Digging in the dirt...

For the first time ever I bought annuals and planted them in the ground.  I have always appreciated the look and color that annuals add but I thought it would be way too much work to plant them into our flower bed in the front of our yard.  I am so glad that I bought a few and added them because it made such a difference!!!

This is the before and it has pretty much looked like this for the 2 years that we have lived here....

 And now....

 We also added this banana plant.

 Our Knockout Roses, the easiest, most low-maintenance plant EVER.

 This Clematis is growing up around the front door, I am hoping to drape it above the awning.

 This Clematis plant was here when we moved in, I think someone meant for it to grow up the water spout...(I instantly start singing the "Itsy Bitsy Spider").  It never would so I bought a trellis and hopefully it will do what it's suppose to do.

I now want a Clematis around our mailbox, love them!

...and another hydrangea has been planted in the front beds.  That brings the count to 10 plants. 

They are just sooo pretty! 

I don't think that I will ever be done, on my list right now is to add a Crepe Myrtle tree at the corner of our house along with a bench seat so that I'm not standing in full sun everyday when I get my daughter off the bus... and of course some more hydrangeas.  

I totally have a vision of having an entire garden full of those beautiful blooming plants.

~  Kim :)

Inspiration Friday No.8 ~ Gardening

  

  Hi everyone!!!  Big weekend here at our house, we are hosting our son's 4th birthday party.  It's a pirate party and I am hoping the cute pirate costume I ordered for him arrives today.  Should be a fun time!

My inspiration had moved from inside the house to the outside.  As soon as the weather starts staying warm I want to get out and get my hands dirty.  The front of our house is FULL sun all day long.  I am planning to make a small bed in the middle of our front yard a colorful arrangement of perennials and annuals.  Here is some of my inspiration...

I would love to grow peonies that look like these!!!

 haute-hostess.com

 This is what our bed in the front yard looked the other day.  Kinda ...VERY... drab and the mulch was looking rough after a year in full sun.  I have asiatic lilies coming up and last year the vincas I planted did fantastic.

 I picked up a few plants the other day, including my first peony.  I actually ran in to buy just a few small flowers to put in pots and found that I had a Home Depot gift card in my wallet with $75 on it!  SCORE!!!

 I went to a garden center late last summer and found a large peony plant for $80!!! No, thanks.

 Luckily, Home Depot has them right now for $16.99.

 This is after planting a few plants and turning up the mulch a bit.  

Still pretty drab but I've got plans.

 I am hoping these hydrangea plants bloom this year, for some reason last year I didn't get a single bloom.

 This would be nice.

 www.coldclimategardening.com

gardentreeslandscape.com 

More peonies... I picked up another plant today, an all pink one.

google 

Vincas will be planted, they do awesome in the full sun and they are great for adding color!

clydelady2.hubpages.com  

...and last I planted Canna Lilies that we had pulled out of a bed last year and put in a pot.  They had literally taken over one bed.  I thought they would be nice to add the tropical feel next to the palm trees and to add some height.

Happy Friday everyone, I hope you have a fantastic weekend!!!

~ Kim :)