Garden Photo of the Day

The evolution of Regina’s roadside garden in Illinois

In-house laborer cleaning up daylily blooms. Photo/Illustration: Courtesy of Regina Bunning

Happy Memorial Day, everyone! Today’s photos are from Regina Bunning (aka trashywoman62!!). She says, “I live outside of Taylorville, Illinois, on about two acres. We moved here in August 2003 from a home in town that took me 20 minutes to mow with a push mower, so the massive expansion on yard was both wonderful and daunting!

This is the appraisal photo of the home in 2003. There are two pin oaks in the center of the yard and two white oaks by the garage as well as many other oaks in the back. We have always been very careful working around the oaks. Photo/Illustration: Courtesy of Regina Bunning

“As you can see in the appraisal photo there was not much going on other than the old oak trees and green grass. That fall, having plantitis, we dividedtwo varieties of hostas from my old house and made many babies and planted them along the front of the house and planted a few bulbs around the Jane Magnolia at the front door. The next couple of years we repainted the trim on the house and added a split rail fence to “frame the picture”. I was amazed at the change those two items made. So, as the story goes, I went plant shopping!

Another BEFORE photo. Photo/Illustration: Courtesy of Regina Bunning

“Over the course of several years, my in-house laborer has taken an interest in the actual plants, not just building, moving, spreading, and digging. His transformation was both wonderful and difficult. I could not have done this without his help but sometimes he acts on his own, which is often contradictory to the wishes of the Head Gardener! But when I was unable to work in the garden for a couple of years, he was right there weeding and spreading new mulch without being asked. The garden survived those two years because of him. And his maintenance was done usually on the one or two days he had off because he was an over-the-road truck driver. I tease him and say he goes back to work to rest.”

In May 2006 we started laying out beds for future planting and relocated the flagpole, dreaming of all the plants I would get to buy to fill the beds. We also ran electricity out to the fence to light the flag (and in anticipation of Christmas lights on the fence) and over to the hosta bed under the old Spruces for future landscape lighting. Photo/Illustration: Courtesy of Regina Bunning

Wow, Regina, that was a huge undertaking, and it looks amazing! Thanks so much for sharing! ****much more info in the captions***

Photo/Illustration: Courtesy of Regina Bunning

**Hey all, I’ll be out of the office all week on photo shoots (don’t worry–the GPODS will still go on), so if you have any problems or comments and decide to email me, I may not respond until the middle of next week, and I may not drop in much on the GPOD this week (I was out last week, too, could you tell?). If something urgent comes up, you can email our web producer, Antonio, at [email protected]. I’ll try to find lots of great stuff to share with you while I’m out. In the meantime, keep sending me pics of your gardens! You would not believe some of the stuff I’m getting in my inbox these days. You guys are some seriously talented gardeners!! Keep it comin’…….**

Photo/Illustration: Courtesy of Regina Bunning
Photo/Illustration: Courtesy of Regina Bunning
The yard across the front. Ignore the construction debris at the rear, the patio was undergoing a major renovation too. About 4 years ago we purchased an additional 75 feet on the west side of our property shown here. Betcha you know what that means…RIGHT!!…. more plant shopping!! I have tried to get the phone company to move that unsightly fiber optic marker, but they just don’t understand!! Photo/Illustration: Courtesy of Regina Bunning
Photo/Illustration: Courtesy of Regina Bunning
My hosta bed before the voles attacked it during the fall/winter of 2010-2011. I totally lost some large hostas and others just barely put up any leaves because the voles ate most of their crowns. Photo/Illustration: Courtesy of Regina Bunning
In-house laborer showing off his ‘Annabelle’ hydrangea flowers! Guess I need to quit buying flowers and buy him some new jeans for working in the yard and photograph sessions, LOL! To his left is the stump of one of the 2 pin oaks in the center of the front yard. We cut it down summer 2012 because it died. Think it was from damage from the ice storm we had about 5 years prior. Researching found no disease and the one next to it is happy as can be. Guess what…gotta shop for a replacement tree this year!!! Photo/Illustration: Courtesy of Regina Bunning

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Comments

  1. user-1020932 05/27/2013

    great job and it's looking great! is that an 'Incrediball' Hydrangea? sure that additional 75 ft of property will fill up fast,,,,,the thrill of the hunt on plant expeditions. i'm betting at the garden centers you are "a woman with a mission" !

