Our Zone 3 Perennial Garden and Fire Pit Area

I have mentioned a few times that our perennials have gone crazy this year- so I thought I would share what is thriving in my Zone 3 Perennial Garden- full sun patch! We have had a bunch of rain lately, and things are literally bonkers. This perennial garden is a year old… it’s seriously hard to believe! Things are so happy this year. When we moved in 4 years ago the only plant in our backyard was the poplar tree- which is the largest of the trees in the centre bed. All of the plants from our old house went out front- as we knew the back would become a construction zone. Now that things have simmered down on the build front, we are focusing more time on putting the garden together.

I grabbed this shot through the window of our stair landing, just to give you an idea of how things are filling in. It’s so hard to photograph plants and truly convey what is happening! As you can see our deck opens up to a fire pit area that we completed with gravel and a sandstone edge.

My father in law and I built this rustic bench out of old 2×12’s… it’s 10 feet long and I love it.

The daisies are wild and overgrown- but they’re so cheery so I am just letting them hang out. Plus it’s cute to see little people wander through them…

I have a variety of things in here, including:

• hollyhocks
• day lillies
• monks hood
• echinacea
• lambs ears
• daisies (shasta?)
• icelandic poppies
• pansies
• “lavendula” lavendar
• mock orange shrub
• peonies
• roses
• yellow lilies (not sure what type)
• chives
• irish moss
• oriental poppies
• cupids dart
• salvia

And half a dozen other things that I need to find the names of 😉 Anyone else take transplants from generous friends with no clue as to what they are? I have a very happy ground cover with sweet pink flowers- not sure of the name- but it is living up to it’s intended use, as it has spread a bunch in one short season!

If you missed the Kitchen Garden Tour from this year you can find it here.

I did a quick search of our Instagram Hashtag #kootage and found these goodies from way back.

A photo posted by This Mamas Dance | Ashlea (@thismamasdance) on May 3, 2013 at 1:17pm PDT

A photo posted by This Mamas Dance | Ashlea (@thismamasdance) on Jul 24, 2013 at 4:48pm PDT

Things have come a long way in this backyard! It’s good to remember that sometimes. I have so enjoyed puttering in the yard this season, and am soaking up every minute- even if it includes a fair share of weeding. I have hopes to build an outdoor love seat set to enjoy on the back deck. Those bright yellow chairs were a steal several years ago for $6/set from the thrift shop, and are a lovely sunny spot for morning coffee out our bedroom doors. We always seem to be short on seating when friends come for supper or a visit though! I helped a friend (better described as partner in DIY crime and mama sanity) screw some of her DIY love seats and chairs together- and I am inspired!

Hope you are having a lovely week!

-Miss Ash