Bill’s Pittsburgh Garden

A retired musician becomes a gardener and photographer

My name is Bill Goff , and I garden in the suburbs of Pittsburgh in Zone 6b . I am a retired musician . After retirement , I took the class needed to become a Penn State Master Gardener , where I discovered I wanted to take honest pic of my gardens for PowerPoint presentations . For that , I want a better tv camera , and then I needed year to learn how to use the camera , and then I needed dissimilar lens of the eye and more socio-economic class and on and on . So , in reality , my passion for gardening has added for me a new passion of photography , for which I am really grateful !

I take away this picture of my perennialborderthe morn of May 23 . I have a fondness forpeonies(Paeoniahybrids , Zones 3–8 ) and theMay / Juneperennial garden . There is so much that blossom properly about this clock time , and the difficulty is what NOT to let in . I also have an affinity for soft and cool colors , as you could see by this pic . Peonies included here are moody pink ‘ Morning Lilac ’ , grandiloquent diffuse pinkish ‘ Bev ’ , and , in the foreground , ‘ Red Charm . ’ Companions let in the purple - rounded heads ofAllium‘Globemaster ’ ( geographical zone 5–8 ) , the cryptical blueish blooms ofIris siberica‘High Standards ’ ( Zones 3–8 ) , and the airy , light blasphemous blooms ofNepeta‘Six Hills Giant ’ ( Zones 4–7 ) . This is , for me , a beautiful time to be in the garden .

I love alliums , and this one is ‘ Globemaster ’ . It is the utter foil for pink or blank peonies and a cultivar I use in the May / June perennial borderline .

One end of the gay perennial border admit the hot colors of‘Tropicanna ’ canna lilies(Canna‘Tropicanna ’ , Zones 8–10 or as a tender bulb ) , yellowHelianthus‘Lemon Queen ’ ( Zones 4–9 ) , which is a pet ofpollinatorsand provides lots of blooms inAugustandSeptemberwhen there is often little color in the garden .

A shaded area of our backyard contains ahostabed beleaguer apatio . The shade is provide by a break of the day sequoia tree(Metasequoia glyptostroboides , zone 4–8 ) , which has a fascinating account . We love to spend time alfresco here when the eve are coolheaded . blue and greens of hostas have a calming effect , and you ca n’t go wrong admit assorted cultivars , since they harmonize so well together .

Over the years , my garden have included more and morepollinator - favorable plants , since basically all pollinators are in deep problem . Here , a scandalmongering tiger morning coat enjoy nectar from aVerbenabonariensis(Zones 7–9 or as an yearly ) blossom , which is a ship’s boat perennial in our Zone 6b .

A bandage of mixed daylilies(Hemerocallishybrids , Zones 4–9 ) always makes me smile inJuly . These are underplanted with about 100daffodilbulbs , which giveearly springcolor here .

Hummingbirdscan’t resist the blood-red blossom of canna lily in the garden .

Have photos to share ? We ’d bed to see your garden , a particular collection of plants you love , or a wonderful garden you had the probability to call in !

To accede , transmit 5 - 10 photos to[email protected]along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the exposure . We ’d love to hear where you are place , how long you ’ve been garden , successes you are proud of , failures you get wind from , hopes for the future , best-loved plants , or funny stories from your garden .

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