  2. wGardens 05/27/2013

    Wow! Your neighbors must have enjoyed watching the transition. Looks wonderful. Would love to see the "night lighting"! Also.... keep us informed on the new garden area. We'll be looking for before/after photos again. Enjoy the hunt!!!

  3. User avater
    meander_michaele 05/27/2013

    Hi, Regina, you're so right...the fence, all by itself, adds so much and now with the display of joyful, colorful daylilies...you've got the WOW effect going on! That's an awesome hydrangea your guy is standing proudly by and hey, tattered jeans are a badge of honor. Kids pay extra good money to get that well worn look.
    Have you solved your vole problem? Looks like such a nice setting for hosta so I hope so.

  4. bee1nine 05/27/2013

    I've got to add my WOW, as well! What an amazing feat, and
    then some! Regina, like how you featured 'before' photos to
    stage this spectacular transformation.
    How glorious for passerby and neighbors to view these splendid daylilies!
    A big 'kudos' to your in-house laborer, too!!
    Thank-you and as always, happy hunting!:)

  5. hortiphila 05/27/2013

    Hey! I'm glad to see you finally posted your spectacular garden. It looks great!

  6. cwheat000 05/27/2013

    Regina, it is so nice to see a garden from the gpod group. Your new yard looks like a huge, but fun undertaking. I have big yard also. I know how hard it is to fill it, but the endless canvas is great. I love your fence and huge swath of daylilies. They really warm up the place. Do you know what varieties they are? Before I forget, a big shout out, to your in house laborer. I wish my guy took some interest in the garden.

  7. delancey 05/27/2013

    Lovely garden you two have created, Regina -- those lilies! There's a four-foot, green wire fence between my neighbour's driveway and ours, with a strip of garden on either side. Orange lilies were planted next door decades back, and have slowly moved through to our side. A few gaps remain, and I've wondered about filling in with some yellow day lilies. Now that I've seen yours, I think I will! I just wish this year's gardening budget would let me go out and buy dozens, right now, so I'd have that colourful mix this summer.. Patience, patience...

  8. user-1020932 05/27/2013

    cwheat, your prayers are working my Gunnera is growing BUT it's still in a large pot sitting in a washtub of standing water those are some thirsty plants. regina's garden shows the space of a person who LOVES plants and LOVES to grow "stuff" sure all the neighbors and passersby love that fencerow

  9. tractor1 05/27/2013

    That's a lovely split rail fence, it really frames the picture. I enjoyed the progression from barren rural to plant populated surburban. Now I'd like to see the rest of your property, Regina. Great job!

    The weather here in the Catskills has been unseasonably cold for late May (below 40 degrees) and very wet, solid rain for days... today is the first sunny day all week. But I've been very busy caring for Cali's barn kittens, she stopped nursing them at three weeks so I brought them into the house and they are doing wonderfully well. They all three will be going to their new home next week; Kali, Sonic, and Barny:

    Rain, what rain:

  10. tractor1 05/27/2013

    Oops, forgot the links...

    tractor1 writes:

    That's a lovely split rail fence, it really frames the picture. I enjoyed the progression from barren rural to plant populated surburban. Now I'd like to see the rest of your property, Regina. Great job!

    The weather here in the Catskills has been unseasonably cold for late May (below 40 degrees) and very wet, solid rain for days... today is the first sunny day all week. But I've been very busy caring for Cali's barn kittens, she stopped nursing them at three weeks so I brought them into the house and they are doing wonderfully well. They all three will be going to their new home next week; Kali, Sonic, and Barny:

    Rain, what rain:

  11. Aarchman07030 05/27/2013

    Hostas--the gateway drug of gardening addiction!

    The gardens are beautiful; look forward to seeing what happens with the new side yard. (Don't waste your energy trying to explain gardening to the phone company--just train some Clematis to climb that marker...)

