Summertime in My Little Front Garden

That's looking beautiful, Carole ...
and I love the hillsides views in the distance :o)

Thanks Terra pleased you like it, High winds and heavy rains here today so I thought I would finish this blog I started a couple of weeks back ;0)

What a beautiful garden Pansy, really pretty and such an array of colour, hope we get some rain soon, in fact just started so I need not water the garden yipee!!! Lovely blog enjoyed it very much.

I've loved visiting your garden Carole, you have some beautiful and interesting plants there. I especially like the Pieris and your standard Euonymus, it's so good to have something that works all year round. I'm hoping to up date my garden in the autumn, the soil is poor, so first thing after taking out the plants I want to keep, will be a load of top soil.....don't know if I'm looking forward to it or not....lol!

Thanks Olive pleased you liked your visit, talk about rain it absoloutely bouncing down at the moment. its like a river swirling down the close, Im glad I live at the top not the bottom lol
Hi Janey glad you enjoyed your tour, you have just missed the torrential downpour pleased you didnt get wet lol Just looking through the window quite a number of plants have been flattened, just hope the stems aren't broken and they will bounce back!

Thanks for your nice comments, I suppose the rain will do the plants good after the dry spell, I took my Sweet Peas out yesterday as they have stopped flowering and looked sorry for themselves, I was amazed how dry the soil was in the large container its no wonder they gave up flowering!

Your front garden is beautiful Carole, well done to you both! I wish I could do something with mine :((

You have a wonderful garden PP. so colourful, and I like the Pieris. I have one but it is in a pot and never looks like yours. You have a wonderful view too. The Penstemon Strictus is interesting as well.

Looks amazing Pansy:)

Thanks Michaella Im sure you will get around to doing yours, you are great at transforming gardens.

Thanks Cinders I have two pieris in the front garden both do really well one of them is a varigated one which is my favourite, The penstemon Strictus as just finished flowering the leaves have just turned a red colour dont know if its my soil or its normal for this one, Im hoping to take a couple of cuttings just in case I lose it;0)

Thanks Nana Im pleased you like it;0)

Well if I had that view each day Pp. I would not move from my chair in the front room!! Your garden is a picture, so beautiful.

For a small space Pp, you certainly get a lot in and it doesn't look overcrowded. Really pretty. Jx

Thanks Grandma and Jane yes Im lucky having the hills all around and its suprising how much you can get in a small space ;0)

So pretty, wish I had a front garden ours is slabbed for the car :-( trying to make up for it with pots, front gardens are disappearing such a shame the motor car has a lot to answer for!

You have a fabulous view from your front garden, PP. -how wonderful. Your garden is looking superb too. I especially love the Shirley poppies, whose colour is stunning and the white yarrow and astilbe. Mine finished flowering a few weeks ago but was lovely while it lasted.

Super blog. The garden is a credit to you, it looks stunning. I wouldn't actually say it was small either, much bigger than my little plot.
I love the view you have of the fields and hills.
You live in a lovely plot lol.

It looks fabulous Carole and so vibrant ,you have a good eye for putting plants together in the right places , that Lavender Hidcote is such a gorgeous blue , it was a shame about your little cherry tree but you know sometimes we just have to do what's right , I love the view from your garden we are as flat as a pancake :o(

What a great range of lovely plants in a relatively small space - you must be pleased you went through all the work of renewing the lawn, it looks very good.

I agree with what has been said by other, a lovely garden.

Hi Sk not seen you around for awhile, hope all is well. I agree front gardens are disappearing these days which is a shame! used to love looking in the gardens as you walk past, but its the era of the car now, Im lucky as we do have a drivewayup the side of the house;0)

Thanks Waddy for your kind comments pleased you like my little plot;0)

Thanks Amy the Lavender is lovely dont remember it being as vibrant of plentiful last year, we are pleased with the way it has turned out and I dont miss sweeping all the leaves up in the Autumn;0)

Thanks Stera and Drc It was well worth all the effort and I have had nice comments from neighbours too ;0)

Thank you Carole, it's good to have a reminder of how lovely and useful some of my rather 'taken for granted' evergreens are! You have such a beautifully planted and cared for front garden and your views are really wonderful. I like the new Penstemon...it's an unusual one with that height and the broad leaves...very nice!

