Another Project off the "To-do" List

Today I was determined to cross another big project off my mental "to-do" list. The mudroom garden bed never was completely dug out and refilled with good garden soil before planting commenced. As a result, some areas of the bed which had received a topping of Nature's Best were considerable higher then other parts. And a dozen or more perennials had been planted over the past few years with little thought to color combinations or soil levels. While the plants were thriving in this location, the bed's visual appeal was less then idea. So today, with some much appreciated help, I dug up most of the plants in this flowerbed. Then we filled up the bed with many tractor loads of Nature's Best and leveled off the soil. The above picture shows the bed after receiving the new soil but before the plants had been relocated in the bed.

One plant that did not find its way back into that flowerbed was this hydrangea. During the Summer, the poor hydrangea received far too much direct sunlight. No matter how much I watered it, after a few days of very warm weather, its leaves would start to burn and turn brown. In its new location it will only receive direct sunlight in the early morning hours. The rest of the day it will be happily situated in full shade.

As I mentioned, I did have help with this project. As I started replanting in the mudroom bed, Tom-cat came over and was mesmerized by my work.

One new plant that founds a home tonight was this echinacea "Aloha". I purchased it almost a month ago at the Plant Nerd Night from Territorial Seed Company. We already have 3 cone flowers in this bed but there's always room for another! I do love their blooms and appreciate having a strong bloomer in August and September when so many other plants have finished for the year.

After dinner we set the plants by good color groupings and got everything replanted. The task was completed by giving each plant a deep watering. The bed looks so much nicer. Now if I can just keep the cats out of it!