  12. trashywoman62 05/27/2013

    Happy Memorial Day everyone!
    Thanks for all the wonderful kudos, everyone! It makes me all warm and fuzzy on this wet weekend. Now to answer questions...
    tntreeman- It is Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle', an older variety that does well here in Illinois because it blooms on new wood so it can be pruned to the ground in late winter. It seems this hard pruning produces larger flowers. It sometimes flops with hard rains so I have put a peony ring around it.
    wGarden- My neighbors think I am insane, Lol! They have actually said I put them to shame and make them feel lazy but I just tell them not to worry, they are lucky they don't have this sickness!
    meander1- I plan on adding in some other daylilies into the mix along the fence now that I can gauge their average bloom time and see I need some later ones. In the beginning it was just buy the beautiful, now I visit the daylily farms at the time I want to see blooms in my yard so I know which ones really bloom at that time. And no the voles have not been completely eradicated, neither have the moles! They can take a hosta that has a crown of 8" and eat away all those little eyes and then I end up with only about 6 tiny leaves sprouting. Grrrrr!

  13. trashywoman62 05/27/2013

    bee1nine- Thank you. I always try to encourage people to grab any camera and snap a few photos before a project is started, then during and after because you forget what you had when you started. I know when I was sick and couldn't be out in the yard enjoying it up close and personal I would spend hours on my computer looking at all the photos I had taken and it helped pass the time a little easier.

    hortiphila- Thanks for the compliment! It means a lot coming from a gardening guru like you!

    cwheat000- Thank you for your kind words. The daylilies may not give me flowers and texture year round but they fill in quickly (anyone close by that need some starts) and anchor the fence and yard. I stay around the orange and yellow with a few dark ones like black cat. and I do have most of the varieties labels although there are always NOIDS lurking among the civilized ones. And my hubby was beaming this morning reading this post. He didn't know I included him in my submittal. Funny how Michelle put both pictures of him here...there were many others that were prettier, LOl!!

  14. User avater
    Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2013

    Such a great transformation! The fence was a stroke of genius. You've really faced a lot of challenges. I'm not sure which of your challenges would kill me first. It's a toss up between the huge canvas on which your labor and the second gardener! I should change my moniker from my last name to "control freak".

  15. trashywoman62 05/27/2013

    DeLancy, you don't have to buy, just dig some of the ones that are there, this year one fan, next year 3 fans and if they are the ditch lily you may have 10 next year then add in others as your budget allows. I got my first one in 1997 as a lonely half dead unnamed one at WallyWorld and it turned out to be a lovely double peachy colored one. If you were close by I could set you up!

    Thanks for the clematis idea, Aarchman07030. Funny how you can look at a garden problem and scratch your head then someone else looks at it and finds the perfect solution!!! OH!!, plant shopping, goodie!! I have a smaller butterfly bush there and gosh, it is staying small, too small so will try clematis.

    Sorry for the long posts...cant you see I love to talk about my garden as much as digging in it :)

  16. olympic_mtn_gardener 05/27/2013

    I love what you have done--great to see before and after pictures. So blah before, so inviting after! Love the bright colors of the daylilies in the sun, and the cool colors of the hostas in the shade.

    But nothing more frustrating than coming up with a beautiful look and then having critters destroy all your hard work! So, I'd like to share my experience with voles and hostas, in case you want to try a different approach to restore your gorgeous shade bed.

    We have LOTS of voles where I garden, with no hope that a repellent would work (we live in a rainy forest with critters constantly moving in or passing through). So I was looking for another solution before planting hostas. I read that wire cages made of hardware cloth encircling the hosta roots may deter voles. I made about two of these cages before giving up in frustration . . . but then my in-house laborer took over and made a couple dozen.

    All the hostas got planted in cages and have thrived. Unfortunately, I didn't think to do the same with a beautiful Acanthus mollis 'Tasmanian Angel', which didn't survive the voles. Since it was planted right next to a dozen hosta that were not touched, I believe the cages are working!

    Now if I could just figure out how to peacefully co-exist with mountain beavers . . .

  17. tractor1 05/27/2013

    I have a utility pole on my property, right in front, I thought of a vine but then how to keep the deer from dining, so I planted a lilac bush... it's doing quite well and already has produced its first bloom in its second year. This lilac is supposed to attain a 15' height and width... in a couple three years I should be able to remove the fence.

