There is a sort-of flower bed right up adjacent to the house, to the left of the front door. Kinda a raised planter, that has had a modicum of attention given over the years: occasionally planted with bright red geraniums, some struggling, scraggly dwarf nandinas that were pretty shameful for someone who is a 'trained' gardener. I have been pondering for a long time, trying to decide what would be best planted in this location that is very view-able, visible to anyone who comes to visit, but not at all noticeable from the street.
Plus it is an odd combination of shade and sun. That whole area, across the front of the west-facing house, does not get nearly as much full sun as you would expect, when you think of how blistering hot, brutal the afternoons can be in our area. But with a wide overhanging roof to prevent any direct sunlight in the mornings, and trees that will block it by mid-afternoon, it really only gets maybe four hours a day of full exposure. Which really surprised me - I thought I had to put things out there there could really stand up to harsh summer conditions.
This spot in the corner, under the extended over-hang, actually never gets any direct sun, but gets lots of light. So: I thought maybe something variegated, that would be sort of colorful, that likes semi-shade, and I could easily keep watered when I am tending the bloomers in the new bed that goes the length of the house. We (my teenaged hole-digger and me to supervise) put lots of peat moss and some potting soil, a goodly scoop of Osmocote and shade loving hostas out, along with Solomon's Seal. I bought half a dozen pots over a year ago when I saw the plants at the Callaway sale. The tall, slender gracefully arc-ing stems, with oval- shaped, variegated leaves, and nearly hidden, neat little creamy-white bell shaped blooms that magically appear in early spring are wonderful.
I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I have had the pots of hostas for two years, not ready to 'commit' to putting them in the ground. It looks great. I am so pleased. Sad that I did not take 'before' photos of the bedraggled dwarf nandinas (but readily admit they were so pitiful they would not have been willing to stand there, droopy headed, holding their numbers for the mug-shot camera, looking like they had been to an all-night drug fest, with bed-head and blood-shot eyes, in need of a shave and shower). But will go and snap a photo of 'after', even though I will have to wait for my personal tech-support to add in here:
Trying to think of something that will add a bit more color there, and pondering the possibility of going around the yard to dig up all the gerbera daisies to relocate along the front edge of the planter. They would get plenty of sun, for at least four hours, and should do well there, plus provide smiling blooms all summer. I'm crazy about red-blooming geraniums that put on a show all summer long, so maybe some of that???
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