Beginner Gardening: Have a look...... what would you do??, 1 by GiddyMoon

GiddyMoon wrote:
This is the house we took at the beggining of fall last year. I am in 10b but a lot of things grow just fine here in central CA.

I am looking for not expensive, easy to grow from seed is good too, hardy, easy, perty, drawing birds and butterflies would be nice, nothing cat toxic or thorny. I love Hosta, Ceoleus, some ferns, morning Glories, Poppies, Columbine, Bleeding Heart.

The house is very ranchy, so I don't want tropical, I want to keep the feel of the old fashioned home...without being messy or English gardeny...if that is a word. lol

We have a 1/4 acre to work with, I have no need to keep a lot of grass.

House faces South.

The chips you see here were already pulled up and in between figuring out what we wanted to do gladiolas started popping up like crazy between the agapanthus. We also have glories trailing up the two posts in front and in a long box towards that end of the patio to form a sun barrier late in the day to that office window you see.

Under that window is now red mulch bark, and I placed a small park bench directly under the window then put old creel on it filled with assylium and pansies and then a huge old yellow wash tub with another large pot of Irises went passed that between the window and tree.

I like container gardening...but in ground is good too.

In other pics you can see the large tree stump towards the front. That now has a half whisky barrel on it with Irises and the mailbox has been repainted barn red, an aluminum box and we set it down in a longer, thin barrel and filld with assylium and violas.

Let me know what you would do!