Blooming' Crazy

Eden Nursery loves us.  We went there this morning to talk to Anna, one of the owners of the nursery.  She has helped us in the past with our gardening needs, and she is a valuable source of knowledge. We left after two trips there with 10 plants.

Rick and I disagree about gardens.  If he had his way, the entire house would be surrounded with one kind of plant.  He likes things "uniform."  News flash, Rick:  Nature is not uniform!  His ideas of gardening are boring, boring, boring.

I had other plans for the back gardens, so we took those ideas to Anna.  She helped us reach a compromise that works for us both. She talked me out of some plants that I thought might look good, but agreed with me on others that we are thrilled to try.

The gardens need color to bring them to life.

A Firecracker plant will anchor each end
of the garden and will fill the inside corner
with soft foliage and color.

Long story short, we took two trips to Eden Nursery to get everything we need for the back gardens.  The ends and the corner will be anchored with Firecracker plants. On the wall facing south, we will have three Crotons that some people nickname Sloppy Painter because the leaves look like they have been splattered with yellow paint.  On the east-facing wall, we have four Batie Crotons.  They have a thin leaf that starts out green but then changes to reds, oranges, and yellows as it matures.  I'm a little concerned about having four Batie in a row, but Rick is happy because they will be "uniform" for his tastes.  I think that they will have enough variations in color that they should be fine.

Firecracker plants and Sloppy Painter Crotons
will fill the southern-facing wall.

Since the other crotons are in the shade, this picture does not
do the colors of those plants justice.

After the morning at the Nursery, Rick started to lay out the gardens on the south and west sides of the house.  That planning caused us to do something we really had not planned to tackle today.

The Spirea filled the corner space for the house.

The bundles of Spirea now rest against the house,
awaiting brush pick-up on Monday.

We had a Spirea -- which my mother always called a May Bush because that is when it blooms in Wisconsin -- that came with the house.  It was on the southwest corner of the house, and sadly was in the way for our new gardens.  It really had seen better days.   Just to satisfy my curiosity, I took a shovel to see how deeply we would have to dig to remove the bush.  I was astonished when the shovel slipped under the bush and I could move it upwards by pushing down on the shovel handle.

OK. Obviously, Spirea are not deeply-rooted bushes.  Then Rick got into the dig, and the next thing we knew, the bush was lying on its side.  We cut it into three bundles that will go out to the curb with the brush on Monday morning.  Had I known it would be that easy to remove, I might have tried to pry it out this past weekend so it could have hit the curb with the other brush.  For now, it will just have to rest at the side of the house.

By the time we got home from Eden Nursery today, the back gardens were in full sun, which made prepping the soil and planting what we purchased a task that will have to wait until the gardens are in the shade early tomorrow morning.  We have learned that working in full sun in Florida after 10:00 a.m. is not something any sane person wants to do.  Tomorrow will be just fine as we continue to make Gladys beautiful.

P.S.  Polly loves her new home by the sheds.  Each day she shows off with gorgeous new blooms.