Wednesday Workdays ....

.... many of them!

In June i told you that we lost our beloved 'Thundercloud' plum in a storm.  Taking the treeman's long time advice, we did not replace it with another tree.  "Too close to the house," he said.

Instead, i took the opportunity to turn a shady spot into a sunny garden - and hopefully, a fragrant garden.

After the tree was cut down it took us weeks to grub out the stump and prepare the area.  By then it was too hot to plant in this "neck of the woods", so i spent August planning and then September and October actually planting. 

Because this bed is at the entrance to the backyard, as well as to the back deck, i decided to create a much for formal layout than any garden space i have ever had.  We already had azaleas at the base of the deck, so we added a larger rhododendron 'Gibraltar' that is both reblooming and fragrant (or so they promise!) and a gardenia 'Chuck Hayes' that is recommended for this area. [Many of the older, traditional jasminoides-type gardenias do not like our winter soil conditions and struggle.  This is a newer cultivar that is supposed to be happy here - year-round, they say.]

And then i laid out a triangular bed of concentric  arcs.  This was the most fun part.  I got the ground spray paint that you see marking water lines and used string to create a "compass" so that I could accurately space the rows and then filled in the plants. 

From the "point" backward are:

1 - Carex 'Everest' - can take more sun that some other cultivars

2 - Gaillardia 'Grape Sensation' - the grower claims it's the best blanket flower that she has tried - a deep purple, instead of red, orange or yellow

3 - Sedum 'Madrona' and Sedum 'Neon' - coordinating colors (shades of pink) and different textures - both moved from existing places in the yard

4 - A row of oriental lilies - shades of pink to burgundy and all supposed to be fragrant

5 - A row of grasses - two in the center are pink Muhlenbergii capillaris (fall bloomer) and four are Koeleria macrantha glauca (spring bloomer)

As one approaches the bed will spread out in front of you with the larger shrubs forming a wall before you reach the lawn.  And, from the rear the grass and lilies will stand taller than the shrubs and the flowers will peek out behind.

For winter - and to help me wait until spring to start to see if it works! - i over-planted pansies, too.

Only time will tell if it works ...