  18. veewise 05/27/2013

    I have to remember that quote..."Hostas are the gateway drug of garden addiction!!!"...yesterday I bought another one...a beautiful golden green hosta called'guacamole',couldn't resist the name!
    Thanks for these wonderful pics.

  19. Jackson5 05/27/2013

    Beautiful garden! I love driving by a house like yours and saying to myself "Now that's the home of a gardener!" Your front yard is a show stopper.

  20. mirandadawn 05/29/2013

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    Rare and strange: with a rare name (usually blue, but at the same time may also be gold elite), it is difficult to find, but to get rid of, there is often a special surprise, because fixed and affixes equipment, regardless of the blue-loaded or yellow equipment, are to the edge, in fact, is the best SP produced strange fortune depends on it.
    Open the list of your accomplishments, an achievement which lists the most rare and strange, but not all!
    In addition, rare and strange fall the best equipment is not 100% drop, but if you want, you could do nothing but find them, rs gold because they can. If you encounter, but you can not beat , please hurry to invite your friends list into your game together to engage it, and to drop more than a goodly portion of luck, but also a way of getting money to the Friends of the base!
    Daobao Wizard: Drop equipped with everything falling energy saving in this chapter, in addition to rare and strange part of falling!
    Drop the game settings, through research nethack (known as the originator of the Diablo setting items randomly drop) settings, blade and soul gold in fact, a setting is as follows:
    Rare and strange list of rare and strange list: this figure may be possible, each unique drop list of rare and strange, usually the main producing strange Need rings and necklaces;
    Blue strange list: this picture ordinary strange, it may appear strange blue, just blue strange installed it must be out of the blue, drop list is the list of the world fall in each of the sections that, that does not beyond the the chapter drop the other chapters will be out equipment. (FARM A1 friend Note, A4 was a good blue-loaded, drag a drag the corpse into the A4.)
    3 golden elite list: mainly wow gold used to increase this figure a bit of a challenge and entertainment, to be honest, not farm their significance, and this strange basically impossible to be done FARM their fall list and blue The strange world drop, as limited by chapter, but the yellow loading a relatively high probability it wants.
    So, I'll give you advice:
    Careful and meticulous to a certain figure, the difficulty is not great, you can complete single FARM again, all the blame, all the stones, all the local touch it again, and then reset it again, and so forth NNNN times and times, you can put this figure there might be rare and strange touch, we also know this "specialty".
    Another supplement on suits and legendary equipment drop set: part of the world falling, broken jar and trash mobs and the like can be a goodly portion of luck, but the mobs die so much, the opportunity is always there; portion of the fixed BOSS out drop, multi-brush it, the opportunity is always there, after all, is fixed drop FARM when a lot of bad street but in the end is inevitable; part fall by rare and strange, the same can not be met seeking to encourage you and diligent traveled to every corner of the map; also part of falling exists only in the advanced chest, face.
    About rare and strange location: each figure with surface and underground (cave) in two parts, this strange wandering the entire surface of each figure, that might be buried in the ground, but mainly present in the underground; each figure has a fixed number of underground cave spawn points, and each picture to refresh the total number of points is fixed, but each time the refresh only a few points, to refresh a few point and which point to refresh are random; Members diligent little more effort, run a race map, summarize the law, there will always be the outcome! ! ! ! !
    Random number paradox: while the computer is set between 1-100 random samples of any single chance, from long statistical point of view, are the same, but in a short period of time during the actual operation, you extracted to a 1 and 100 chance is very small; the improved random numbers, often using double-random number divided by the ratio rounded, for example, taken from 1-100 where two duplicate number, and then divided by 2 rounded .
    Refer to the above extract random set model of random numbers, each picture looks much spawn points, but a subset of locations and 1 or 100 is actually more difficult to be able to get from another point of view, mean that other spawn points easily be able to get refreshed, this rule can be found by summing.
    My last most important conclusion: Some rare and strange appears only in the rare spawn points, this setting is also normal, everyone can sum up, there is always the law to be investigated!

