Kims' Whitefish, Montana house

My sister's place is in Whitefish, Montana. Their home is thirty miles from Glacier National Park. The weather is cool during the short summer months of June - August, 70 - 80 degrees in the daytime, 50-60's in the night. What a wonderful reprieve from our scorching heat of Arizona in the summer. Here is the new garden planting we took on while being there for a short 2 week visit this summer.

There was a small pine growing next to this Cedar. The small pine was removed for the reason it was not able to grow to is potential. 

Before

Deer resistant plants were chosen for the planters since the deer frequent the yard. Yellow coreopsis, lavender, Mexican sage, silver cloud ground cover and a small ground creeper tucked in by some rocks were planted. All will go dormant in the cold winter months and reappear in the spring. The butterflies enjoy the flowers while the deer are not suppose to like the oils of the plants. Some deer do not know what the rules are though, hence the name "Deer Resistant"

                          After

                          After

Birch tree planter

Before

These Birch and Aspen trees had been infested with the Elm Beetle that are killing these trees in the Montana area. We had them removed so they would not fall in a wind storm or spread to any other trees. Before the trees were removed we dug out the weeds in the planters.  The soil had quite a bit of sand for good drainage and some good compost was added for some well needed nutrients. The Spruce tree was trimmed up for some added sun light.    

Before

The focus of the plantings were also to be deer resistant . We planted three species of Spireas. They will each reach a graduating height. Their bloom colors range from white to light pink to a raspberry purple. Mexican Sage was added for its blue spike flowers and fragrance. Day lilies in orange and yellow were planted around the perimeter of the rocks. A good layer of bark was added to help keep moisture in the ground. These plants will all go dormant in the cold winter months and will reappear in the spring. After planting, the butterflies were already appearing.

After

After

It was good digging in the ground during the summer out of the scorching heat of Arizona. I look forward to seeing the garden next summer.