OH WOW!! I can't wait to see what your 40' bed of Hibiscus is going to look like! You should be the envy of your neighborhood...if you ain't already LOL!

I hope we get pics later,

Vera

OMG, I second what Vera said. I'd love to do what you did with my driveway bed. Just pull everything out and start over. I bet it's going to look just gorgeous.

And I love the idea of your forty foot bed of hibiscus. What an absolutely awesome idea. I've usually used hardy hibiscus as specimen plants. Planting them en masse never occurred to me. What a fabulous idea, I'm going to have to steal it!

I hope we get pics too, if not this year, then next, when the perennials have started to bloom and fill in.

Alison

I bet it feels great getting all that done! You need a rest. Your description of your beds sounds gorgeous. Please do update us on your progress or show pictures once things get going.

I planted a lot of perennials this year that I won't get to see bloom until next year, but the surprise and anticipation is part of the fun. It teaches me patience, which is something I need to learn.

I got a few geraniums on sale as well...only 60% off though;)

Take a rest and enjoy your beautiful garden.

Alison,

Opportunity meets heavily germinated flats.

The last twenty or so flats I had were all "killers", there was little brown earth showing. I had green carpets of seedlings. So, it had to be a massive redo in order to accomodate what I had. The moscheutos seedlings were all self-sown, I had sowed several a few years back and they reseed abundantly. I had several, several yearling hibiscus that were waiting for a bed to happen for them. This was the opportunity I had to get them into a row. So that's how it started--with a row of the moschuetos. I looked behind me to see all those flats and then I grabbed the red hibiscus and put them in down the whole line, and they are planted in doubles--I had enough to put two seedlings into each back line planting hole.

Then I started to fill in with seedlings from the moss-like flats. I was tearing out huge chunks and made them into smaller hunks (not quite an inch diameter) to fill in around the plants, with hunks going in every four or five inches. All my flats were made from foil lasagna pans, some had two varieties in them but the last were all singles. Across the lawn from the hibiscus border is a bed I made with a fig tree in the middle and surrounded by eight volunteer PL toms along the bed edges. The underplantings are a central ring of malope (I think) to surround the fig, and the rest is hunk-o-parsley. I did a flat with curly parsley and it was as thick as moss. I like flat-leaf parsley better but all of this may change my mind because I have never had so much before. We will be eating a LOT of parsley here, lol. Maybe with tomatoes too should they all crop well this year.

T

Congrats Trudi!

I was walking around my garden counting all the plants that I have put in the ground this year...a lot of winter sown ones, some grown from seed last year, some from a swap and a few purchased plants. The count was around 60. That sounds good until I think about how much work this has taken and look at the 150 or so plants that I still have in pots. You might hear the phrase "all planted out" from me this year but it will not be because I have all my plants in the ground.

- Brent

LOL Brent! It seems like it never ends and it just rolls around through the seasons until Spring and new seedlings are here again.

One of the smartest things I did this year was to designate about 20ft of border as a holding area. This is were I put leftover seedlings, plants I just dug up because I need the spot for something else, plants I don't know where else to put, and the tragic snap-offs that I shove into the soil in shadier part of the bed so they can hopefully root. It IS an eclectic mix of plants and shrubs, nothing is marked and everything is just shoved in from left to right as I fill up the space. I know I will love my entire garden, but it's this casually planted holding border that's gonna give me the most bang for surprises.

Make a holding area Brent, but make it a border or a bed, and then make a rule that you will just fill up the space without idea of pattern or flower, just fill it in with your leftover plants. Then you are off the hook for caring for them.

That's the nicest reward for having all the flats planted. I don't have to care for them anymore. They are in the ground and growing. Their waterings will taper off over the next week or two and then that's that. They are on their own.

T

You are well ahead of me Trudi and I know those newly planted beds are going to look wonderful. You realize now that we are going to need pictures. :O)

I have some winter sown Hardy Hibiscus in their fourth year now which have never bloomed. This is their last chance. They've all been moved to new places to see if they will perform this year. If not, there are over 30 Buddleias in pots from this year waiting in the wings to take their spot as well as other contenders.

If the Hibiscus finally bloom, I'll just have to create that figure 8 garden on the lawn which I've been wanting to do for a while. Geez, I hope they bloom! LOL!