What you can do with soil and sunshine
Progress:
Making a new garden June 07
The lupines were there. I’m standing in front of where the old bed stopped, transplanting 2 coneflowers over near the other plants. (Learned that lupines are biennial when they didn’t come back.)
Coneflowers with company today, in the view from the front porch.
Lots of good stuff in here: allium seedheads still hanging around like frozen fireworks, an Eryngium ‘Sapphire Blue’ to remind me of my wedding bouquet, zinnias, mint, sedum, chives, basil ‘African Blue,’ Iris transplanted from the backyard, and new perennials to plant this week: Sanguisorba, Japanese anemones (!!!), and primulas from the ACNARGS sale. Then today the neighbors gave us daffodil bulbs.
I have never planted a daffodil. I’ve never planted most of this before.
Two windows and lots of annuals face the road.
The bed in the front of the house was never finished, and since we got back in June, it was late to start. This is a testament to the miracle of seeds: ‘King Kong’ sunflowers (seedlings given from a neighbor), Cosmos, ‘Miracle of Peru’ four-o-clocks, Batchelor buttons, a 6+ft Helianthus finally blooming on the right corner, and struggling in its shade to the left is switchgrass, borage, Joe Pye, and Eryngium yuccifolium ‘Rattlesnake master,’ perennials all planted last fall. Oh and the crazy Campanula ‘Kent Belle’ at far left, finally pooping out. The cardboard on the left corner is keeping weeds down until I figure out what should go in this shady spot with only afternoon sun.
when in doubt, plant lots of annuals-under the front windows a week and a half ago
under the windows this afternoon
What you get around here with a little sun and heat: growth.
Phase 2 begins.
Why stop now? The ugly plastic is killing grass and weeds to make a new bed. There are 2 Perovskia ‘Blue Spire’ plants and 1 Speedwell holding on there now, and to come, a Lychnis coronaria ‘Rose Campion,’ 2 different Chelone, 2 more ‘Rattlesnake masters,’ and a plug of Love grass. Maybe more switch grass. At the far end of the plastic is an old stump. I’m hoping to carve into it and plant some interesting little things. If that doesn’t work, I’m looking for an big, funky planter to stick on top of it.
Phase 2 side view.
At first we thought we’d make the whole front yard into a garden, since it’s smallish, and it would be interesting to make small terraces with low stone walls, finally doing something with the edge of the ditch, which I’m determined can be pretty. But now we have Lucky Buddy Jake and lots more to do, so this will be the extent of the expansion. For now.
Happy Labor Day
Wow. Looks great. And when did you get back from Africa?
Looks a lot like our place the first year or two. Beds around the house. Then a bed defining the corner. Now what are you going to do for a screen in front?
I don’t deadhead my lupines and I always have plenty of plants around. If they’re not where I want them, they’re pretty easy to move when they’re small.
Thanks Craig! We got back June 1, but the picture of the bare bed is from last June.
Since the yard is so so tiny, I don’t think we’re going to do a big screen, but your project did make me consider it. I think if we planted big tall stuff it would overwhelm the little house but still wouldn’t muffle the noise of the $%^# harleys!
I did discover little lupines that came from seed, but it was such a disappointment not finding the original ones this year!
The anemones I ordered came in quart pots, but they’re full of tiny plants! Not sure how they will do if I separate them and plant them in the ground now, but going to do it anyway. Instead of 6 plants, I have about 24, so I’m putting some back under some trees as well as in the back bed. Hope yours are still deer-free!
Oh, yeah, and there are still some colchicum bulbs on the bench of my front porch. You could plant those, too.