My Front Garden Bed
On Sunday afternoon I headed to a seasonal local nursery, Block's Stand & Greenhouse, to scout around for some plants for my gardens. They have wonderful plants, a huge variety and great prices so it is a fun place to shop. 
An hour and a half later I walked away having spent a little over a hundred dollars. It was definitely a lot to spend but I got a ton of things including 3 flats of large vanilla marigolds, a flat of impatiens, 3 hanging baskets of snapdragons, 10 2-1/2" pots of dahlias, 10 2-1/2" pots of superbells, 4 calla lilies, a large mandevilla, a large rhubarb, 2 large yellow pepper plants and then a couple of pea, bean and zucchini plants. I think that is all but honestly I easily could have forgotten something.
It is going to take me a little while to get everything in the ground but at least I planted the front bed that wraps around my porch before it got dark on Sunday.
With the front of the bed in shade and the side getting full sun it can be a little tricky to find a way to make the plantings look cohesive and still thrive. Last year I made a little bamboo trellis for the corner and trained a pink mandevilla up it. It looked pretty and grew like crazy so I planted it again this year.
Along the front of the bed I already had three boxwoods that I planted last year. I planted some pink calla lilies in between them with a border of starsister dahlias in front. I'm not sure how the dahlias will do in this location but they looked so pretty that I wanted to try them.
On the side of the bed I thought that I had killed the shrubs last summer when they didn't get watered while I was in Southeast Asia for almost three weeks. They totally surprised me by coming back to life this spring. I pruned the dead branches and decided to see if I can do better with them this year. In front of them I planted a border of pink superbells which I think will do well in the sun.
After getting all of my annuals planted I finished everything off with two bags of black mulch to hopefully cut down on weeds. I like how everything looks and hopefully the flowers fill in a bit over the summer.
What have you been planting in your garden? Did you go overboard shopping at a nursery or are you capable of exercising more restraint than me?
Linked To: Centsational Girl's Garden Link Party
Tuesday, May 8, 2012 at 6:38AM | Posted by Lisa | 5 Comments | Share Article | Email Article | Print Article 
Reader Comments (5)
Your flower bed looks beautiful! I love the various plants you chose, and they all complement each other well. I have never seen black mulch, and I really like how it makes everything stand out. Here in Florida, red mulch has been all the rage for the last several years, but I don't particularly like it. I'm afraid black mulch might trap too much heat near the roots of our plants, though, which already suffer from too little rain and too much sun. Your garden makes me want to replant some large pots I have. Thanks for the inspiration!
Beautiful gardens and I also like your colour blendings. In our region we usually wait for the May 24th weekend to plant annuals because we still could get that heavy frost or even SNOW! I have my annuals on the patio during the day and in to the garage at night - what a daily migration (lol) but at least I got first pick at the garden centre (lol). I use black mulch to mark my pathways and natural cedar for the beds. I have always wanted to try crushed cocoa beans. Cheers to another wonderful gardening season in everyone's region
Sandy- Thank you so much! I have been using black mulch for a few years and like it. It works well for me but I'm up north in Michigan and we usually get plenty of rain in the summer. It is pretty easy to find here. I just buy it at Lowe's.
Mary-Lou- Thank you! What an effort to carry your annuals back and forth everyday. That is dedication! Crushed cocoa beans would be really cool. I bet that would look really pretty!
Beautiful flower beds! We just started planting here too. It'll be weeks before everything is done, but that's part of the fun in gardening. I haven't purchased any annuals this year. I hope to have only perennials, but we'll see how long I can resist them.
Carol- Thank you so much! I am trying to do a better job of adding perennials to my beds but I cannot resist adding annuals as well. It is going to take me a few weeks to get everything done myself. It's a lot of work but definitely worth it to me!