A New Full-Sun Flowerbed

One major item that has been near the top of my list for several years now has been to cut down two diseased and unsightly spruce trees in our front yard. I was out pulling weeds one day earlier this summer and noticed there were tree trimmers working in the neighborhood, so mentioned it to my hubby. He surprised me by immediately walking down the street and engaging in conversation with a young man on the crew–the son of the owner of the company. A few minutes later, they came for a look-see and before I knew it we had a contract and the trees were felled by the end of the day.

Now that the spruces are down, we have a brand new full-sun garden space, and I am enjoying choosing what to plant in that space. First order of business, however, was to deal with the weeds that had gotten a foothold underneath the spruces. We also needed to relocate some of the shade-loving hostas to a more wooded location in the backyard. For the most part, I’m able to divide some of my existing sun-lovers from other flowerbeds, so I moved in a few daylilies and a trio of Allium ‘Millenium,’ an ornamental flowering onion that literally blooms all summer long.

Even with this good start, this new flowerbed was the perfect excuse for a trip to our local garden center. I knew I wanted to add a flowering tree, so Monrovia’s Magnolia ‘Elizabeth’ now graces that flowerbed. I look forward to its giant, tulip-shaped, creamy yellow blossoms in the next year or two. I’m also quite in love with hydrangeas these days, so two of them hopped in my shopping cart and now anchor the front side of this flowerbed (I really wish I had bought a third).

Inspired by Butch and Pam over at Everyday Living, whose annual plethora of gorgeous zinnia photos caused great envy, I planted more than my usual packet or two of zinnia seeds this year. My husband bought a big canister of Renee’s Garden heirloom zinnia seeds for me while we were on vacation in June. I lost no time in scattering the seed when we returned home. Wowzers! They did not disappoint. Look at all that amazing color!

If you’ve read my blog for any length of time, you know that my sweet mother passed away in 2020 after a valiant battle with Alzheimer’s. You might spot two of her blue flowerpots in the photo above. Those flowerpots sat on the front porch of our family home for several years. When dementia took its toll, I moved her to live closer to me, bringing those blue flowerpots along as a connection point to her past. Oh, the stories she told about those pots! I planted some annual ‘Hawaiian Punch’ hibiscus in them this year and set them toward the front half of the new flowerbed. I think mom would have approved.