During the spring and fall, the sidewalk bed is constantly changing. Plans are made during the winter months, along with a lot of 'what was I thinking?'. CG will be adding some iris to this bed so he will have some greenery this time next year. He ordered some potted iris that will be arriving in March, and still has a few in the farm bed that he can transplant.
Photos from March 2007:
(note the neighborhood cat's attempt to dig up the nandina)
(CG has a humane plan of action to thwart future attacks)
The bed consists of a small patch of white daffodils, hostas, red Asiatic lilies, red daylilies, and dwarf red cannas. It's time for the cannas to be thinned-out, and CG is thinking about adding white begonias.
It will be necessary for CG to install fiberglass edging along the bed in order to achieve a uniform 4" mulch depth. This will also allow the begonias to be planted right up to the border without the mulch washing onto the sidewalk. The fiberglass edging is only available in green, so CG will spray paint the front face of it brown. With its close proximity to the front door, CG believes this bed will be the safest place for the heirloom daffodils he will be planting this fall.
In general, CG doesn't mix too many plant types together. The hostas have their own dedicated space in the sidewalk bed. Last year, he planted a few part-shade tolerant daylilies amongst the hostas. The leaves seem to complement each other, and having a nice bloom within the solid mass of hostas is a good effect.
The cannas don't seem to mind growing right up next to the house, so CG will establish them as the back border with the Asiatic and daylillies filling the middle part of the bed. The begonias will provide the low border along the front. The lilies have a lot of thickening-up to do, but it's possible that wal mart might have them for $1 per pot again someday.
