Garden Tour

Saturday August 19 was Bobbie's turn for the Ballet Ladies Garden Tour. The idea of a monthly garden tour started in June with three gardens. There were three more in July while Bobbie and another lady concluded the tour in August.

As most gardener's know, August is a difficult time to insure a colorful and growing garden. The weather is usually hot and dry so most perennials are dormant. Bobbie's garden is no exception. So in order to add color, she planted a number of annuals in a new bed (top photo). Several of these are dahlias that she carried
over from last year in paper bags in the garage. This new bed is reclaimed from an old bed that featured a crab apple tree as its centerpiece and myrtle as ground cover.

One of my business partners and I cut down the crabapple 18 months ago. Bobbie cut out the stump in May. In fact you can see the stump leaning against the wall in the background of the middle photo. This is another reclaimed bed that was planted with large yew shrubs. A few annuals made it pretty for the garden party while Bobbie considers what to plant there next.

On the uphill side of the driveway sidewalk is the bed in the bottom photo. Bobbie has improved the lower section of this area by planting soggy tolerant varities. The poor roses on the side of the hill have been eaten by deer and long to be encouraged. They will probably be transplanted to a more rose friendly area in the spring. The grass path on the far right is another improvement. It used to be a mulch path that became ugly and hard to manage.

Overall it's a great job and I am very proud of Bobbie and her efforts.