All done planting...for now

I spent 3.5 hours in the garden this morning. I finished spading and spreading the chicken manure in the back flowerbed. And then I planted all my plants from Annie's Annuals.

I am a bit nervous because most of the plants say they need full sun...but I don't have full sun. So I am offering little prayers that as much sun as they get will be ok. The area looks so much better already.

I do want to bring some of my red penstemons from the front yard to show off with the pink ones. I need to take a break though and just enjoy what I have. Most of the new plants are ones that bees enjoy so I am hoping my little friends will be happy!

Hurrah! My plant order has arrived!

My plant order from Annie's Annuals arrived this morning just as I was leaving to do tours at Ardenwood. I was so anxious to see them. When I got home I opened them up and boy, they really pack those plants! They all arrived perfectly and beautiful. They wrap each root ball with layers of wet paper and then set it in a plastic bag, then set it in its 4" container which is set in a cardboard container which is quite a design. Not a leaf was rufflled.

The photo is after all the paper and plastic bags are off. Now to finish turning that 1/3 of the bed and then start planting!

The latest photo before I REALLY start!

The orange flowers in the center of the photo is the Lion's Tail, the white mound is the "diamond dust", there are a few verbena and penstemon left and my hubby's basil is at the bottom of the photo.

Redo of the Back Flowerbed - 8-1-2010

The Back Flowerbed currently:

The arbor of Wysteria and Clematis is left of the Back Flowerbed.
A peony is near the arbor on the left side of the flowerbed, it is a maroon color.
In the middle-back is a Leptospermum (New Zealand Tea Tree) about 15' tall.
We also have a Meyer Lemon (dwarf) on the far right hand side. Lately it has not been doing the best.
Years ago during a serious drought I had planted penstemon x gloxinoides 'Thorn". It was supposed to be very drought tolerent, which it certainly is. It has very pretty flowers, is very easy to dead head, just grab a bunch of the old flower spikes and break them off. It has spread through the years across the flowerbed.
There are several small blue daisy-type bushes I had planted one years ago and the low-lying branches had layered. I need to find the name of these. I love them and they look great with the penstemon and lemons

The soil has not really been fed except a top dressing of compost several years ago. The soil looked pretty compacted.

So, on August 1st.... I started by taking out most of the penstemon and blue daisy plants with their roots in dirt and put them in buckets to hold them over till I planted or gave them away. Then I started by digging in composted chicken manure hoping to feed and aerate the soil.
So far I have about 1/3 of the bed to go.

I had promised myself I would stick to the plan of waiting for my plant order from Annie's Annuals before buying any more plants... but I've hit Orchard Supply about every other day to get several bags of the chicken manure. Of course I can't leave unless I dip into their nursery as well....So far I have succumbed to buying 4 4-inch pots of Ballota Pseudodictamnus. It is a small spreading plant with the prettiest light yellow green furry leaves. They really light up the ground and since most of the plants I have in mind are dark I am going to need to "light"!

Then, since I am confessing, I did just happen to drop by Reagan's Nursery (Fremont, CA) and came out of there with 2 Euphorbia "diamond dust" that are just so lovely, light and airy...and a wonderful "Lion Tail" plant!!! That's it!!! Bless me for I have sinned!

NOW I will wait for my plant order!

A quick introduction to My Garden Room

My garden consists of a lot of small areas, places like "the playground, garden, back flowerbed, side flowerbed, my garden room, lawn area, patio, etc, etc.

The yard is centered by the lawn area bordered by a gravel walkway. Around this walkway going right to left is the patio (just outside the house) the "pepper tree area", the "side flowerbed", the "back flower bed" the "olive tree area", the "Bee Hives", the "planter box" and back to the patio!

The top photo shows the side flowerbed, the next shows the back flowerbed, and the last photo shows the planter box area in the shadows on the right hand side and the "eucalyptus flowerbed" in the foreground. Note: over the 30 some years we have worked in this garden room things have changed greatly. And sometimes the name sticks and but nothing else about that area is the same....as "Eucalyptus flowerbed" has had no Eucalyptus since the huge Eucalyptus tree fell in a windstorm about 12 years ago.

There are other parts of the garden but hopefully we will get to those later. The first area I am gong to rejuvenate is the "back flowerbed".

My Garden Room

Last May, my daughter, Jen, took me to a wonderful garden nursery called Annie's Annuals as part of her Mother's Day gift to me. That place is like heaven to a gardener.

I must say, I have been neglecting my garden for several years in a quest to put lots of time into my painting. I have several other projects including being in charge of my 96 year old aunt's well being so I haven't had much time left to actually start garden projects. My gardening has been consisting of just keeping up with the weeds and general care.

BUT now I am INSPIRED!!!

So I am planning on documenting my renewal of my garden beds and how things are turning out as I go. Also, I plan on keeping a record of plants that I have and those that I add to my garden over time.

First of all, my yard, aka "My Garden Room" is located in the San Francisco Bay Area on the east end of the Dumbarton Bridge. I will be adding more information on zones, etc. as I go. If you would like to follow the progress join me as a "follower" and we will see where it leads us! My first goal is to redo one flowerbed before spring 2010 and it will look beautiful by June!

So off to take some pictures so we will have some "Before" photos to see how well I accomplish my goals!