Nyack Garden Journal

  MAY 2012

Some of the perennials now blooming in the sunny corner of the garden: Myosotis sylvatica, Allium 'Purple Sensation',  Geranium endressi 'Wargrave Pink', Dicentra spectabalis,  Dianthus 'Peppermint Star', Artemesia 'Silver Queen'. Around the stones: Thymus praecox 'Elfin', (also an unnamed creeping thyme), Potentilla neumanniana 'Nana', Stachys byzantina 'Silver Carpet'. In the pot is a descendant (strictly, a divison) of a 50 year old Agapanthus plant owned by my grandmother which will bloom later in June - it winters over in the garage and I begin watering and feeding it in early spring.

This is the second year I have gardened in Nyack. Our new backyard had been nicely cared for and landscaped with hostas and shrubs surrounding a lawn. I moved the hostas, and dug up most of the shrubs to plant in the front of the house, leaving a lovely blank slate for perennials and annuals and a small raised bed for vegetables. I brought some plants with me from New England, including ones I had inherited from my grandmother and mother. I am interested in plants which attract birds and butterflies and ones that self-seed and spread. I have several birdbaths and various perches for birds. About half of the yard is shaded in summer so I am starting to collect ferns and wildflowers for this area. I feed the plants from our compost, and use no other fertilizer or pesticides. I like to use rocks and small sculptures in combination with plants.