Once again I suck for not taking a “before” picture, sorry, but imagine tall grass with evil thick roots attempting to choke out everything all the way back to the fence.

Looks better now, ya?

All the cannas are in dire need of a BT spray as the brown skipper caterpillars are basically stripping them of leaves at this point.  Except for this Crimson Beauty, which is nearly untouched: 

I wonder if it tastes different or if they’re just full from nomming on my Lucifer cannas:

The butterfly ginger back there in the corner is about to bloom, and the alpinia ginger in front of it is still just happy-happy.  In the foreground is the agapanthus ‘Elaine’ which blooms in the most delicious cobalt blue color:
 

Added a few things to the right side planting beds:
 

Planted three colors of Ipomoea around the nicely-recovering bird of paradise.  Behind them is the Night Ruler iris that won’t start new foliage until next spring…maybe?  Bearded Iris growing in Florida is the subject of much debate.  Beyond the iris are two coreopsis ‘Mahogany Midget,’ one of the more successful seed-grown plants for us this year.
 

On either side of the Hawaiian Ti above are two gingers, Candy Cane (Cucurma rhabdota) and Pink Pearl (Cucurma sparganifolia):
 

There are also two more Bearded Iris varieties in that bed, waiting for spring.  The snow-on-the-mountain by the garage door has to be regularly beaten back with bladed objects.  It has a new Mexican Petunia at it’s feet.

New additions to the second bed include Persian Shield (Strobilanthus dyerianus), Variegated Flax Lily (Dianella tasmanica ‘variegated’), and Red Star Cordyline (Cordyline australis), which seduced me with its perfectly symmetrical shape.

The trellis at the back is for the Gloriosia superba, which may or may not actually live to climb it.  If it dies I’ll just give in to the urge to buy a clematis.

Other new plantings around the homestead include multiple Firewitch dianthus, the contrast between the foliage color/shape/texture still fascinates me:

And more from-seed coreopsis ‘Mahogany Midget.’

We’re so taking next weekend OFF.

You don’t see this much down here in Florida, the side beds…it’s typically house meets grass in a perpendicular gathering of boredom.  My mother always had planting beds, even when we lived in Saudi Arabia (though the choices there were naturally limited to the native plants we dug up out of the desert), so I really had no choice about creating planting beds all the way around the house.

Yeah, Husband doesn’t believe that one either.

Anyway, the total materials cost was about $300 and it took us two half days to complete.  Now my gingers are safe from the ravages of the crazy-arsed grasses we have down here, and my irises will have plenty of room to spread out.

And look at all that empty real estate into which I can put even more plants!!!  Muwahahahahhahahahaaa!!!

The main front bed, right after initial planting in April:

The main front bed today, three months later:

There’ve been some changes along the way of course (some alyssum lost to overwatering), and many, many…MANY…additions.

This the small bed next to the garage three months ago:

And today:

For all its small size, this is one of my Zen places. I adore the Queen Sophia marigold colors here against the lightness of the border stones and the glossy leaves of the birds of paradise. Planted behind all this is a fall-blooming Spider Iris that is just now starting its foliage growth, and should be an amazing presence throughout the winter months.

The dwarf fig has grown considerably in two months, from this:

To this:

As have the San Marzano tomatoes, from this:

To this:

In the back vegetable garden, we’ve learned some hard lessons this year. Cucumbers will be planted early and late, but never in the middle of summer. The same goes for corn, which will additionally be planted much further apart than the recommended standard for the variety. The pests they attract, and the subsequent molds/mildews that attack the damaged leaves/stems, make growing these things in the heat/wet of summer an exercise in futility. But that’s ok, there are still tomatoes to be grown:

Beans of many different vareities:

Radishes…though those grown in the veg boxes have done much better than those planted in pots:

Gourds:

And a plethora of peppers:

Every day teaches us something new about growing down here, so we’ll take all these lessons and be much better prepared for next year

We pulled everything out of this area yesterday (except for the crepe myrtle on the left and the robellini palm on the right–but it did get a significant haircut) because that last bloody frost simply murdered it all:

The “Before”

And those little pavers we were using as a temporary border were getting their butts kicked by grass and weeds. Where do the gods-be-damned weeds come from anyway? You start with a yard full of nothing but sod and before you know it the evil Bermuda grass is frickin’ everywhere.

And another thing, if you live in Florida, do. not. plant. sunflowers. Especially if you have roses. Goddamned japanese beetles.

So, back to the landscaping. We yanked out all that crap, then built a border using the same stones as used around the tree, then added (I shit you not) 1000 lbs of topsoil + composted cow poop. Should be some happy damned flowers.

Instead of my culled-from-books list of items to plant, we planted what-was-available-at-Lowe’s. Ah well, can’t have everything. Everything should expand to about 2 to 3 feet in diameter though (except the roses which will go as far as we let them, being hedgers), so that should flat solve the weed problem…even weeds can’t grow without sunlight.

Oh, and those ribs we had in the smoker all day? Fan-bloody-tastic. And since none of you lot showed up to help, we gave the leftovers to the neighbors. That’s what you get.

Now you must excuse us, we have a metric shitload of mulch to buy.