2018-05-05 New Flower Beds

I created this page for my cousin Phyllis who lives out west.  We've talked frequently about the flowers
and other yard decorations we each have around our homes.  I quickly took these photos in late evening
Saturday, May 5th, 2018, to show the progress.  Sorry the photos are so fuzzy.  I'll take better ones later.

Much remains to be done.  These photos are preliminary.  We can't wait 'til later this year and next when
all the flowers come out in full.  It ought to be quite a sight to see.

These are called Butterfly plants because they attract butterflies like crazy.  At the right time of year,
I've counted a half dozen or more butterflies on a single plant.  The tiny little flowers may be yellow,
shades of red and orange, or a mix of purple and white.  They're really nice.

What's weird is we have to cut them completely back every year because they grow so much each
year.  Big as this one seems to be now, you wouldn't believe I mowed it down just a few weeks ago.



I've talked about this climbing rose in previous photo essays.  It was so big and cumbersome and in
the way where it was between the sheds, it had to be moved and chopped into 4 pieces with an axe.
Here's what it looked like in 2017.




I put each of the 4 pieces in a corner of our fenced in back yard.  Here's one of them.



Our day lillie garden was a mess when we returned home last summer.  After much work, Linda was
able to remove most of the grass.  She transplanted most of them but there are still quite a few still
in the old bed that need to be moved.  Here they are.  They won't bloom until later this month.



While Linda has been working the flower beds, I keep busy doing chores or building stuff we need.
One of them was a handrail for her 90-year-old mom to get up and down the short steps to Linda's
She Shed.  She likes to go in there where we have a lot of her stuff stored.  I did this today.



This iron pot was given to me by my cousins Clint and Jean Vincent Roden.  Jean passed away 3 weeks ago.
She was loved and will be missed.  I told Clint that every time I look at this iron pot I think of them.  Soon
we get the other flowers planted, Linda will turn this on its side and fill it with flowers.



One of the things near the sheds that wasn't too attractive was the deep well pump.  Mike Thigpen
suggested we put a fake rock over it.  I had never heard of them but we bought one.  I think it
looks pretty good and it helps keep the cold wind off of it in the winter helping to prevent freezing.



Not everything we planted is for flowers.  Here are 3 of the 6 tomatoes we planted by our yard swing.



We have a lot of flowers in pots.  Here are some Gerbera Daisies by a large pot for our cherry tomato.



This one is Verbena.



We have no idea what this is.  It's a volunteer from a group of potted flowers we planted last year.
We thought they were annuals but this pretty lady must be a perennial.



Since the hurricane knocked down all our trees except for the flowering ones, we decided to plant more.
And since we love flowering trees we planted a red bud and a pink dogwood.  Linda actually bought two
pink dogwoods, we just haven't decided where to put the other one yet.  The red bud and one of the
dogwoods are in the front yard.  Here's the red bud.  You can see the drain ditch and road in the distance.



And here's the pink dogwood.



In the backyard, inside the fence, we planted a Shumard Red Oak.  What's cool about these babies is
you don't have to wait 'til fall to see the pretty colored leaves.  They're red in the Spring.  What's more,
according to what I read on the net, they're also very resistant to storms and high winds.  Hopefully,
it won't get pushed over by another storm once it reaches maturity.

We planted it where our 70-foot Chinaberry tree had been.  You can still see the damaged fence behind
it in the distance where the Chinaberry tree crushed our fence when it fell.  We're just grateful it didn't
fall on the house.  Another good thing about this red oak is it's a fast grower.  It should reach 30 or
40 feet in height within the next 10 years.



Another fast grower that grows very tall is this jazzmine.  A friend has one that's 20 or 25 feet tall.
I asked Linda why she planted it so close to the house.  She said she plans on keeping it trimmed
back.  That's why she asked me to build this little trellis to put behind it.  It's not a climbing shrub
but it's limbs are pliable enough that I think she can treat it like a climbing shrub.



Alongside the pool, Linda planted these Sega Palms a couple years ago.  They've grown but the frost
got them this past winter.  We were glad to get the cold weather.  It helps control the insects.  But we
weren't able to protect our plants well enough.  Here's what they look like now.  We hope they grow back.
They're by the pool.



