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!