2026 Garden Progress

The dwarf peach is holding a very compact, healthy green canopy, with long clean leaves wrapping its small raised-bed space.

A green canopy, a lower sweep of purple Pugster bloom, and the raised-bed geometry all remain readable in the thickest part of summer.

Several glossy dark-green peppers are full-sized on the same upright plant, while buds and smaller fruit keep the next harvest coming.

The fruit has sized up dramatically since June, with dense green clusters now occupying nearly every opening between the arbor rails and leaves.

Bobo now fills the front raised box with bright white panicles, backed by the black railing and grounded by burgundy heuchera.

Fresh red-and-gold flowers, long unopened buds, and spent blooms show the clump still moving steadily through its July flush.

The close view catches the panicle in its early lime stage, with fine fertile flowers and larger pale florets opening together.

The dwarf crape myrtle has moved from a dense bud set into a vivid red summer display, with more clusters still waiting to open.

The side foundation bed is carrying its intended summer palette cleanly: chartreuse ligustrum centered between the rhododendron canopy and Shaina maple, with burgundy loropetalum and variegated liriope on the front edge.

The recovered variegated Japanese euonymus now makes a bright, defined shrub layer above the hostas and flowering heuchera.

The side foundation bed is carrying its intended summer palette cleanly: chartreuse ligustrum centered between the rhododendron canopy and Shaina maple, with burgundy loropetalum and variegated liriope on the front edge.

The raised bed is at peak summer density now, with Pugster purple filling the foreground and grape clusters hanging through the lattice behind it.

The side-house foundation planting is settled into a summer edge, with the rhododendron canopy anchoring the bed and the mown lawn giving it a clean corridor.

The grapevine is carrying a heavy set now, with tight green clusters hanging all along the arbor rail and arch.

The gate is framed by grape leaves and green clusters now, with the Rising Sun redbud glowing across the left side of the arbor.

Clean glossy foliage and red stems are carrying rounded buds across the plant, setting up the next summer bloom stage.

Curved pale scapes and swollen buds are rising through the blue-green foliage, with the first purple hint beginning to show.

The vine has jumped from first fruit to real production, with several clean dark-green cucumbers sizing up at once and yellow flowers still open.

Rising Sun is still throwing bright chartreuse canopy over the back garden while the orange milkweed carries the hot color below.

A clean dark-green cucumber is already hanging from the vine, with more blossoms and developing fruit around it.

The cucumber has made a big jump since the June 10 trellis shot, with broad clean leaves, reaching tendrils, and yellow flowers throughout the vine.

The Pugster has crossed from budded green mound into its main purple bloom moment, with dense flower cones and fresh buds still queued at the tips.

The raised bed is fully layered now: purple Pugster bloom low and forward, dwarf peach foliage overhead, and orange milkweed burning in the background.

The cucumber has broad healthy leaves and fresh top growth starting to grab the cage, right on schedule for the June climb.

A tiny blue/azure-type butterfly showed up on the catmint, small enough to disappear into the flower spike until the pale wings caught the light.

The elderberry is settling into a small airy patio-tree shape, with clean chartreuse cutleaf foliage and the brightest new growth at the tips.

From under the arch, the garden opens into a layered June view: grape leaves overhead, redbud to the side, and the raised beds beyond.

The Rising Sun redbud is still holding a bright yellow-green ceiling over the back garden, even with the lower planting now fully filled in.

A large carpenter bee-type pollinator is buried in the orange milkweed, dusted with pollen and catching the light on clear wings.

The Rising Sun redbud is still holding the garden's brightest overhead color, with yellow-green leaves and amber tips shining above the filled-in path bed.

The front planter is doing strong foliage contrast now: Pugster butterfly bush dense and green in front, Orange Rocket barberry red and upright behind it.

The speedwell is still blooming hard below the aucuba, with fresh purple spikes and small pollinator activity in the flowers.

This path view shows the redbud turning into a bright canopy over purple salvia, hostas, and the shaded layers leading toward the grape arbor.

The foundation bed is reading as a real layered shade-edge composition now, with rhododendron structure above and hostas, heuchera, sweetspire, and bright shrubs filling below.

Little Henry has opened its white racemes, shifting from quiet green mound to a clear bloom moment along the bed edge.

Sunshine ligustrum is carrying the bright middle layer, while the variegated liriope starts to make the front edge feel deliberate.

The front raised box has tightened into a strong little composition, with Bobo hydrangea bulking up behind heuchera and purple salvia still blooming at the edge.

The raised mixed bed has moved from spring recovery into real late-May mass, with Pugster foliage, milkweed buds, speedwell, and sedum each holding a distinct layer.

Purple speedwell spikes are carrying the lower layer while the Gold Dust aucuba throws bright variegated growth above them.

The shade-edge planting is filling in under the larger structure, with variegated hostas, dark heuchera, and bright new shrub growth making a layered front corner.

The Sunshine ligustrum is at peak chartreuse against the brick, with the loropetalum holding the dark counterweight beside it.

The garden is starting to feel enclosed and lush now, with grape leaves framing the path and the Rising Sun redbud glowing on the right.

Limelight hydrangea pushing up behind the variegated aucuba — two different greens in easy conversation.

The aucuba filling in with hostas underneath, speckled variegation handling the shade beautifully.

Hydrangea backdrop with astilbe and alliums pushing through the front of the bed.

Early spring structure still visible before the perennials fill in — the bones of the garden showing clearly.

White flower spikes rising clean above the foliage, still pushing new buds at the top.

Salvia taking over as the main color in May, the whole bed shifting into bloom mode.

Sunshine ligustrum lighting up the corner, purple loropetalum providing contrast behind.

The full side foundation bed in late April, everything finding its place in the layering.

Fat buds forming, the rhododendron holding the shady side anchor.

Foundation bed in full May push, rhododendron blooming and everything else catching up.

Vibrant pink-purple trusses lit up against the dark evergreen leaves, speckled throats and long stamens on full display.

Tight on the flowers — speckled petals, curved stamens, translucent pink catching the light.

Big trusses of pale pink finally opening against the dark evergreen foliage.

The whole shrub lit up pink, hosta and heuchera filling the understory beneath it.

New variegated leaves pushing from bare stems after a hard prune — this shrub doesn’t quit.

White roses starting to open against the fence, buds stacked up behind them.

Tomatoes and cucumbers in the ground, vine already climbing the cage, a new season underway in the veggie beds.

Another angle on the full shrub in bloom, the pink mass reading loud from across the yard.

Bright yellow flower spikes rising against the lattice, compound blue-green foliage holding strong underneath.

Tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers in the beds, daylilies and sedum along the edges, sunshine ligustrum lighting up the corner.

Bright yellow daisies packed tight, still budding out — this plant is just getting started.

The vine just beginning to cover the arch over the white gate — structure becoming threshold.

Tiny clusters already visible on trained canes — the promise of a real harvest taking shape.

Barberry embering up in May, the full side bed composition gelling.

A compact three-layer perennial composition coming into spring focus.

Bright red berries still visible on the aucuba in spring before the new growth covers them.

Buds fattening up, the rhododendron building toward its late-spring bloom.

Getting close — the bud clusters tight and ready, the foliage looking strong.