Thanks Karen its very true how much we take our evergreens for granted, they are the backbone of our gardens around which we weave our own colours and designs,I like the new Penstemon but time will tell if it is sucessful or not, never seem to get them returning the following year but I am going to take some cuttings this time;0)

Ah, at last I've found someone else that doesn't have much success with them! I have no idea why, but I've never been able to grow them. Then last year, Shirley sent me a small rooted cutting, which has survived (just) and now has a flower. Then Annie sent me another lovely one which is also hanging on in there, so I went and bought two lovely deep blue ones from the GC (expensive plants they were too) so I do hope they all survive!

Oh I do hope they survive for you Karen, I will be very interested how they cope with the winter, good luck ;0)

:) Thanks Carole!

What a delightful front garden you have PP...some really nice plants too. I've just had my driveway all redone this year and have plans to do something with the front garden next year. At the moment it's used as a holding pen for the back garden rejects.
I think my favourite is the Chamaecyparis and Lonicera combination - so many different textures going on there in that little section.
I've only just managed to bring a Penstemon through winter for the first time ever - although I suspect it was because the winter was so mild up here.
Thank you for sharing and giving me some inspiration of doing my own front garden :)

Thanks Scottish for your kind comments and you have done well with your Penstemon! hope I am as lucky this year. Im pleased my blog has inspired you and wish you good luck with renovating your garden, will look forwaurd to seeing pictures next year;0))

Sorry I have only got round to commenting on your lovely front garden,Carole..although I had read it earlier..busy two evenings with Thomas..had to play out ,and by the time I logged on,I was too tired to add anything..:o)
It looks brilliant,and you have crammed so much in it..
I love your white Achillea,and white Astilbe...does the Achillea get tall,as my yellow ones are huge..I know some are a medium size...a lot of hard work there,and you and Harry did a great job ..:o) x

Thanks Sandra, The Achillea is around 2ft at the moment Im really pleased with it but want to try andkeep it in that little area, might be difficult as you know how quickly it grows! but I will dig some of the strays up in Autumn;0))

I bought a new one,a couple of years ago,but got rid of it this year..It wasn't the colour I imagined..more a mucky shade of pink ! Lol..I hated it,but I still found odd bits that had seeded..:o(..

I really enjoyed taking a tour with you Carole, your front garden looks really good and I can see why you would get nice comments from the neighbours, a very good selection of planting, something to admire all year round, the view is good as well, I am envious of that, I do have a nice view in the distance, trouble is I have to stand in the middle of the road to see it, plus ignore the houses that are down the hill between the view and me, lol..

Sandra I have just been looking at a multi coloured Achillea on Ebay very tempted but would you believe I resisted buying lol

Thanks lincslass Pleased you enjoyed the little tour, the surrounding hills were the reason we moved here, its very pleasant we do have houses opposite but at least we can see past them to the countryside beyond, which is getting rarer these days;0)

Very pretty, and you've got a nice view too :o)

thanks Hywel and the view is very much appreciated;0))

Carole, that first picture is so lovely, what a view you have and your garden adds to it, beautiful:-)

Thanks Ba for your appreciative comments;0)

Wow Carole your front garden is really lovely, love the view you have over the hills aswell

Thanks Carol pleased you like it;0)

:o)

your front garden is lovely carole and so neat and tidy, lovely views to,
im ashamed to say iv lost interest with my garden this year, no summer again, i must get to it haha :o))

Thanks Sandra pleased you like it! dont worry we all have phases like this, its natural in life, other personal things get in the way, but Im sure you will gain all your usual enthuisisam, been a a very poor year for gardening, cheers for 2013;0)

Your front garden is lovely! You have so many beautiful flowers:)

Thank you Violet pleased you like it;0)

Aww thanks Snoopdog what a nice thing to say;0)

What a gorgeous blog post! This has brightened up my day. its amazing how perfect and well kept it all looks like, when we all know how hard it is to keep a garden up to standard, But you must have a talent!
Well done, and you have a lovely garden and view

Thankyou Jess for your lovely cooments;0)

Loved your front garden PP, have just taken a liking to Astilbes, your white and red ones look gorgeous. I love penstemons, lost one earlier this year, can't remember the name, but Sour Grapes was given to me by a lady in Cornwall over 10 years ago, we stayed in her cottage) and have got 3 plants now from cuttings taken over the years, so good luck with yours!

Hi Gralew so pleased you like my front garden, my Penstemon is just finishing flowering now, doesnt seem to be any suitable stems on it to take cuttings, I may dig it up and try to over winter it in the min greenhouse in a couple of weeks;0)

Hi Carole I have just taken some cuttings of my new penstemon, if they all take, i won't need them all perhaps i could pass some to you. Will keep my fingers crossed for a sucessful crop :o)

Hi Val that would be fantastic very kind of you , I do hope they take ;0))