I went to our local Lowe's this weekend and found some total steals on perennials. I actually ended up going to both the local Lowe's stores and getting different things at each. They had gallon perennials on clearance for $1 each, and groundcover for $1.50 a six-pack. I picked up over $200 worth of plants for $25! What a deal! Some of them aren't looking spectacular, but they're all healthy enough that they'll survive and thrive in future years if not this season.

I found a few things that work with my front-yard color scheme, including Munstead English Lavender. I was planning to add lavender to this area anyway (I ordered some which will arrive in the fall), so that worked out well.

I also found some Butterfly Blue Pincushion Flower, which will hopefully grow somewhat quickly and add some height interest.

Finally for the front yard, I found some Periwinkle Vinca. Not the most exciting plant ever, but it goes with my plan and should thrive and fill in relatively quickly.

The shrubs I planted between our house and the neighbor's driveway have not thrived (probably due to the neighbor's child ripping them out of the ground repeatedly), so I found another option: ornamental grass. I picked up some Adagio Grass and Maiden Grass and put them in. I am not completely giving up on the shrubs until next year - I hold out the tiniest shred of hope that something underground will survive and sprout in the spring. We shall see. The grasses should hopefully fill in over time, and as you can see, the grapes that sprouted there (one good thing the neighbors have done for us is leave bits of them there) are growing like crazygonuts.

I also found some plants for the bed beside the driveway: Petite Delight Bee Balm, Petite Wonder Bee Balm, and Red Fox Speedwell.

I also found some groundcover for the corridor between the garage and the (other) neighbor's fence. It's Moneywort, which has a striking light green foliage and will theoretically flower in yellow.

I feel really good about getting such great deals! Even if I lose a percentage of these plants, I still come out ahead money-wise, and hopefully I'll learn more about a bunch of new-to-me types of plants and gain experience, too. If anyone has any tips or advice about any of these plants, I'm all ears!

More photos on Flickr.

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

I finished edging the front yard today. Woot!

The mulch and newspaper had spread out quite a bit onto the sidewalk over the last year, and the composted grass underneath with it. I spent a few hours out there today (hooray for NPR podcasts on the iPod!) and got things looking pretty tidy.

The first plants I ordered also arrived this week. The first plants are officially in the ground up front!

This is dalmation bellflower, which will have purple flowers when it is in bloom (and more established). I got two of these tiny little plantings, which should spread over time. I'd been hoping that more of the plants I ordered would already be here, but hopefully most of them will arrive shortly. A few of them won't be here until fall, since that's when they should be planted. I think this weekend I'll plant the seeds for the edibles I ordered for the front, and I'm going to look at the farmers market tomorrow morning to see if any of the vendors have small berry bushes.

more photos at Flickr

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

We've had quite a bit of rain lately, but interspersed with some nice, warm sun. Perfect weather for the garden! Things are sprouting up all over. Well, not really, but they're sprouting.

The tulips out front have also been benefiting from the good weather.

Finally, we've had a few people out to give us estimates on tilling the front yard. I still see value in doing that, but I've been reading up on a few websites that recommend not tilling - just leaving the mulch in place and digging holes to plant things and letting the mulch keep out the weeds until the perennials fill in. I took a peek and the grass is totally composted/smothered/gone underneath the mulch! I was sort of afraid that there would be a bunch of matted grass under there, but hooray, there's totally not! Which means that tilling may be much less important than I previously anticipated. It would definitely be nice to save that money for other purposes. Most of the plants I've ordered for the front yard haven't arrived yet, but my Seed Savers order for the front yard came today.

I can't wait to start planting, but I will, because I want to be able to really see the whole big picture when I'm placing things.

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

I'm still playing around with what to do in the front yard. Here's a rough plan that I threw together today. Click through to Flickr to see notes of what all the plants are.

I welcome all suggestions!

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

And finally, the tall plants, things that are four or more feet high. With the plants I've been looking at (of all heights), I am going to have to make some choices - not all of them will go in, at least not at first. I'm sure that along the years I'll also find new things to add.

Purple : Black Knight Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii) : 6-10' : full sun to part shade : shrub : blooms midsummer to fall

from Michigan Bulb, Spring Hill Nursery

Black : Black Beauty Sambucus, Elderberry (Sambucus nigra) : 8-12' : full sun to part shade : shrub : blooms midsummer

from Dutch Gardens, Jung Seed


Black with white flowers : Currant Consort Black (Ribes nigrum 'Consort') : 3-6' : part sun

from Burpee, Nature Hills Nursery

Black : Black Magic Hollyhock : 4-6' : full sun : blooms June-August

from Gurney's, Michigan Bulb

Purple : Helmond Pillar Barberry (Berberis thunbergii Helmond Pillar) : 4-6' : shrub : full sun

from Jung Seed, Spring Hill Nursery

Purple (white flowers) : Purple Leaf Plum Hedge (Prunus x cistena) : 6-8' : part sun : shrub : flowers early spring

from Four Seasons Nurseries, Spring Hill Nursery, Direct Gardening

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

And we're on to the medium plants, things that grow to be between one and four feet tall. I'm also still just going for perennials - annuals and bulbs will wait for me to figure out the rest of the primary plan.

Purple and white : Purple snakeroot : (Actaea simplex) Atropurpurea Group : up to 4' : part shade : clumps : blooms late summer

from ??

Purple and white : Spiny bear's breeches (Acanthus spinosus) : 2-4' : full sun to part shade : clumps : blooms mid-summer

from ??

