I'm a little afraid to say much because I can't come up with something that gives clear direction. but here I go anyway. I think a general concept of Spanish/Medit/veggie can certainly work if done right. I think the plan should be maybe a little more formal than you think--or maybe, help me someone, STRONGER and leaner than you think. The house is not symmetrical but to me it is somehow strong. And I would think in terms of fewer, larger portions in yard, not lots of tiny areas--sort of the clutter thing, but maybe even more somehow identifying some lines of sight or lines related to the house. Less of a jungle, for your house, would look better. I wish I could actually put it in the right terms. For example, you need to be thinking of what you see when you walk out your front door, and what is seen--the house behind the garden--from the street. Not "what you see" in terms of pretty, color, etc but what is lined up with what, doors, entry etc. The wine barrel thing is not so bad--I can't use terra cotta well outdoors all season here, it cracks in winter, but if I were in a non-freezing zone I would because it just looks so timeless. What I would point out is that what can look funky with the barrels is that they can stick up too high and be unrelated to the ground, not grounded, whatever. You could specifically try to avoid that by having some kind of graduated heights as you mentioned--higher container surrounded by lower, blending into ground--or by other plants around them--or if a tall container is a specific focal point. But avoid multiple things randomly sticking up out of the ground scattered over the area. Have a purpose for a barrel. It should not be just to avoid another better form of raised planting--although the "temporary" concept can be part of your plan--if you're tearing up the whole yard, you may well need to actually USE the yard for your beds; otherwise if only doing a few planters you could have left the grass. You need very few if any garden ornaments in this size yard--especially if you are using several containers. Same for rocks, rock paths. YOu can't eat them; they just take up space, add extra elements. You can have paths to allow you to get around and to your plants or to provide a clearer line of sight, but there should be a reason. Have larger groups of plantings of similar type--sweeps. You might want to even go slower on your veggies at first and use enough good-looking, including evergreen, unifying herbs/shrubs/groundcover and add more "crops" as you feel things are working out and as you see what looks good enough for front-yard gardening. That might have been a reason not to kill all your grass before the plan was made, but I understand how you got there! Since I really can't do this myself, the main distillation might be,less is more for now, simpler larger plantings and let the complexity develop more over time if it is really needed. Good luck.

This was my first year winter sowing. I love it. Planting when there is snow on the ground gave me such a happy feeling of hope for spring instead of dread at how long winter would last. I am disappointed that the black eyed susan's didn't germinate but I have some from plants I dug up from an abandoned garden last summer. My grandson accidently kicked over the container that had my Marguerite daisies and I have no germination of them. Not many columbines but a few....that's good. And my pratense geraniums didn't germinate. But oh my goodness I have hundreds of snapdragons, agastache, foxgloves (dwarf red and foxy) alyssums, and tons more. I can't name them all. I lost the names of three jugs but as they have germinated I have figured them out (thanks for the help with that). I am having trouble finding the time to plant things out but I'm in Maine and I still have cool spring weather to deal with so all will be fine there. My husband works as the head mechanic in a garage so I was able to get as many windshield washer jugs as I could ever want which were really great as I didn't have many milk jugs. I learned that it is not necessary (and somewhat foolish) to plant every seed in every package about halfway through planting. Last weekend I was able to take seedlings to my daughters in NH and CT which made them both happy and made me glad I had so many to share. This has been a wonderful and happy experience for me and I intend to continue for as long as I garden. Thank you, Trudi and all of you for sharing all of your knowledge and experience. And yes....I am still planting seeds. Tomorrow I am going to plant pink for get me nots that I found at wally world. ;*) Bonny

Dawn, The humidity is doing much of the damage, leaves and buds get steam cooked. My drainage is very good, not from anything I did but simply because I live on a slope. My soil is sandy, I did add that, lots and lots of it. Its the best thing I ever did although many people adamantly disagree with this being a good thing to do with clay soil when I mention it. They start in on "NO NO NO...add organic matter". I did that for years but nothing made the dramatic difference like the sand did. I no longer get cracks when its dry and water soaks in quickly and deeply making for good root growth. Maybe it depends on the soil you start out with whether this is a good thing to do or not, mine was heavy on the clay side and the coarse sand really helped. The plants near the bottom of the slope are the victims of too much ground water for the most part. I believe with so much soil saturation, it slowly drains that direction for days and the roots suffer as a result as if they are standing in water, same principle. Then it rains again. I have a Russian Sage down by the street and this is a plant I had always thought was indestructible, Mr Suckers-a-Lot. The thing is huge. Its not dead but its wimpy small and looks like a sickly plant which needs water. Plants with too much water seem to always look the same as plants that are dying of thirst, ever notice that? I believe its lack of oxygen along with root rot damage and thats why some people end up killing plants from more over watering misdiagnosing the problem, inadvertently making it worse. I thinned out some Little Bluestem out today. They were as tall as Panicum 'Northwind' except they were laying flat on the ground looking absolutely awful. The Panicum 'Northwind' is taller than me and then some. I cut back a Milkwort plant that was growing like a horizontal tree with a woody "trunk", if you held up one of the horizontal branches it was as tall as me and 5ft wide. I swear, it really is a Milkwort. I have some kind of "triffid" native perennial on the low end of the slope that is as tall as the house, no exaggeration, very narrow and vertical while the ones planted higher up are about 2ft tall. I am waiting to see what it is, I can't remember the seed I planted but I must have liked it since I planted several. Its got white stems and smooth blueish waxy narrow lance shaped leaves, it looks sort of like a gigantic monstrous milkweed, quite sculptural actually except the leaves are alternate, not opposite, a mystery. Plants that are supposed to be about 7" tall like Tahoka Daisy are 3 to 4 ft tall. The native Gallardia have been thickly loaded with bloom since spring but the desert marigolds, my best bloomers especially in times of drought look all dried out and scraggly. I culled through the poor rotted hens and chicks today. Maggots were eating the rotten roots. But, the weather was fantastic and the humidity is down and we are promised a dry out period. I will remember this summer for sure. It has been great for rooting Lantana cuttings. I keep rooting more and more plants. The hardy ones here in OKC are Miss Huff, Gold Mound, New Gold, Carnival, Ham and Eggs and Horrida. Its been a great year for starting new plants right smack in the middle of summer (or endless hot spring). You take the good with the bad.

natal, I don't understand hating forwards? Some yes, but there are so many great ones: funny like this one (always good to laugh), and just think of the take-your-breath-away nature photos you'd miss! I have friends I can count on to send beauties and I wait till night so I can view them in the dark. I took a "tour" through Paris and the Louvre via a forward. I'm a sucker for the darling critter pics and videos, too. Oh, and as for videos, some have put tears in my eyes, touching my heart. Of course, along with these are the ones I can count on to require an immediate delete, but the good ones make it all worthwhile...to me. So, natal, how come? I'm just curious, not critical.