My Baby Garden and Other New Things

Side view of my new front garden

Whew, I didn't think I was going to be able to post another photo again, after what I just went through - software support for my Norton security software left my system in such a state that I couldn't easily download photos and nor could I even launch my photo software! But I persevered on my own and fixed the problem. Working with any support organization can be such a nightmare these days.

Front view of my baby garden

But enough of that. I'd like to introduce you to my new baby garden. I've probably given you glimpses of it before, like when I showed you back in late winter the lovely black soil I put in. I purchased about half of the plants online from High Country Gardens and the rest (mostly 'Goldsturm' rudbeckia and some grasses) came from my back gardens. I wish you could see the rudbeckia today as it's really blooming like crazy (I took these photos very early Friday morning). The garden still has a ways to go to fully fill out but I'm liking it more. The plants I purchased online took their sweet time filling in though. In fact, one of the grasses I purchased is still kind of mopey. But others are doing well, like this coreopsis below.

Coreopsis verticillata ‘Zagreb’

These coreopsis have been blooming since spring and they continue to fill out. Definitely keeper plants.

Agastache 'Ava'

This agastache, 'Ava', was also purchased online. The color and floriferousness of the blooms is nothing like the catalog, surprise, surprise! :-) But the catalog also said that it could take two to three seasons to reach mature size, so I'm hoping for the best. I've been pleased with the fact that it grew quickly, and really happy that a plant that does so well in New Mexico is actually thriving in Louisiana (of course, we're experiencing a severe-level drought now!).

Awaiting a gate (and less lawn!)

Today my friend Alexis, a landscape architect, and Peter, the best carpenter around, came by to discuss finally finishing up this part of the yard. It's been lacking a gate since the fence went in a couple of years ago. So we figured out what would look best and I'm really excited about it. I'll finally get the ugly AC units behind some fencing and also get an arbor to put my little 'Red Cascades' climbing rose on. And a cool looking gate as well. It'll take a while as Peter has a full time job but I know it's worth it. Maybe someday I'll get around to building more front gardens and thus, less lawn, as well. :-/

Pennisetum setaceum rubrum 'Fireworks' in blue pot

The grass in the photo above, 'Fireworks' pennisetum, has gone through a lot since I bought it last year. Last year, one of the neighborhood cats kept munching on it, so it never got very big and didn't bloom. This year it went through grasshopper hell but survived. The nice thing about this particular grass is how it looks in the spring time when it's first coming up - bright pink leaves. But now it looks like any other purple fountain grass to me. I'm hoping in the fall it colors up better.

Purple coneflowers, just for the heck of it

I'm getting very excited about my upcoming trip to Buffalo, NY, and all the great gardens I'll see at Buffa10, a garden bloggers meet-up. But most of all, I'm really looking forward to seeing friends I made from last year's meet-up in Chicago and making new friends. Nothing like garden geeks to help you get the creative juices flowing! See you all soon I hope!

This post was written by Jean McWeeney for my blog Dig, Grow, Compost, Blog. Copyright 2010. Please contact me for permission to copy, reproduce, scrape, etc.