4th of July

Happy birthday America! Those of you with red, white and blue blog posts inspired me to look through my yard to find trios of patriotic colors.


For red, I've got turk's cap


and Dallas Red lantana


For white, annual pentas


garlic chives


mint blooms


and Natchez crepe myrtle. This is my neighbor's tree. It's my favorite garden feature that I lucked into. It's a substantial part of the view when we're relaxing on the couch or the patio. The tree's shape is great, the leaves are a rich green and the bark is eye catching. The blooms are a bonus.


For blue, I've got dwarf blue plumbago in the front yard. This picture makes the blue look washed out and more like the pastel blue on the other blue plumbago plant, the rambling shrub the people grow as an annual. (Common names, they're a disaster). Maybe it's the harsh lighting or maybe I'm unfairly comparing this blue to my next two plants...


black and blue salvia


and my newest addition, the truest blue I have: blue pea vine.

Happy 235th America! Here's to many more.

Spring Tour - Front Yard

To go along with my Spring backyard tour, here's a quick look at the front yard. There aren't many blooms right now, just the tiny purple shamrock flowers and the potato vine along the fence.

Within a  few weeks, however, my root hardy perennials like lantern, turk's cap, shrimp plant and pride of Barbados will be up and blooming, adding their colors to the space.


I think the front yard needs a focal point somewhere between the path and the swath of liriope, perhaps a tall fountain, a unique pot, a tiny tree or an obelisk trellis? I'm not sure yet. If you have ideas or inspiration, I'd love to hear them.


I've added a few more river rocks to my creek beds. If the rains ever return, I'm ready.

Along the fence, I've added a trellis with potato vine. Usually this space is shady, but it gets hot sun late in the day so whatever I plant here has to be versatile. I hope potato vine is up for the challenge.


The right side of the driveway is much too sparse this season. Most of the year, the bed is full of lantana and butterflies. I probably need to redesign it and incorporate some late spring bloomers.

A gardeners work is never done... and thank goodness for that.

Spring Challenge

My challenge this spring is to create a pleasing transition from the gravel to the grass in our backyard. This will be my first solo foray into landscaping design. To prepare, I've been studying The Perennial Garden's Design Primer. I highly recommend the book. The authors show lots of examples of good design then break apart the elements to show you why the design works.