Another weekend, another back-breaking, sun-baking day of labor in the yard. Yesterday we finished up the front landscaping and soil stabilization…for NOW, anyway…by extending the front planting bed down the left side of the house.
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.