New border

This new planting doesn't look like anything right now!  But next summer, there will be purples, oranges and yellows in this bed.  There are three  orange Chicago daylilies (rescued from the back garden where the deer kept eating the buds!), three butterfly weed (planted from seed - a mix of orange and yellow), Zebrina malva (purple, also planted from seed), Zagreb coreopsis (yellow), an ornamental oregano (purple) and echinops (blue).  Adding a touch of white - rattlesnake master and a couple of white coneflowers. All of these plants do well in dry, sunny sites.

This is one side of the border on the edge of the veggie garden.  I still need to clean out the other side and decide what to plant.  All of the plants on this side are summer blooming - will try to add some spring blooms to the other side. 

Making progress

This dry stream bed helps to direct the water from the down spout down into the yard.  It ended at the edge of the path and the water tended to pool on the path and then run down the brick path, taking the mulch with it, even though I had dug a large area for the water to flow into. Not good. One of my jobs for the summer was to make it work better.  I extended it out so it disappears under the hydrangea shrubs.  I took out a varigated dogwood, dug out a new "stream" and added some new plants - some irises and brunerra.  The biggest part of this job will be cleaning up the river rock from the pile in the back yard. 

Bloom where you're planted

This little petunia decided to grow between the bricks in my front path.  This can't be an easy spot to grow - no room to spread out your roots, the bricks get hot in the sun, and there can't be many nutrients in the sand that is between the bricks. 

Yet it is blooming its little heart out.  Doesn't that just make you want to smile? 

Trimmed Junipers

The three Grey Owl junipers on the corner of of this border have really grown this summer.  If I don't keep them trimmed, they will outgrow the space.  So they got a haircut this morning.  This type of juniper doesn't have a set growth pattern.  The branches kind of go where they want.  This makes them easier to trim.  The trick is to study the branches and remove some at points where the cut isn't noticeable.  I concentrate on those branches that have really gotten long and those that are encroaching on the other plants.  I also take off  the new growth back to where the stem gets woody.  I filled my wagon with the trimmings, but these junipers still look great!  Now I need to figure out how to trim the Sea Green junipers in the front border.  They grow in a vase shape - not as easy to trim and have them still look good.