Last fall when I cleaned up the front flower bed, I thought I had pulled up all of the purple coneflower, except for just a few right against the house, but I was mistaken. The bed was still full of it this year. So today I attempted to clean it up again. I dug up all that I could see. I'm sure some seeds will sprout next year and I'll have to do this again. The above picture is the before shot. (Oh, the blue garbage can in the picture is full of mulch from our recycle place, I used it on the side yard after planting.)
Once I started cleaning I couldn't stop. I pulled up most of the impatiens, several hostas, the sage/salvia, (this salvia isn't very pretty and was too large for the front bed), I also decided to move the spirea that I had cut back. This bed is my only shady spot and I need the space for other plants. I grew foxglove from seed this past winter, (it is a biennial so it should bloom next year), it was healthy but hidden amongst the mass of hostas and spirea. A miniature hollyhock grown from seed was also hidden from view. This past spring I planted a "Karen" azalea and I'd like to get two more next year. We have a crooked water thingy in the front flower bed, of all places, (notice what the flower pot is sitting on), and I'd like to put an azalea on each side of the existing azalea to help cover it up a bit.
Earlier this year, I connected the front flower garden to the back garden along the side of the house, but had not planted anything due to the very dry weather we've had. This is where I put the hostas and coneflower.
Since I was digging and cleaning up, I move a few things from the back yard also. I moved the tree peony that has never bloomed to the side yard and another peony that wasn't in a very good spot. I tried to dig up the mass of daisies in the butterfly garden but didn't get very far. They are so hard to remove. I ended up just having to break a stem at a time, the few I managed to pulled up were replanted in other spots of the yard.
In the butterfly garden, I removed a spreading rose bush that was very invasive. I honestly couldn't remember what the roses looked like on that bush or if it even bloomed this year. The cotoneaster was also removed from the butterfly garden and planted on the back corner. I had moved another one from that bed in the spring and it died, hopefully this one won't.
I wanted to get as much moved today as possible since we should be getting some rain tonight and cooler temperatures are coming. My feet and legs are very sore from all of the digging, but I had a wonderful time outdoors today and feel pretty good about what was accomplished.
Yesterday my zinnias were covered with American painted lady butterflies, the most I've ever seen at one time. I'm not sure if they were migrating south and just stopped here on their way or if they had just recently emerged. They were very calm and didn't fly away when I got close, in fact I was able to get the camera within inches of them.
What a wonderful treat to be this close to so many butterflies. I will most definitely plant masses of zinnias again next summer.
Last fall when I cleaned up the front flower bed, I thought I had pulled up all of the purple coneflower, except for just a few right against the house, but I was mistaken. The bed was still full of it this year. So today I attempted to clean it up again. I dug up all that I could see. I'm sure some seeds will sprout next year and I'll have to do this again. The above picture is the before shot. (Oh, the blue garbage can in the picture is full of mulch from our recycle place, I used it on the side yard after planting.)
Once I started cleaning I couldn't stop. I pulled up most of the impatiens, several hostas, the sage/salvia, (this salvia isn't very pretty and was too large for the front bed), I also decided to move the spirea that I had cut back. This bed is my only shady spot and I need the space for other plants. I grew foxglove from seed this past winter, (it is a biennial so it should bloom next year), it was healthy but hidden amongst the mass of hostas and spirea. A miniature hollyhock grown from seed was also hidden from view. This past spring I planted a "Karen" azalea and I'd like to get two more next year. We have a crooked water thingy in the front flower bed, of all places, (notice what the flower pot is sitting on), and I'd like to put an azalea on each side of the existing azalea to help cover it up a bit.
Earlier this year, I connected the front flower garden to the back garden along the side of the house, but had not planted anything due to the very dry weather we've had. This is where I put the hostas and coneflower.
After reading about other people's pansies yesterday and thinking about November's GBBD, I went to a home and garden center and purchased pansies. It was painful to rip everything out of the front porch flower bed since the impatiens were still blooming and especially since I grew the coleus and most of the impatiens from seed last winter.
I'm not sure how anything was even living in this soil; there was absolutely no moisture at all. I planted the pansies and watered them well, and thankfully it also rained during the night.
I had a few visitors in the flower garden today. The verbena is still attracting the bees and butterflies.
Goldfinches are eating the zinnia seeds. Pam from Digging made a comment yesterday about my blooms and the power of cropping to make our gardens look better. Here you can see the difference a crop can make. My droopy lone sunflower and the ugly stems, leaves and spent flowers of the zinnia as a whole they're not very pretty, yet there are a few flowers that are stunning when seen alone.
