Flower Gardens: May 30th

I love my flower gardens. It’s taken me several years of being an adult and having my own home, but I really do love them now and I’m so enjoying taking care of them each year and watching them grow and develop!  When we moved into our home almost 4 years ago, the yard had been overrun by flower gardens…I mean seriously overrun.  There were more flower gardens than yard and due to the owners health they really hadn’t been given attention for quite some time.  Fast forward four years and we’ve eliminated a couple of those gardens (probably to the dismay of her family) in exchange for grass for our dog and boys to enjoy.  We’ve attempted to wrangle it down to one “wild” bed (it’s going to get tackled in the next year hopefully), two perennial beds, window boxes, and added a couple raised flower beds.

There are still a lot of flowers and I love it even more.  This spring I would say I’ve enjoyed working on and developing my gardens more than ever (Yes, I said “mine” as flowers are not T’s thing!!  He focuses on the vegetable garden!) So, what did I plant this year?

In Bed #1 that I affectionately call the corner bed or the lily & rose garden I added some lemon grass and some Asiatic lilies that were split from my mom’s garden.  In that corner I also have three different rose bushes and several other varieties of lilies, including miniature irises!  There’s room for one or two more different types of lilies, but I haven’t found the absolute perfect ones yet.  Lilies happen to be probably my most favorite flower!

I have 2 window boxes on the front of our house that have always perplexed me since we moved in (they get a lot of late day sun, but that’s it) and finally last year I found the magic plant (or at least I think I did) in the Dragon Leafed Begonia!  So, without hesitation that is what I purchased and put in not only the 2 window boxes, but also the cement planter outside our front door!  I need a couple fillers still, but fingers crossed they will flourish again this year!

The area that I call the raised bed is a landscaped area surrounding our flag pole.  This spot gets 100% sun, so it has to be filled with something durable.  Last year I went away from what T calls the “manicured” look (meaning I didn’t plant petunias, impatiens, etc in the bed) and I planted some grasses and more “wild” looking flowers, which T ended up loving, so I went with a similar look this year, but with different plants.  Here is what I came up with!

Finally, my newest area near our driveway!  This area had once been well taken care of by the previous owner and is a smaller bed with a bush (we think it might be a Wigalia, but aren’t 100% sure) and some perennials.  It has been overrun with weeds and grass since we moved in and I finally got the ambition to attack it.  With my mom’s guidance and assistance, we did just that last weekend.  Got the grass out, thinned down the phlox (more will be moved in the fall) and then I lined it with some landscaping stones!  Whew…so much better!  Remaining in the bed from before are the phlox, some Irises, and another lily, which will be moved to the lily bed in the fall also!  I’ve added Cushion Spurge, an Aster, Satin & Lace Tickseed, and Korean Feather Reed Grass.  Once some of the phlox are moved, I’ll be able to select one or two more plants and then this bed will be complete!  I can’t wait to see it all come together!

Another snapshot from my gardens & pots.

I’d love to know what you’ve planted in your flower gardens, beds, pots, and boxes this year and stay tuned for monthly updates to see what they are looking like!

Gardeners Note:  The plants added this year were purchased from Natural Plus Nursery, Winding Creek Garden Center, and Rainbow Feed and Garden.