I have to agree with the fall-cleanup comment. Last fall our mower died before we could mulch our monstrous piles of oak leaves. This spring was too busy, wet and windy, so the piles are still there. But, I've noticed a huge increase in the number of birds and toads hanging around. A few times we've seen birds literally wading through the leaves tossing them around in search of snacks. I bet there are tons of moths and other bugs that make their homes in the leaf litter. We've decided to leave the oak leaves piled in our huge dog run, since it cuts down on muddy dogs and encourages the birds and bugs as well. Martha

Hey gg, long time no talk :-) The bed is fairly narrow (18" +/-)but they can grow through the fence on the backside (2x2x6' vertical cedar on 4" centers)and grow out over the curbing on the lawn. I'm OK with an overhang as long as I can get the mower by down low. It is probably a bit narrow for them but I figured that I could do some selective pruning to keep them in line. The bed is about 24' long. I was thinking the "fluff and aloofness" of the lavatera and the mint would be a nice counterbalance to the flat climbers behind and between. Besides, the rest of the front yard was getting too formal and serious for a happy go lucky guy like me. I've got a Darlow's Enigma coming for one spot and have a number of clematis ranging from dark blue to red to white called out for the other spaces. I have 8 of these 6' fence sections built now in this run and this 24' section is kind of in the middle. I agree that maybe I won't feed the lavateras unless they tell me otherwise and just feed the mint like all the rest of my perennials. While I've got you though, I'm still struggling with what to circle that fountain with. The pool is a 3 block high stackstone circle with about a 9' diameter. I'm wanting a long blooming mixed color blast with max height about 8-12". The last thing I've been considering is portulaca. This will get a little bit of oversplash but not a huge amount. Any suggestions? This is right across from the section with the lavateras. The lawn between is a small kidney shape that wraps around the backside of the fountain pool. This little bed is about 18" all the way around the fountain.

Thanks so much to Wattleblossum for the great inspiration. I'm embracing the rugged beauty of my difficult garden. I too didn't have much of a clue about north or south facing situations before I bought my house. Boy am I aware now. Of course not long after moving in I thought I made the biggest mistake of my life! The living areas were south facing, the front garden where we invisaged a lawn for our 2 year old was shaded by the house 6 months of the year and pretty much no sun reached the rest, the back yard being higher than the house. But great views of the bush from up there. But rather than wallowing in what seemed at the time bad real estate decisions, I now love my garden (always loved the house) and can see that it will be a very interesting and beautiful place to be, if I succeed in nurturing it. Also thanks to Danili for your suggestions. I'm churning through them. I actually planted a boronia a few weeks ago. It lasted about 3 weeks before curling it's toes and disintigrating in front of my eyes! Am a little scared of them now! A

Looks (and sounds) like camomile, Matricaria recutita, to me. This is an annual so could very well pop up unexpectedly from some disturbed seed source.