Garden Photo of the Day

Changes in Michael’s Garden

More sun means new garden opportunities

garden in fall with lots of fall flowers

My name is Michael Follose, and since my last submission (Michael’s Garden in Oregon and Returning to a Garden After Almost a Decade ), I’ve had two birch (Betula) trees removed, including one that I planted 45 years ago. My husband, Don, and I built a new picket fence out front and terraced some of that area with more lava rocks, partly to cover their massive root systems with soil. We’ve also moved the hostas and hellebores (that were now in direct sunlight) to other gardens. We’ve spent the last couple of years planting the area to give it a cottage garden feel. Here in Powell Butte, Oregon, we are now considered to be in Zone 6, but we still choose our plants as if we were in Zone 5.

diseased birch trees being removed from the propertyOur two diseased birch trees being removed in 2019

close up of pink tulips and yellow daffodils Tulips (Tulipa hybrids, Zones 3–8) and daffodils (Narcissus hybrids, Zones 3–8) in the spring blooming in the area where the birches used to be.

garden patio surrounded by garden beds and potted plantsThis view from the side patio shows a newly planted area.

garden bed with lots of ornamental grass and purple flowersThis photo shows the new garden area, with Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra, Zones 5–9), petunias (Petunia hybrids, Zones 10–11 or as annuals), and sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas, Zones 10–11 or as an annual).

same spot in the garden with plants covered in fall flowersThe asters (Symphytotrichum sp.) and goldenrod (Solidago rugosa ‘Fireworks’, Zones 4–8) really put on a show in the fall.

close up of foxglove spiresThese are foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea, Zones 4–8) that we started from seed.

close up of pink rosesThe David Austin rose ‘Princess Alexandra of Kent’ is luxuriating on the full sun left by the removal of the birch trees.

multi-colored snapdragon flowersSelf-seeded snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus, Zones 7–10 or as a cool-season annual)

garden pond surrounded by yellow, orange, and red flowersThe pond in late summer is bordered with perennials blooming in hot shades of orange and yellow.

perennial foliage with yellow fall color‘Happy Returns’ daylily (Hemerocallis ‘Happy Returns’, Zones 3–9) is grown mostly for its very long blooming season and soft yellow flowers, but the color as it goes dormant in the fall is pretty nice too!

 

Have a garden you’d like to share?

Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!

To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.

Have a mobile phone? Tag your photos on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with #FineGardening!

Do you receive the GPOD by email yet? Sign up here.

View Comments

Comments

  1. User avater
    musabasjoosue 11/29/2022

    I love stone in the garden. All your hard work has certainly paid off. Thanks for sharing these beautiful photos!

  2. paiya 11/29/2022

    Beautiful luxuriant garden

  3. User avater
    user-7007816 11/29/2022

    Beautiful garden, particularly around your pond. Great Job!

  4. User avater
    simplesue 11/29/2022

    I revisited your other two garden posts on Fine Gardening, and it's always amazing to see how a garden changes!
    One thing that didn't change about your garden is that it's remained fabulous throughout all the years!
    I found your Pinterest page and "followed" you and "pinned" your Foxgloves photo for inspiration!

    1. centraloregongarden 11/29/2022

      Thank you! I'm now following you on Pinterest. I see that you have set up a section under one of your boards for Fine Gardening's GPOD. I hadn't thought of doing that, but liked the the idea and will setup my own board.

      1. User avater
        simplesue 11/30/2022

        Good!, And yup, Pinterest is a nice way to organize garden photos from Fine Gardening and other sources too.!

  5. sheila_schultz 11/29/2022

    All of your garden beds are just loaded with beautiful, lush and very happy plantings. The colors are amazing and must draw pollinators from all over your area to feast, rest and then feast again!
    The pond is simply magnificent as are all of the different planted areas. Your hard work has definitely paid off!

    1. centraloregongarden 11/29/2022

      We do try and use as many plants as possible to draw pollinators. Thanks for your comments.

  6. btucker9675 11/29/2022

    Fabulous garden! I'm green with envy for your goldenrod - have not been successful with it since moving to NC. Yours is stunning! And those snapdragons!!!

  7. User avater
    cynthia2020 11/29/2022

    Michael - I enjoyed seeing all the photos and especially liked the hardscaping, the tall snapdragons, and the pond view. Thank you for sharing.

  8. User avater
    vanhatalosuomi 12/05/2022

    Wonderful photos of a very lovely garden! Thanks for sharing.

Log in or create an account to post a comment.

Related Articles

The Latest