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  22. mirandadawn 05/30/2013

    After night the in purgatory A1 a mode detailed experience, including the single player mode and cooperation mode, encountering a variety of elite strange and rare and strange, and whether killing off according to the specific team situation; can not kill resolutely notice teammate pass out next through direct SKIP.
    Goldwto sell many game gold,such as :
    diablo 3 gold
    d3 gold
    runescape gold
    rs gold
    diablo 3 gold
    d3 gold
    diablo3 gold
    blade and soul gold
    wow gold
    tibia gold
    aion gold
    rom gold
    runes of magic gold
    age of wushu gold
    aion kinah
    dofus kamas
    cabal gold
    cabal alz
    eve isk
    atlantica gold
    dfo gold
    guild wars 2 gold
    gw2 gold
    tera gold
    c9 gold
    rappelz gold
    rappelz rupees
    second life linden
    mabinogi gold
    maple story mesos
    rift gold
    dragon nest gold
    itunes gift card
    App Store Gift Card
    Rare and strange: with a rare name (usually blue, but at the same time may also be gold elite), it is difficult to find, but to get rid of, there is often a special surprise, because fixed and affixes equipment, regardless of the blue-loaded or yellow equipment, are to the edge, in fact, is the best SP produced strange fortune depends on it.
    Open the list of your accomplishments, an achievement which lists the most rare and strange, but not all!
    In addition, rare and strange fall the best equipment is not 100% drop, but if you want, you could do nothing but find them, rs gold because they can. If you encounter, but you can not beat , please hurry to invite your friends list into your game together to engage it, and to drop more than a goodly portion of luck, but also a way of getting money to the Friends of the base!
    Daobao Wizard: Drop equipped with everything falling energy saving in this chapter, in addition to rare and strange part of falling!
    Drop the game settings, through research nethack (known as the originator of the Diablo setting items randomly drop) settings, blade and soul gold in fact, a setting is as follows:
    Rare and strange list of rare and strange list: this figure may be possible, each unique drop list of rare and strange, usually the main producing strange Need rings and necklaces;
    Blue strange list: this picture ordinary strange, it may appear strange blue, just blue strange installed it must be out of the blue, drop list is the list of the world fall in each of the sections that, that does not beyond the the chapter drop the other chapters will be out equipment. (FARM A1 friend Note, A4 was a good blue-loaded, drag a drag the corpse into the A4.)
    3 golden elite list: mainly wow gold used to increase this figure a bit of a challenge and entertainment, to be honest, not farm their significance, and this strange basically impossible to be done FARM their fall list and blue The strange world drop, as limited by chapter, but the yellow loading a relatively high probability it wants.
    So, I'll give you advice:
    Careful and meticulous to a certain figure, the difficulty is not great, you can complete single FARM again, all the blame, all the stones, all the local touch it again, and then reset it again, and so forth NNNN times and times, you can put this figure there might be rare and strange touch, we also know this "specialty".
    Another supplement on suits and legendary equipment drop set: part of the world falling, broken jar and trash mobs and the like can be a goodly portion of luck, but the mobs die so much, the opportunity is always there; portion of the fixed BOSS out drop, multi-brush it, the opportunity is always there, after all, is fixed drop FARM when a lot of bad street but in the end is inevitable; part fall by rare and strange, the same can not be met seeking to encourage you and diligent traveled to every corner of the map; also part of falling exists only in the advanced chest, face.
    About rare and strange location: each figure with surface and underground (cave) in two parts, this strange wandering the entire surface of each figure, that might be buried in the ground, but mainly present in the underground; each figure has a fixed number of underground cave spawn points, and each picture to refresh the total number of points is fixed, but each time the refresh only a few points, to refresh a few point and which point to refresh are random; Members diligent little more effort, run a race map, summarize the law, there will always be the outcome! ! ! ! !
    Random number paradox: while the computer is set between 1-100 random samples of any single chance, from long statistical point of view, are the same, but in a short period of time during the actual operation, you extracted to a 1 and 100 chance is very small; the improved random numbers, often using double-random number divided by the ratio rounded, for example, taken from 1-100 where two duplicate number, and then divided by 2 rounded .
    Refer to the above extract random set model of random numbers, each picture looks much spawn points, but a subset of locations and 1 or 100 is actually more difficult to be able to get from another point of view, mean that other spawn points easily be able to get refreshed, this rule can be found by summing.
    My last most important conclusion: Some rare and strange appears only in the rare spawn points, this setting is also normal, everyone can sum up, there is always the law to be investigated!

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