Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Very First Flower Bed

When we bought our home we had grass (ahem, weeds) going from the sidewalk to the house. It did not appear that there had ever been a flowerbed & I was OK with that because we are not what you would call outdoorsy :)
However, in April, with the encouragement of some green thumbed friends, I decided to dig up the yard & make myself a flower bed! Mistake #1 was thinking I could do this with a hand trowel. This is all I accomplished day 1...
I then borrowed a shovel from Hubby's mom & productivity picked up!
Everything planted!
There are some gaps I have since filled, which you will see in pictures to come, but here are my first plants! Lambs Ear, Mexican Bird of Paradise, Kaleidoscope, Black & Blue Salvia, Purple Sage, Day Lily, & on the very end Prostrate Rosemary
2 bags of woodchips was not enough, but it is a start :) & I added a tiny Lantana behind the Mexican Bird of Paradise.
I was saving the very center of my flower bed for a White Rose of Sharon. Hubby's mom has one & it is beautiful! They were very popular this year, everyone was out of them! Finally, a friend called to tell me she found them over the Memorial Day holiday!  I couldn't wait until I had beautiful white blooms!
Also, newly planted front & center is Moss Rose donated to our church's Women's Retreat from The Greenery! All my original Plants also came from The Greenery, for this newbie they were a blessing! They showed me what plants would work for my yard (full sun) & how to care for them!
Beautiful blooms!
Beautiful flowers on the Mexican Bird of Paradise!
The Rose of Sharon bloomed!!! I was told not to expect blooms because it was planted so late in the year, so this was a wonderful surprise!
And here are pictures from this morning. It is fun to see how everything is filling in & full of color! I don't think the Kaleidoscopes are doing well, but other than those I was blessed with a ton of growth!
The Mexican Bird of Paradise has gotten so tall!!
The Black & Blue Salvia have really filled in & I've seen several blooms from the Rose of Sharon! The Moss Roses have gotten much bigger & have had lots of blooms, but this morning they were being shy ;)
This Prostrate Rosemary is actually 2 plants, but they are creeping together & growing nicely. I need to start cooking with it! Let me tell you, rosemary smells amazing when you water in the morning!
I have been very fortunate that this has been our wettest summer ever! This process has been hot & tiring, but I absolutely love going out & seeing new growth, new buds, & new blooms!

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