It has been a long time since I last updated this website. That is because I didn't spend a lot of time gardening. Now I have an all new plan to re-design the backyard and the front yard.  Hopefully my garden will be a much more enjoyable place next year.

Part of the reason why I haven't spend much time working in the garden is the weed and mosquitoes problem.  It seems like every time I go out there, there are weeds everywhere and I also got bitten a lot.  I ended up wasting time un-weeding instead of enjoying the garden. My new design is to try to eliminate the weed problem by planting more plants with stronger root systems.

In the past I have chosen flowering plants mostly for cut flowers, especially those you can buy at a florist. I have fallen for the temptation to get the biggest and most showy flowers.  Experience taught me that this is not the best strategy for a small home garden. Some plants don't do well in certain parts of the garden because of sun exposure or different soil requirements.  Some plants need more space than others and will compete for space if they are planted too close together. In the end, one will dominate causing the other one to die back.  Some has fragile roots that can't compete with neighboring trees and ended up dead. Certain spring bulbs such as tulips die back completely in the summer leaving wilted foliage over bare soil for the weeds to take over. What an eyesore! Well, I have learned a lot since day one.

In my new plan the goal is to create a low-maintenance garden that provides continuous flowering and won't look bare in the winter. My garden shapes like a square with a round center flower bed, a circular path, one corner sitting area and planting areas on all three sides. Here's the challenge.  The backyard is mostly shady. Only the front left corner receives enough sun to grow sun-loving plants. All other areas fall under shadows of trees and a neighboring house. That leaves me with very limited choices of plants. Most of the flowers I like only grows well in the sun. Oh! well, I can't demolish my neighbor's house or cut down my neighbors' trees so what am I going to do.  

Let's start by taking note of what works and what doesn't. 

So here's the new plan.  Take a look at the layout.

Story of the Four Seasons.

蘭花 Orchids

鬱金香 Tulips

百合 Lilies

玫瑰 Roses

• Wow! the Dendrobium Spectabile Bloom again Christmas of 2005.  Absolutely stunning and very fragrant. 

• Watch a Green Paphiopedilum bloom!!! 

• 2004 Greater New York Orchid Show

• Plant list

• 2004 Spring Tulip garden.

This year there were only very few tulips in bloom.  May be the weather was too cold in the winter and many of the bulb died. 

• 2004 Summer Lily garden with me.

The Lilies are producing blossoms but they were not as many and as big as last year.  There were a lot of rain lately.

• a perfect red rose.

Two of the roses died over the winter.  The remaining ones are growing as well.  The weather had been wet and cold and not much sun.  A lot of the healthy leaves from spring had fallen off.  For the brief few days that the roses put out some flowers, I was too busy to take pictures.

• Other 2003 flowers and Garden News.

This year when the irises started to bloom I shot a roll of slide in the evening to test it out.  The colors are absolutely saturated. Check it out here.