July yard of the month

Ramblewood Garden Club is pleased to announce that Robert and Barbara Ward have been awarded the July Yard of the Month. The Wards live at 3010 Keystone Drive in Cape Girardeau in the house they built 33 years ago. Celebrating America, the Wards display an American flag on their house year-round. Light pink peonies (Paeonia 'Sarah Bernhardt'), old-fashioned dark purple Iris and light purple spring blooming azaleas (Rhododendron 'Elsie Lee') decorate the edge of the driveway. The thick, green lawn rolls down the hill to the street with a landscaped bed circling the large red oak tree (Quercus rubra) on the side of this grassy area. Surrounded by stone pavers, this bed houses Ajuga 'Burgandy Glow,' also known as bugleweed; white blooming peonies and hellebores (Hellleborus); and dark purple blooming Siberian Iris. A planted side flower bed is carpeted with more Ajuga 'Burgandy Glow,' which deer do not eat; and islands of perennial Bergenia, Astible, Hosta and dark pink flowered Calla lily (Zantedeschia). The Bergenia is a glossy, evergreen leafed plant that provides a most interesting texture in a garden. Azaleas and an oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) stand ready in the background. All the purple and pink flower colors bloom together in the spring for a beautiful result. The front beds contain boxwood (Buxus), coral bells (Heuchera) and adding clumps of bright interest near the porch is variegated canary grass (Pharlaris canariensis). Among the trees in the yard are white flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), Hawthorn (Crataegus), Missouri's state tree; Eastern redbud (Cercis Canadensis); and numerous Eastern white pine (Pinus stubs) and cedar (Cedrus) trees that grow to provide a screen from the street.

We always enjoy learning about new ideas used the gardens of our Yard of the Month winners. Gardeners always need a good phone app for finding plant names on their phones. One new thing we learned from Barbara was how to use the plant finder app. First, take a picture of the plant in question, then pull the picture up and right below the picture is an encircled "i". Press that circle and the word "Plant" will show under the picture. Press "Plant" and the common and the botanical names will give you the information you need. The other new idea we liked was a squirrel deterrent device she has on her bird feeders. Who has not tired of squirrels eating most of their bird seed? Barbara uses "squirrel cones" around the vertical shaft of the feeders. Squirrels cannot climb past them, so the bird seed feeds the birds and not the squirrels. The Ramblewood Garden Club congratulates the Wards for planting a beautiful yard and making our great city a more inviting place to live.