What I've shown so far is mostly surrounding the house and sheds, on or near the deck or pool.  
To show the remainder which is all new this year since we bought a tiller, you need to see a diagram.
This will help you better understand what I'm about to show you.  

This is all new so don't confuse the Sega Palms above with the ones in the diagram.  The ones above
are located below the pool in this diagram.  Same for the new day lillies.  Don't confuse them with the
old day lillie bed which is beside the house.  In the diagram, the old day lillie bed would appear
between the house and the deck (although there's really no space there).



Now, referring to the above diagram, lets begin at the She Shed and work our way to the left on
the left side of the fence, around the back where the new Sega Palms and new Rosebed are, then
to the right where the new day lillies are.  As you'll see in the photos below, they are separated
from the old rosebed by the fence.  First the She Shed.

The iron pot, the porch, and handrail in the photos above are all on one end or the middle of the She
Shed.  This photo (below) is the other end of the She Shed.  You can see where it was mulched and
bordered but the weeds are coming through.  Much more work remains to be done here.  The
butterfly plant in the middle will grow much larger and overshadow anything else here, including
the weeds and grass growing through the mulch.



Continuing on around the left side of the fence (as in the above diagram), this is where I started to
till last year.  We only had a tiny little Mantis tiller.  This March we got a nice sized Husqvarna and I
was able to till up the much larger area Linda has been wanting.

The open area in the diagram above is roughtly 100 ft. by 100 ft.  The flower beds line this area from
the fence outward about 15 or 20 feet in a U-shaped tract bordered by the fence and surrounding the
100 by 100 area.  This photo (below) is the left side of it.  It's where we began.  Linda has red mulch
here but she may replace it later with pine straw.



Here's a closeup of the above.   Most of these plants are day lillies Linda transplanted from her old
day lillie bed next to the house (pictured previously in this photo essay).



Here's a closeup of the woody looking plant.  This is a large Hydrangia that was growing next to the
house.  Linda transplanted it here.



Working our way around, in the corner, as in all 4 corners of the back yard fence is another climbing
rose.  It's too far away from the camera to be seen here.  But closer are a row of young Sega Palms
Linda planted followed by a closer row of Hostas.  There doesn't seem to be much planted anywhere
right now but that's because Linda just ordered several dozen more day lillies which should arrive soon.



Even closer as seen by this photo (below), in the center of the back side of the U-shaped area, is a
new rose bed.  Some of the statuary here will be a couple of bird baths.  We only have one temporarily
there now.  We need to fix some pavers under it and place another bird bath or two near by.

Linda's new rose bed will have other flowers interspersed in a sort of circle as seen in the next few photos.



Here's a closeup of some of the new roses along with some more Hostas and other plants.



Here's a closeup of the bird bath.  It's temporary.  We'll put pavers under it and level it then  mulch
with more pine straw.



Here's a closeup of one of the new roses.



For comparison, here's a photo of the old rose bed which will remain outside the fence.  These roses
were already growing on this property when we bought the place.  Linda decided to move most of
new roses she had planted plus the ones she just bought (see above photos) to the new rose bed.

This photo was taken from the front porch.  Once the new pine straw ages and settles, it should look
like this.  We may also put a border around the new flower beds like the one pictured here.  I think
we have enough old landscape timbers to do the job or at least to start.



Finally, working our way all the way around to the right as pictured in the above diagram. here is where
Linda began transplanting from her old day lilly bed.  I think her plans are to completely move all existing
day lillies away from the house either to this location or to other areas surrounding the new flower beds.



A closeup photo of the above.  The day lillies in the distance are transplanted, trimmed, watered, and
fertilized, ready for mulch.  In the foreground are some Irises that Linda transplanted from her mom's
house.  There are lots of plants there we still need to transplant before she sells the place.



Last Photo -- another closeup with another view of where Linda transplanted from her old day lilly bed.
And as you can see, the old rose bed is opposite the fence.  I took this photo in very late afternoon
or early evening.  You can see where neighbors were already turning on their lights.  

We bought 50 bales of pine straw for mulch.  Not nearly enough but it's a start.  Here they are lined
up ready to be distributed.   I've helped but Linda has done most of the work.  She loves working in
her garden and does a great job of it.


 
 
~ END ~