Watching the evolution of a garden is one of the greatest joys I receive from gardening, and the cottage garden style lends itself so beautifully to allowing those changes to gracefully occur. This spring I started mulching my beds for the first time, and that in itself has changed the overall look of the gardens quite a bit. Last year at this time, annual Poppies and loads of Lilies were the big color providers. Some Poppies have returned, plenty in restrained clumps now blooming nicely, but not all over the place like I allowed last year, as the mulching has prevented a lot of reseeding annuals this year. Surprisingly, several Asiatic Lilies seem to have disappeared from a couple of beds, and not so surprisingly, several OT Lilies are gone this year (no surprise because I found lots of rodent tunnels early this spring while cleaning up and mulching). I was concerned that the beds would be sadly lacking color in early summer, but have been delighted to see other perennials have beefed up and are providing a wonderful show! Daylilies have developed into fat clumps that are blooming their hearts out like I've never seen before. Echinaceas that I started from seed a couple of years ago have developed into mature clumps with loads of blooms- I'd never realized what a great pairing they are for Daylilies!
What changes have you observed in your garden compared to previous years?
