Around The Pond
We planted a lot of different
types of flowers and plants around our pond. Some worked and some didn’t. I
won’t go into a lot detail about everything we planted. Instead, I will
mention a few that did very well for us. We are in Louisville, Kentucky and
usually experience a full range of weather. Summers are hot and humid, getting
up into the 90’s in July and August. Winters are fairly harsh, getting down
into single-digit temperatures in January and February. Spring and fall usually provide very
comfortable 70ish temperatures. This year, many of our flowers were blooming
well into December before we had a good freeze that killed them off. Most of our
plants were purchased at local nurseries and home supply stores as seedlings. We
tried planting some seeds with little success (I think our abundance of birds in
the area ate the seeds).
Coleus: We had a couple of
varieties, one with red leaves and the other with red leaves speckled with
yellow and trimmed in light green. These are beautiful plants that grew
extremely well for us. They grow fairly large and look great around the pond.
Petunias: We planted a large
variety of petunias and they did very well. They produced beautiful flowers in
wide variety of colors and bloomed all summer, fall, and into late December.
Vincas: Somewhat similar to petunias in appearance but a little smaller. They look great around borders and around our bird bath.
Dusty Miller: A medium-sized plant with soft white leaves provides a nice contrast to the red and green of most other plants.
Silver Mound: This is a beautiful white/silver plant that grows close to the ground and spreads out across the ground. It is great for borders.
We also planted a dwarf burning bush behind our waterfall that did well. It has small green leaves that turn red in the fall. It did not grow much, staying about 2-3 feet tall.
Coming Attractions
Last fall, I got really ambitious and planted a series of bulbs in new area to expand our garden along a fence near the pond. I planted an assortment of Tulips, Daffodils, Muscari, Anne Marie and Blue Jackets. I was concerned because the squirrels dug up a few of the bulbs but I am thrilled that all of them are starting to sprout (as of late February). We did have a pretty mild winter and some unusually warm spells in January, getting into 50s and 60s.
I will keep you posted on how they do this spring.
Next : Fish