hi, idea

Is this becoming a gardening blog?  Am I going to have to start learning the botanical names for plants?

Well, considering how terrible my Spanish is, for now I’ll just have a minor garden-geek-out and report on The Planting.

David Verity cuphea (Rob’s request), lamb’s ear (texture-crazy Violet’s request) and calylophus.

Coral honeysuckle vine, Mexican honeysuckle bush, tropical sage and society garlic.

Santolina, rock penstemon, and Russian sage.

Coral honeysuckle vine (to meet the other honeysuckle vine over a trellis leading to the hammock corner), mistflower, blackeyed susan (Graham’s request), and dwarf ruella.

Moss verbena, fall aster, pink skullcap, primrose, and copper canyon daisy.

Purple coneflower, desert willow tree, Henri Deulberg sage, eyelash sage, and Mexican hat.

And in my last-minute side-yard bed, I planted potato vine, mexican feathergrass, Carolina jessamine, and wisteria.  Truthfully, when I got home I realized I accidentally bought an invasive species of wisteria.  Since all of my plants must be natives for the city plan reimbursement, this is a no-no, but I figured no one would notice.  That night I dreamed my wisteria took over the yard, so, the next morning, I ripped it out of the ground and replanted with some passion vine that had been randomly growing in the Corner of Shame.  I’m not sure they’ll survive the transplant, but at least I’ll be able to sleep.

Yes, I know it’s hard to see the teeny-tiny little plants and imagine them filling the beds and overflowing into the paths. I could have bought larger pots, but they were at least 3 times more expensive than the 4 inch pots.  It’s worth the wait.

So there it is.  This is the first time I actually planned out garden beds.  I was always an impulse shopper at nurseries. I tried to find the right spot for a plant instead of finding the right plant for the spot.  And this is also the first time I actually thought about how the plants would fill the space: height matching, groupings, colors, bloom times.  Hopefully it will turn out somewhat cohesive instead of schizo.

Next: granite, lots and lots of granite

I know, I know, I’m supposed to be posting progress on To-Do Tuesdays, and it is now Wednesday.  My only excuse is that I got sucked into the nursery yesterday, hunting down plants.  Because….

…the beds are ready.

We literally moved a ton of limestone this weekend.  And fitting the pieces together was like a puzzle.  A very heavy puzzle set out in the blazing sun.

I also finished one of the beds next to the porch.

Bulbine, big red sage, creeping germander and blackfoot daisies.

Trying to keep costs down as much as possible, I lined the bed with broken cement chunks from a neighbor’s fence project.  Free is a very good price.

The end is in sight.

I think the rainbow is a good omen, no?