{Sneak Peek} Flower garden additions!

Okay, so I’m not photographing my whole “garden” for you because it looks a little sad…hopefully next year it will be more full!  Plus I’m just getting started with this and I’m not a master gardener yet.  So for now I took a few pics of my favorites…which are my favorites because they’re doing very well. Some are not!! My fault, though…I couldn’t get them all planted ASAP and a couple didn’t like being in the hot sun 24/7. But I bought all perennials so that I wouldn’t waste money, banking on the fact that they have 9 lives! The planted ones are in the flower bed to the left of the front door, and the pots are sitting on the front porch.  So here we go…my first flower garden!

My pink peony! Specifically the “Karl Rosenfield” peony…which is supposed to be red.  Hmmm…oh well, I like it either way!

These are Caradonna Salvias.  Another one that is doing very well, so I love them.    Plus I love the spiky shape.

My baby blue spruce!  I planted him in the corner, and I thought he was just so cute!  He’s very short now, and luckily he’s a slow grower.  I wish I knew exactly what species he is, I accidentaly threw the tag away and didn’t note it!  Let me know if you know.

I decided to plant the succulents in pots because they look so cute in pots and I can rearrange them as I please!!  We have Hens and Chicks Mix Sempervivums, planted with Blaze of Fulda Sedums (2 pots of these).  In the back is a pot of Dark Dancer White Clover.  I’ve found I’m really attracted to the dark purple or chocolatey leaves and plants.

The pots are made out of recycled materials – I picked those up at the Ace Hardware Memorial Day sale! Nice and lightweight, so I can move them anywhere!  Plus if it says “eco” or “recycled” anywhere, I’ve found I’m kind of a sucker.  This is another pot of the Hens and Chicks Mix on the left, a pot of Autumn Joy Sedums in the middle, and in the back is a Pulp Fiction Dahlia (another one with dark leaves and fiery flowers).

So to break my nursery purchases down, here is what I bought (but I didn’t show all of them):

• White Clover, “Dark Dancer”
• Sedum, “Blaze of Fulda” and “Autumn Joy”
• Semervivum, “Hens and Chicks Mix”
• Armeria, “Dusseldorf Pride” (These are so cute, but the flowers are already browning so I didn’t photography them)
• Dahlias, “Pulp Fiction” and “Gallery Sisley”
• Peony, “Karl Rosenfield”
• Salvia, “Caradonna”
• Iceland Poppy, “Champagne Bubbles”
• Bugleweed, “Black Scallop”
• Mini Blue Spruce tree – I tossed the tag on this one and forgot to write down the name   Any help would be wonderful!

And I’m so excited because my orchid has finally bloomed! 3 blooms so far, but I counted 18 total buds/blooms on it! Wow!

I can’t wait to finish planning and planting my gardens and landscaping.  I have a blank slate to work with, and I’m excited to “decorate” the outside of my house along with the inside.  But we also need to PAINT the outside – desperately!  The work of a homeowner is never done, is it?  So far I’ve really enjoyed it, though!