April Unboxing

Time to unbox some online plant purchases!

Bluestone Perennials shipped me a nice package containing heucherella (Buttered Rum), veronica (Aztec Gold, echinacea (Hot Papaya) and agastache (Summer Glow) plants that I purchased in late February:

David’s Dragonfly Farm also sent me some nice daylily clumps, White Parasol and Seductor:

As I started to working the new additions into the flower beds, I had to stop and admire the Autumn Lily azalea’s prolific blooms.

Scenes from the March Garden part 2

The (nearly) everblooming Double Knockout Rose is off to an energetic start this year.

 

This is the first time since planting that I’ve seen multiple blooms on the Mountain Flame delosperma.

Tiny but mighty pink blooms on this groundcover thyme. (Can’t remember which thyme this is…Elfin? Woolly?)

Betony, salvia and Autumn Lily Azalea:

  

The bulbs are blooming!

  

Planter purchases:

Scenes from the March Garden Part 1

Emerging growth, purchases, transplants, and more!

 

Some views of the front yard beds:

What’s blooming? (Excuse some of the out of focus shots.)

    

Start of a new project…installing flagstone on the patio side of the house:

 

Yard plan and whirlwind weekend buys

We covered a lot of ground in the first weekend of March, literally speaking. From Chambersville Tree Farms to Covington’s Nursery, we amassed a truck-bed full of plants. So many in fact, that one resourceful canine thought we could do without one. I’ll tag them for now and call out some of our plant selections in future posts.

First Haul, Mostly Bedding and Container Plants Closeup - 2nd Haul 2nd Haul

After determining that he needed to set the flagstone differently, (in sand as I had originally argued) the man began the arduous task of digging up/destroying all the topsoil and weed mat we had already laid down the previous weekend, breaking a few of the stone in the process. A frustrating outcome to be sure as we had initially paid for the labor to remove the sod the first time around. To redo that work seems such a waste!

A Mudpit While It Rains - Flagstone Path 2nd Pass North Wall Bed

Unfortunately, all our plans were stymied by week-long rain. It’s evident that we probably won’t be able to return to the yard crash until the following Sunday or Monday at the earliest. This also disrupts any plans to visit more nurseries in search of our focal tree (Metro Maples in Ft Worth is at the top of our list).

I invested in a garden planning app to get my fix in the mean time. Garden Puzzle is a decent enough desktop application with a solid database of flora. I found it by way of Better Homes and Gardens’ online design app. Interestingly enough, I can also import plant designs that I worked over with Photoshop to fill out what is missing from the GP desktop database.

2016 Proposed Front Bed Summer Layout

Unexpected Colors

This is a tribute to the unexpected colors and finds in the garden. From the single bloom spike on the Lemon Coral sedum, to the Magic Carpet spirea that I thought destroyed due sprinkler repair; the unnamed iris (purchased in October 2012?) that found itself among Mariposa Skies, Immortality and various Dutch irises, and the lone Valentine dianthus specimen that survived.

4/13/2013 Unexpected Colors (1) 4/13/2013 Unexpected Colors (2) 4/13/2013 Unexpected Colors (3) 4/13/2013 Unexpected Colors (4) 4/13/2013 Unexpected Colors (5) 4/13/2013 Unexpected Colors (6) 4/13/2013 Unexpected Colors (7) 4/13/2013 Unexpected Colors (8)