Summer heat, flowers and BBQ season has begun and here at my house is no exception.
I hope you are ready for a HUGE flower carpet ride because I have taken a ton of pictures of both the front and backyard flower beds.
The good, the bad and the reality. This season has been so completely different then any other gardening season. How? Well I have taken the reigns off budgets and now can spend spend spend on the house. So, it has been raining $$$ for flowers, annuals, shrubs around here.
A centerpiece I did for the outdoor coffee table. Petunias, artemesia and there's some ornamental oregano buried in there too, I may have to rescue it and put it elsewhere.
Below is a new purchase; 2 "Lo and Behold Micro Chip" Butterfly Bushes. They only get 2 feet by 2 feet, how cute is that!!!
I may go back for more to put in the backyard. I popped the $$ for the full grown ones and they are making my heart pitter patter!
Below, you can't see them yet, but I put two more beards tongue penstemon in this bed to fill in next to their sister.
This shot below my new additions are kinda hard to see. I drove a hundred miles around town and could not find the full grown specimens. So I had to settle for these babies.
Its a new panicum grass that you don't see in the big box stores yet. Its blue! Yes blue!
It's called Prairie Sky and is hardy down to 30 Below Zero. Zone 4. So I bought 2.
I think once this time next year they will really be visible at the back of the bed. If any of ya'll have any fertilizer tips leave me a comment below because I really want these babies to skyrocket.
I haven't had a chance to touch my purple smoke bush to try out braiding the trunks, but the hydrangea tree I cut down due to it's misshape has popped up below it to try and show off now.
The plant chandelier.....ugghhh
The saga continued with this darn thing. If you remember I had yellow creeping jenny in here and it struggled. Well then I tried Super Bells Grape Punch Calibrachoa.....
That struggled too. So then I figured it has to be the fact that the pots I glued on here are so porous they are stealing too much water from the plants. So I bought petunias, and lined the pots with plastic bags. I have fine tuning to do to trim up the bags, but so far they are loving this idea much better. Thanks god because so far it has cost me more then 3 full size bushes to plant it up 3 different times!
Planting up the lantern is doing well. I haven't fertilized it and sometimes I forget to water it so it's handling the neglect fairly well.
Now for the backyard.
My potting bench has really gotten a workout this year and I am far from done!
I think with all the new pots I have bought, I am at about 10 of the large bags of potting soil? The 40 pound ones I think?
You'll see a new hose reel. I hunted for the one with the hose guide that was all metal but no one had it here locally. So I settled for this one. I love it!
I am anti coil the hose up yourself now. That's my bandwagon and I'm sticking to it. You'll also notice the zebra grass that used to be in this area is gone. Ok, some of it has been relocated to a much better spot. The tag I got said 5 feet wide by 3 to 5 feet tall. Well, this spring even before it was full height it was already 7 feet wide. So I moved it and replaced it with a tried and true fave of 4 wine and roses weigela's.
The bed that borders our outdoor patio got some hidcote lavender and a concrete pot all filled up with ornamental oregano and speedwell.
I still need to trim up the allium stalks. Reality.
The wood obelisks did not fair well due to a 100lb shepherd who thinks he runs things around here.
So I bought 3 metal trellises that are 6 feet tall and 20" wide. Made a triangle around the Honeysuckle and used black zip ties to hold the trellises together.
We started taking down the screen that blocks the ugly yard next door. I seriously wish the fence company would hurry the hell up. So far they are running 2 weeks behind and we have only gotten 3 days of rain all within the same week.
When the screen gets taken down completely we will gain ten feet of living and garden space.
I cannot wait!
The black petunias I bought, loved the rain we got and have doubled.
I was going to say that's all I have been up too but it hasn't.
If you follow me on Instagram,
you know we installed new wood blinds in the Living room and I found a 12 x 14 rug that fits that room perfectly! I hope to do a Living Room Post soon but as you know I am spending every waking hour I can outside.
Have a great day!
