I don’t think I’ve ever stuck my nose on it to sniff nor brought any of it in. I just enjoy it from 5 feet away.

[feranaja]

I know - it doesn't seem to stink outside, it was just when I brought it in.


Or, you know,maybe it was all the hoodoo....

[Flailing Idiot]

here's a quick shot of the lilacs beginning to bloom, the Japanese maple and a eunonmous in the bgd. There's more including a nice lavender thats beginning to establish etc. The backyard will be a big big project that will probably take a while.

[satanubis]

We have a townhouse. So we have our plants in big pots and such. I am growing an aloe vera plant. I think that they are so beautiful. It's doing well so far.

[Flailing Idiot]

This is really, the first time I’ve ever gotten this involved in gardening really. Our first place we had a handful of plants that looked nice but there was a much smaller space.

This is a whole lot of learning for me, there’s been a few mistakes and some dead plants along the way. One that’s coming in really nicely this year which is anfav is the smoke tree that I have right against our front porch.

The back yard is my next big project. My neck/shoulders are in bad shape and pain so I have to go slow, but I have plans and a whole bunch of flag stones (and plans of a small running pond...) so I don’t know how much I’ll get done this year. The front took about 4 years of planting and trial and error. I think my small lilac might be a bit too close to my maple but I’m afraid to dig it up and put it in another location.

[feranaja]

Originally Posted by Flailing Idiot

here's a quick shot of the lilacs beginning to bloom, the Japanese maple and a eunonmous in the bgd. There's more including a nice lavender thats beginning to establish etc. The backyard will be a big big project that will probably take a while.

Oh wow, Timluck that's really beautiful!!