"The Big Island"

I have taken to calling the large island along the road “Hawaii”. You know, Hawaii is also known as “The Big Island”, and our island is really large! It's also sloping, and has a nice angled curve on one end. Well, yesterday we spent most of the afternoon working on Hawaii, and now it’s just gorgeous! Here’s a picture from the northern end, looking south. We live on a corner lot, and the island goes from the front of the corner, down along the side street.




I made the tough choice yesterday to take out a buddleia, a red pixie lilac and a spirea ‘brides wreath’ for the sake of some other plants that were suffering from lack of sunshine and being crowded too much. I did leave one of the red pixie’s - in fact, the smaller one. This one is about 5+ feet tall, and almost that big across!



When I planted these, the name ’red pixie’ somehow meant they were small, but that’s not the case AT ALL!!! They get quite large, especially in circumference, so if you don’t have a large space for them, I’d suggest you get something a little on the smaller size. They do bloom beautifully, though, and the scent is simply heavenly!!!

But as you can see now, the sun shines through nicely, and things aren't as crowded any more - of course you'll just have to take my word on that one!

Now I would love to share with you some of my favorite plants in this island . . . . .

Tulip Magnolia - blooms in early spring with pink and purple blooms.

Betony - she's about to bloom! A lovely purplish pink bloom, and they multiply easily.

Black and blue salvia - by July she'll be 4-5 feet tall and full of brilliant blue blooms! The bees, butterflies and hummers love her! I actually dug up a few babies from this one and planted them in pots yesterday for future use.

At our old house I had several huge rosemary 'bushes' and it took me 3 years to find the right spot where one would be happy here at this house, but I think this one is happy, don't you??? She's about 3 feet tall and at least that across, and this is only her 3rd summer!. To her left, a tall garden phlox, center in front is cat mint, and to the right is a lavender.

This plastic bunny belonged to my grandmother 'Mama Cliffie', and after she died, my dad gave him to me.




Another lavender, just full of buds!

This little scrap is just precious to me! It's a flowering almond, and it came from one that has been in my parents yard since I was a small child! (They've lived in the same house for almost 59 years!) We carried my parents our old sofa last year, and hubby ran over the small bush in their yard. One piece broke off, and I brought it home and planted it. Strangely enough, the parent plant has done the best last summer and this spring that it's done in years, so maybe being hit by a truck was good for it! I thought this baby didn't make it, but one day, there she was, up from what I thought were dead roots! I put a tomato cage over her to protect her for a little while.

Also precious is this mama and two babies. They are what I call 'old fashioned' lilacs. Daddy gave me the lilac a few years ago to thank me for being there when he was in the hospital. This variety doesn't grow too well here, and the mama has fought valiantly to grow, and apparently she is going to be okay, because the center baby is about 2 year old, and the one to the right is brand new this spring. My dad (who knows about these things) told me to leave them where they are and not try to move the babies. That's why the buddleia had to go yesterday!

On this obelisk are three vines that will give me blooms around the clock! Heavenly Blue morning glories, hyacinth beans and moonflowers.

And on this obelisk is a clematis that was in the back yard, but never grew much because it was too shady. This spring I moved him o the front and on this obelisk, and he seems very happy now. To his right is a foxglove baby transplanted from another part of the yard.

This is a three trunked oak tree where I hang a couple of bird feeders. You can see the rosemary there to the right. We trimmed some of the lower hanging limbs to give the rosemary some more sun and to make it easier to walk around that area.

This is a Chinese Snowball vibernum, and since it was finished blooming, I trimmed the lower limbs and shaped her up a bit. She was looking pretty straggly at best!

I have quite a few new things to plant, especially since there's more sunshine there now. I've got 4 tomato plants that will go in there, 4 hollyhocks and several other things that I'll be placing throughout the island.

I hope you've enjoyed this tour, come back again soon! Becky