White : astilbe (Astilbe japonica) : 2-3' : part sun to full shade : clumps : blooms early to mid-summer

from Burpee, Bluestone Perennials, Michigan Bulb, Spring Hill Nursery

Silver : Money Plant : 24-30" : sun to part shade : clumps : blooms in spring

from Burpee

Silver : Blue Girl hybrid tea rose : 3-4' : full sun to part shade : blooms summer to fall

from Michigan Bulb, Direct Gardening

Silver : Blue Sea Holly (Eryngium alpinum) : 24-30" : full sun : blooms mid to late summer

from Michigan Bulb, Breck's, Spring Hill Nursery

purple : Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) : 18-24" : full sun : mounds : blooms summer

from Michigan Bulb, Spring Hill Nursery

Black : Green Wizard Coneflower (Rudbeckia, Echinacea) : 24-36" : full sun : blooms mid-summer to mid-fall

from Breck's

Purple : Salvia Caradonna (Salvia nemorosa 'Caradonna') : 20" : full sun : mound-shaped : blooms early summer to early fall

from Park Seed

Purple : Black Barlow Columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris) : 24-28" : full to part sun : clumps : blooms late spring to early summer

from Dutch Gardens, Spring Hill Nursery

Black : Classic German Iris Sambuca : 35-37" : full sun to part shade : blooms mid-spring

from Henry Field's

Black (white flowers) : Ebony King Blackberry (Rubus 'Ebony King'): 3-4' : full sun : flowers early summer

from Michigan Bulb, Nature Hills Nursery

Silver/Purple : Burgundy Lace Fern (Athyrium n. var. pictum ) : 12-18" : part to full shade

from Jung Seed, Dutch Gardens

Purple : Amethyst Myst Heuchera (Heuchera) : 10" with 20-26" flower stems : part sun to full shade : blooms late spring to early summer

from Jung Seed, Dutch Gardens

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

Voila!

This is my rough outline so far for the front yard. Obviously there aren't any plants listed yet, but these are the shapes of the beds I'm thinking about. I'm sure it'll be too much to do the whole yard in one year, so I'm thinking of starting around the edges and working my way in over time. The spaces I don't get to this year with actual long-term plants will be filled with thyme or some other herb that doesn't get too tall (and can be mowed over if absolutely needed).

I'm absolutely up for suggestions!

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

We've had several inches of snow in the last couple of days and more is theoretically on the way. I'm still drowning my sorrows in gardening catalogs.

Iresine Purple Lady is a new plant to me.

D'oh! I just noticed that it's an annual. Boo!

I believe that astilbe is a perennial. Can anyone verify?

This snowcap astilbe is strikingly white.

I think my grandma might have had a Money Plant.

I could be mis-remembering, but either way this seems a cool addition to the silver/white end of my color palette. It's listed as a biennial - what does that mean?

This run through this catalog was only for front yard potential. I'll probably head back through it for veggies later.

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

Now that it's the new year and the hope of spring is on the way, it's time for me to really start figuring out what our front yard re-landscaping project will look like. This past year we undertook the Summer of Smother, during which we covered the entire front lawn in newspaper and mulch so that this spring we can till and start all over with a blank slate. (I'm actually hoping to hire someone to do the actual tilling since it's not the easiest task and I am a major wuss.)

With the help of my awesome sistrah, I've created a basic layout for the yard - the plan for what shape the beds will eventually take. I recognize that the whole thing is way too much to do in one year, so my next step is to figure out a general idea of what plants I want where and then decide what portion to tackle this year. I'll fill in the majority of the space with thyme and/or other herbs and then remove what I need to when I'm ready in future years. I'll still be putting in a veggie garden in the back yard beds, so I need to be realistic about how much I can accomplish altogether.

My general color scheme for the front landscaping is black/purple/white/silver. Our house is off-white brick with a black roof, and we hope to eventually paint the trim and shutters black to give the exterior a more cohesive look (right now the shutters and trim are an icky rust color which we definitely do not want love). I've read that keeping a limited color palette will give the garden a more professional look, so here's hoping.

So, for black plants, here are a few thoughts.

I do want to include edibles where I can, though for the front yard I'd like to stick primarily to perennials so that will limit the edible options substantially. I love blackberries, though the plant would only fit into the color scheme when the fruit is ripe.

This Ebony King Blackberry is thornless, which is a bonus (though perhaps since our front yard is unfenced, thorns would be helpful to keep critters from stealing the fruit?).

With the whole colony collapse disorder thing resulting in fewer bees hanging around, I'd like to include plenty of plants that attract pollinators.

This Black Knight Butterfly Bush would definitely do that and while, again, the foliage wouldn't fit into my color scheme, I think it would be worth it.

With a name like Dark Lord Geranium, how could I not include this one?

I mean, seriously, a plant with purple-highlighted foliage that also has purple blooms AND is a Star Wars reference? No question.

We don't have too many spaces out front where we need a lot of height, but there is the awkward little side area that runs next to our neighbor's driveway and is right outside our bedroom window. I think a screen of this Black Bamboo would be perfect:

It would provide some privacy as it got taller, and would also help define the boundary between the neighbor's property and ours. The only hitch is that it is theoretically for zone 7-10, and we're zone 6. I'm not sure how big an issue that might be.

I'm really seeking some plants with lots of beautiful foliage, now we're cooking:

This Black Elephant Ear is great! I love the large leaves and the way the veins are slightly lighter in color. I could see this taking a significant role in the new front yard.

I do also want some flowering plants, and this Black Barlow Columbine is striking:

It supposedly attracts hummingbirds, which would be neat to see.

These are just a few of the plants I'm considering. If anyone out there has experience with any of these particular plants or has any other suggestions, I'm all ears.

Originally published at LibrariAnne.