Transplanting a Perennial Garden {and a bit about Boxwoods!}

a-new-garden-at-the-dragoosPerennial-Garden-at-ABCDs-houseAs I mentioned in my post about the peonies in bloom, last week we removed the raised planters in our back yard and transplanted the Perennial garden. While I adore the idea of filling the beds on either side of the arbor with swaths of the same bloom, I’m afraid I may have bitten off more landscaping than I can currently chew. I am so embarrassed to even post a photo of what the arbor looks like right now, but I guess it can’t be all pretty all the time around here, can it?our-arbor-in-transitionAt this point, I’m considering planting either side with grass and tackling this backyard project again next Summer. I am overwhelmed with future projects in our yard. I really want to get behind the stone wall planted with day lilies as soon as possible – it’s a huge area, and a pretty enormous undertaking. Besides, if I push off planting either side of the arbor (until next year) maybe Tauren Poodle will be more mature by that point and won’t insist upon prancing through the flower beds? Ha! Doubt it.Tauren-PoodleIn my ideal world, the boxes would be lined in dwarf boxwood not dissimilar to what Bunny Williams has done at her house. With each season, different flowers (all of the same variety depending on whether it is early or late Spring, early mid or late Summer) would pop up in the middle of the bed, encircled by the boxwood. In the Winter, we’d simply have some green interest in the back yard.Bunny-Williams-GardenSusan-Cohans-Pinterest-BoardsBoxwoods-look-pretty-during-the-Winterboxwood-cutting-garden-via-honeysuckle-lifeWhen I presented this idea to the Mr, he said “No. We have too many boxwood in the yard!” In my opinion, there are never too many boxwood. In our yard, boxwood are the jumping off point to create the formal look we’re going for. We have a ton of them on the walk to the mudroom door – why not add more? Doesn’t he realize repetition is a powerful design element? Bill-BarrTrove-InteriorsGreige-DesignI didn’t push the issue with him since there is a boxwood blight working it’s way through the Northeast and I’d hate to kill all those others that we installed late last Summer. (I think I read online somewhere that the dwarf boxwood are not effected. I’d want to confirm that with an expert before I took the idea any further.) It does look pretty amazing to use boxwood en masse like these examples above, don’t you think?boxwoods-as-a-design-featuregladiolus-bulbsgladiolus-bulbs-in-a-daffodil-bedsunrise-collectionlambsearNow, about that NEW Perennial bed. As I mentioned before, we moved all the flowers from the raised beds that were on either side of the arbor in our backyard out into the front yard. We reused everything except one plant which didn’t fare well during the transition. We added dozens of more plants to create more of a color show throughout the Summer months. As I recall, usually August has been mostly white blooms. There will be purple and white cone flowers, blue delphiniums, and gold rudbeckia popping up next, as far as I can guess.Coral-BellsThe Holly bushes that were situated on either side of the stone steps from the driveway have continued to deteriorate since we purchased the house. They were planted too high by the previous owners to begin with, not to mention the stone wall heats up in the Summertime and basically cooks them at the root. I love the look and idea of them, but due to their bad condition and the future plans we have for that spot, we had them removed last week as well.Whats-the-planplans-for-the-side-yardHow-to-hide-a-satellite-dishGarden-that-changes-during-the-Summer-season

  Posted by Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo / Making Your House a Home and Uncategorized

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{In Bloom at The Country House} Peonies from the Garden

The peonies have been in bloom like crazy at our house for the last few weeks. The first week, we had the white tree peony bloom. The second week our two white peony bushes bloomed. I saw the buds forming on the bush the week before last, and posted it on Instagram. The Flower Muse [...]

  Posted by Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo / Floral Design and Flower Arrangements and Uncategorized

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New York City Apartments {on the hunt}

The local Farm produce starting to look fabulous right about now. I’ve been enjoying cooking at home and country life immensely. I am however obsessed with finding us a new apartment in New York City. As you know, I’ve been primarily at The Country House since I returned from Michigan last Summer. Originally, the plan [...]

  Posted by Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo / Personal and The City Apartment and Uncategorized

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Pheasant Eye Narcissus {how to arrange flowers from the garden}

A few weeks ago, a friend brought some Pheasant Eye Narcissus to our house as a hostess gift. As you might recall I promised to show you how to arrange a bunch of flowers like this before my website freaked out. Even though the Daffodils have come and gone in our yards, this type of flower arranging can [...]

  Posted by Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo / Floral Design and Flower Arrangements and How it WORKS and Making Your House a Home and Uncategorized

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Happy Memorial Day Weekend! {What’s cooking for the rainy holiday?}

It’s looking awfully lush and green up here in Northwestern Connecticut! We’ve had an entire week of rain storms, and expect more over this holiday weekend to come. We had high hopes of breaking out the grill over Memorial Day weekend, but it looks like the temps are expected to top out in the low [...]

  Posted by Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo / totally delicious dishes and Uncategorized

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