Three for Thursday: Under Construction

Having ordered more than a few bulbs from various and sundry vendors, the Head Gardener and I have been busy working in the back gardens to get those bulbs planted. 

The Ulysses S. Grant Persimmon area

Narcissus 'Thalia', 'Grand Primo' and 'Geranium' join the Leucojum aestivum, Summer Snowflakes, and Narcissus 'Avalanche' on the north side of the bed along the back fence.  I've planted three Muhlenbergia capillaris, Pink Muhly, towards the back of the bed.  Also in that area are a Pink Turk's Cap (Malvaviscus drummondii),  Rock Rose Pavonia (P. lasiopetala), Barbados Cherries (Malpighia glabra) and Amy's Crinum (C. jagus var. rattrayi?).  Groundcovers include Alyssum, Pigeonberry (Rivinia humilis) and one Dianthus I think I rescued from Lowe's.  It's just started to bloom and perhaps I'll get some help from y'all identifying it.  The plan is to broadcast Toadflax (Linaria maroccana) seeds over the planting area.  There are Larkspur and Viola seedlings popping up already, along with a few Oriental Poppies (Papaver somniferum). 

The Robert E. Lee Persimmon bed

There were an alarming number of chickweed sprouts in this bed, so I cleaned it out yesterday and pulled mulch from another area to spread (to be explained shortly).  My plan is to add more shade plants to the bed.  Currently in that bed: Gulf Coast Penstemons, Hostas, Toad Lilies, Australian Violet (V. hederacea?), Bear's Breeches (Acanthus mollis), and shade-loving Iris varieties (I. neomarica & japonica/cristata/confusa???)  There's also a Dutchman's Pipe vine (Aristolochia fimbriata) being trained up the vintage hose reel. Hopefully I didn't bury the seeds of Purple Columbine (Aquilegia dichroa) so deeply that they can't germinate.

The Sweet Almond Verbena planting area on the south fence

This area of the south fence bed is a bit tricky to plant, due to the changing sunlight conditions.  While it gets partial sun most of the year, during those hot summer months, the afternoon sun beats down mercilessly.  After I cleared out the remains of spring annuals (Linaria, larkspur, Violas), I dithered too long about what I wanted to plant there and weeds began an attempt to take over.  Once I'd vanquished those unwanted intruders, I spread a heavy layer of cedar mulch to keep the weeds at bay.  The mulch did its job well but it was too thick for next spring's annuals to germinate.  So I raked back the mulch and used it under Robert E. Lee.  I do plan to add more perennials and low growing shrubs in that area by next spring.  Pay no attention to the mutterings of the Head Gardener about mice and men ...