How easy? Only seven flats of annuals and a few
choice perennials went into this bursting flower border. Given the span
of just a few months, the front yard looked like a cottage garden. The
plants added appeal and charm. It hardly resembled the barren earth that
surrounded the house not long ago. If you want a colorful spring garden
like ours, you have to realize that the real work starts in the fall. This curved flowerbed, which runs along the edge of the gravel parking area, is 4 1/2 feet wide and 66 feet long. A small bed of Zoysia grass sweeps across the front edge of the border. This makes the narrow flowerbed accessible and easy to work from both sides of the border. Weeding and planting can be done without having to step all over plants or compact the loose, freshly tilled, and amended soil.
The area receives lots of direct light, so we used sun-loving plants. We put in a few die-hard perennials such as two ornamental grasses (Miscanthus sp.), one butterfly bush (Buddleia sp.), one Rose-of-Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus), and some 'Homestead Purple' verbena (Verbena canadensis 'Homestead Purple'). The plan was to install a few perennials each year and keep the open spaces covered with seasonal flowers.
