Uh oh, crazy weather as in?

Severe thunderstorms, hail, high winds, possible tornado activity, etc - just all the normal Kansas weather for this time of year.

Stay dry and warm JC!! I agree just take some photos - we want to see what's happening! Personally I don't care if I see the whole bed, just sections to see how you've merged some of the plants you've talked about!
And of course to see some of your semps growing! I have to say that last year (my 3rd year with semps) was the first year where I felt like the plants really did increase and look amazing - so give it time, by the end of summer you should see some decent growth and chicks on them, and that's exciting!!

Stay safe J.C.

Thanks all!
Well, after harping for a week about the insane storms to come, the meteorologists changed their minds... Now it's probably not going to be nearly as serious and it might be a couple days later.

I was busy today, but I did manage to take pics of a few flowers.

Sedum kamtschaticum

It is currently the most popular plant with bees, moths and butterflies. At one point I counted over 20 bees at one time on this fairly small plant (then I stopped counting), not to mention many other things. If you click between these 2 pics you can see the movement of some of the bees.


Here is the Bugle (Ajuga reptans Black Scallop™) that I couldn't photograph properly when it was inside.


This Delosperma has come a long ways in under a year from only a few tiny cuttings.

Really pretty JC!

Busy at your house, JC, humans, insects and plants alike...

Thanks! Yes, we're all busy around here.

I FINALLY had some spare time today so…

Thus begins the story of my beds. It will be an ongoing tale as time and weather permits.
I probably won’t label many individual plants since it would take an incredible amount of time, so if you have any questions about what anything is, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Also, please excuse any plants that are less than attractive. I am posting the good, the bad, and the ugly to use as a record.


When I moved into this house, these daylilies (ditch lilies?) were the only plants anywhere.


Here’s what the blooms looked like last year.


Here are two newly planted shrubs in my backyard (Berberis thunbergii-Rose Glow Barberry).

The Shed Bed

I might as well start with one of my currently least impressive beds. This is a new bed that was recently built. It was made with the intention of covering/hiding my neighbor’s deteriorating shed as much as possible (which was pink until recently when I got his permission to paint the side that faces me.)
There will be many (20-30?) other plants and other colors in this bed, but some are still on order and others are bulbs/roots that haven’t sprouted yet.

Overview:


Individual Plants:







These are three castor plants that keep getting totally eaten down to nothing, so I'm now trying to shield them like this. We shall see...

I am one of the few that absolutely love ditch lilies. They were growing here when we bought this place in 1999. I find them tough, forgiving, and love the color of the blooms.

Front of House Beds

Here are the front-of-house beds that basically started it all. The previous owner had somewhat made these beds, but the only living things in them were a ton of weeds. They were surrounded by rotten cedar timbers with a couple totally rotted planters and sparsely mulched with rock. So I completely redid them. They are still a work in progress (as all my beds are). There are a bunch (15-20) of bulbs/plants that either haven’t sprouted yet or that are still on order such as astilbes, toad lilies, jack-in-the-pulpit, etc. They will add some height to the back of the beds. Anywhere the rock looks different is one of those areas.

Overview (from left to right):


Left Bed


Right Bed


Left Bed


Right Bed


Individual Plants:



















Here is a new little bed directly around the corner from the front-of-house beds (on the same side as the original daylilies). It will be mainly various types of irises (so far it’s Siberian, Louisiana, and Dutch).


I found a camera I can borrow that can shoot panoramic photos, so after I get it, I will start posting photos of the main back yard bed.
In the meantime, I will post pics of other beds when I have a chance.

Yeah Lynn I love ditch lilies too! I have transplanted some from there into 7 additional areas around the house.

Wow, what is eating the castor plants?

We are playing posting tag.

Hehe, yeah we are.

I have no idea WHAT is eating them, but they're something's favorite food. I had three planted in this bed and three others planted on the opposite side of the yard. Something bypassed a ton of other young plants and ate just the six castors.

Looks great JC!! So much work - yet it looks great!

Love this development type of thread! I also love ditch lilies (Ithink they are Hemerocallis 'Fulva' and there are some awesome pics in the database of them growing in vast areas in China where they originated, I believe?) BUT! they are mighty invasive so, here, I am working to corral them.

JC, did I happen to see some starts of Pink Muhly Grass in one of those pics? I'm growing that and hoping I can distinguish the weed grasses which would love to colonize it's li'l patch....

Thanks Greg, I really appreciate that!

Cool story on ditch lilies Kyla, I had no idea.
I think what you were referring to was in the shed bed? If so, that's just three clumps of Maiden Grass that I chose for the eventual height and density (good for a screen). And I also liked the price (free from a friend).

Free is a great price, I agree.

And I just scrolled back through the pics to see if I could find what I was thinking was Muhly grass, and can't find it now. (I have Muhly grass on the brain, had never heard of it before but once I found out about it last year I had to have some. Winter sowed some seeds of it from Outside Pride, I think, and then found Annie's carries plants! Until it blooms it's a tiny thing.)

Well, I’m stuck inside today due to wicked weather, but I managed to take some quick pics between storm fronts.

The Entry Beds

These are two recently built beds that are at the entrance/exit to my back yard. In the center of each is tall (when grown) zebra grass. There are many bulbs (10+ different things in each bed) that have yet to sprout, and I will also add some sedums and (hopefully) semps. I still need to put another layer of flat limestone rocks on the edges in a few places and level others. Once everything finally sprouts, I will add more pea pebbles and then top the beds with Alabama Sunset rock.

Please ignore the lawn (or lack thereof). When I moved into this house, it was literally the worst, most overgrown yard I’d ever seen in any city limits. Normally when it gets half that bad, a neighbor would complain and the city would mow it and charge the homeowner. Not this one, just waist high weeds galore and no grass. Needless to say , it’s still a work in progress.

Overview:


Individual Plants: