What to do, what to do....

[Tonya]

I was outside today and decided to get busy clearing out this bed



This was after a bit of cleaning. There was YEARS of old dead leaves, and stuff in there. Along with wild strawberries, blackberry vines, and misc. little tree seedlings.

Here is what I had done while I had the camera out there.



Now the whole thing(up to the massive azalea) looks like that also! 

This was before.



Now......what to do with it?? There are already amarylis(sp) and gladiolas in there. I'm thinking tulips and daffodils, and some cone flowers?? What do y'all suggest?

[Penny]

Those all sound good Tonya.......what about any little shrubs, somthing that stays small though?

[Tonya]

I almost forgot to post a pic of my "helper"....ain't she cute??

[Wrennie]

That sounds nice! All the bulbs are early right? I dont know about amaryllis, they wont overwinter here. I would put something that blooms after the bulbs but before the coneflowers o theres always something blooming. Iris, daisies? I have some purple coneflower seeds if you want some.

[Penny]

  AWWWWW....what a cute lil helper you have there...........she's even got her own gloves, even if they are bigger then her   

[Tonya]

I would love to have some Wrennie!!  I will send you an envelope....what do you think postage will be? Well, let me look for a bit- I may want some more! 

[Penny]

Wow Wren....you do have a bunch in there....Happy Shopping there Tonya!

[Wrennie]

Post in there which you want. I dont think i should offer them anywhere else till everyone there has a chance to see cause of where they came from. I'll look in my yard too and see what i can find.

[patches]

Looks like you've been busy Tonya, and I love your little helper!   

[Triss]

What a wonderful space.  So many possibilities as well.  I would add a couple of mums as well for fall color.

[Tonya]

Great Idea Triss!!! We want to line the walkway with mums in containers, also!

[Tonya]

Here is what I got done today.





I cut the azalea back a LOT!! I know it may be a bit late to be trimming those, but it may be coming out anyway, so......chop, chop!  It feels so good to be out in MY yard doing things!  I'll keep you all posted on my progress.....May be slow going until we get some money moving here.  That's OK, tho......it will look AWESOME next year! 

[Triss]

Ohhh ya gotta keep the azalea, they are sooooo pretty!  Lychnis would be pretty there also, iris as well.  Will Lily of the Nile grow in your area?  Daylilies?

[Dianna]

Don't forget to put a weed barrier down, Tonya, and mulch it heavily. Pulling weeds seem to be most of my gardening nowadays....

Mack looks so adorable with those huge gloves on her hands!

[MassMama]

Is it all shade Tonya? Through all the pics it looks like it.. Hydranga? Or you could plant hostas in there ??

[Tonya]

I thought Hosta, also Rita! I have a couple from last year.....One is Hosta Elegans, the other one is escaping me right now, and the third one I think I killed this year. It is a burnt mess right now. It does get mostly shade, so I need to think of more plants that do well in shade. I'm not sure what requirements the ones I listed have. I am thinking a rounded edge for the outside border of the bed Kinda like an uppercase "D" with the straight line against the house. Does that make sense?? I am getting excited planning it!

[Wrennie]

Wrennies wisdom of the day: Make it aHUGE.I made a garden here when I first got here. I thought it was super big. We've expanded it 4 times. Once the perrenials fill in you'll wish you made it bigger. AND, the bigger the garden the less grass you have to cut!
I dont mean you have to fill it the first season. Mine has "edge" plants too far in cause we kept moving the edge farther out.

[Wrennie]

I  love my columbine, bleeding hearts and ferns in the shade area. I dont know which of those will do well in your zone.

[barleychown]

Might add upright fushias to the list...they come in lots of different colors, just like the basket ones do.

[Tonya]

Triss- I'm not sure about Lychnis or Lily of the Nile- I have never heard of them honestly...

I love fuschias, Sarah! Do they do well in shady areas? Are they perrenials? (I love Google...can you tell  )

We have Ferns growing in our field.....  wonder how they transplant??

[patches]

Tonya, I couldn't have my shade gardens without my hostas and ferns.   I think they really add something to it. 

Don't forget to put a weed barrier down, 

Do you put weed barrier down in your flower garden beds, Dianna?    I quit doing that some years ago, it seemed to cause me more problems than it was worth.   

[Wrennie]

ooh Lychnis!! My friend Tonia from North Carolina ( ) gave me my first seeds for them They're also called Rose Campion. They're COOL! Mine are in full sun. My friend Gerrie has hers in full shade.

[Tonya]

  Can you send me seeds, Wrennie??  Those are stunning!!  How tall are they?

[Triss]

I have seeds for those ones as well Tonya.  Mine are in full sun but I will be moving some to partial shade since Sarah said they do well there also.  And they make loads and loads of seeds.

Wrennie, what is the yellow flower you have with yours?  Lily of the nice has nice large blue flowers, very pretty.  We had them in CA and Tina sent me some but they have not bloomed for me yet.  Not sure if it is cuz we freeze here or not.

[barleychown]

I love fuschias, Sarah! Do they do well in shady areas? Are they perrenials? (I love Google...can you tell  )

They ONLY do well in most to full shade. There are some really pretty ones out there...my favorites are the ones with the tiny flowers. I have several colors now. If you can find some one close to you that has some, they start really easy from cuttings.