Kims-Gardens-2015-The-Hypertufa-Gardener

Kim’s Gardens 2015 – A Year in Review

Let’s take a look back at 2015

Well, here it is . Another New Year and another fresh start for everyone. Have you made any resolutions like you did last year? How did last year’s resolutions work out?  Personally, I have made a lot of resolutions as I do every year. But I have a big problem sticking to them past the evening of New Year’s Day. Oh my!

But as far as my resolutions for my blog, I have done pretty well this year and have grown a lot thanks to all of you who come to read it and get inspiration for your projects.  I love to hear that you have made some and I appreciate it when you post the photos over on the Facebook page.

Kim's Gardens of Hypertufa - The Hypertufa Gardener

My garden has done well this year and given me many colors and beautiful foliage to look at every day. I have made more and more hypertufa pots and find that I am liking the larger ones.

Of course, it is getting harder and harder for me to handle the large ones and I have to scale back on that a little.

Growing Plants in the Large Hypertufa - The Hypertufa Gardener

And here is a little up close view of the cascading sedum.

Cascading Sedum in Large Trough - The Hypertufa Gardener

We had a rainy spring time, and now are having a rainy early winter too. Here in Ohio, Christmas came and went with no snow. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a fan of snow. But I love the look of fresh-fallen snow on the trees and making everything look so pure and white.

I especially love going outside in the quiet and hearing only the soft falling of the snow. There are times in the early morning or late in the night when I can step outside and look into the sky of falling snow and feel such a rush of gratitude that I have been gifted with another season with my family.

Kims Gardens 2015 Back Lower Deck - The Hypertufa Gardener

And when it is all covered with snow soon, it will look like this.

hypertufa planters in the snow - the hypertufa gardener

I really shouldn’t take this time to brag, but I wanted to show you my full and total harvest of tomatoes this past summer. Did I mention that I am not a vegetable grower? This is the whole crop of tomato that I had last year. And it is a cherry tomato too! Only one. And to add insult to injury, some critter ate it before we got it.

Vegetable Crop for the Year - The Hypertufa Gardener

I missed the sweet autumn clematis this year. We had it growing on an arbor but tore it down when we got rid of the pool. It is coming back up in the spot where I had moved it from originally. Those plants are determined. I have it on a front gate again, so looking forward to having an abundance next autumn.

Sweet Autumn Clematis - Kims Gardens

And finally, I will put up a couple of photos of the shrubbery and the ground covers I have. This urn is sitting amid some evergreen cypress ( I think this one is the “Golden Mop” variety. It is a soft feather-like branch.  And they color goes well with the sedum, don’t you think?

Stone planter among shrubbery - The hypertufa gardener

My ajuga reptans with a gazing ball. It makes such a pretty scene. I am working on pulling out the vinca which is still trying to come up.  I consider it one of my “garden thugs.” Vinca. Love the ajuga. Not everyone does.

Ajuga reptans with gazing globe - the hypertufa gardener

I hope you all have a wonderful New Year and I am looking forward to 2016.  May we have a wonderful year for gardening!  One of my resolutions is to try some new plants that I haven’t grown before. So I better look through some magazines and blogs!

2 Comments

  1. Do you cover your suculents in winter? I’m in Prescott AZ and mine are not liking the freezing temperatures we have been having over night. I put an empty plastic pot over it to see if I will be happy again.
    I also started to make an almost hypertufa from a styrofoam container (.69) I picked up at my favorite thrift store. Didn’t use the mortar mix but tried something called concrete dressing (also at thrift store) I don’t know how it compares to the mortar you used but it was $1.99 so thought I’d try it. Waiting for a warmer day to finish the painting of it. LOVE your site and ideas. Husband wishes I’d stay away from it LOL!

    1. Kim Smith says:

      I have to bring tender succulents inside or they would freeze and die here in Ohio. But the hardy ones stay outside all year. So it would depend on what you have. I have not tried concrete dressing, but it sounds like it would work. Tell your husband you must come back again and again. We love it!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.