Goofy looking...

Another:

MsKatt - what you may call goofy looking has turned into something beautiful! Congratulations! Very lovely.

NOT GOOFY LOOKING AT ALL!!!! I think this is a beautiful picture! You have done a wonderful job!

Thanks for the kind comments! It's finally filling in!

It looks just fine, and you can read books and get more ideas for something different to try next year. Gardeners are always changing things, it's our nature you know. You might want to think about putting something like some patio furniture and planters on all that pavement to keep the kidney shaped bed from looking lonely.

Much improvement; far better than what I would have done. Nice work and thanks for sharing.

David

Looking very good!

Hi MsKatt, had every confidence in you, and you did not let me down, soooo proud of you for just having the bottle to get on and do it all a bit at a time, that is what gardening is all about, who would not feel welcome and enjoy comming to visit you with a lovely display to say hi, someone with talent lives here, good girl, hope you got as much pleasure as we all had watching your progress from someone unsure to someone who makes a statement, get a board up saying "ALL MY OWN WORK" happy gardening, WeeNel.

ACK! Plant murder. My 115 lb English Mastiff pup ran off the porch when the kids got off the schoolbus today and ran right through my flowerbed!!! Dang dog and his big ol' feet. I don't care about the impatiens, they're just about dead this time of year anyway...but I hope my bleeding hearts will be okay!

Michelle in Michigan

Before the plant murder....last week. I don't think I'm going to plant as many impatiens next year...they kind of hid my hostas. All in all, I think it turned out better than I thought. Thanks to everyone for their suggestions!

Michelle in Michigan

WOW Michelle. That bed really did fill in! I think your bleeding heart will be fine. Mine are fading this time of year. They kind of die back in the heat and then come back bigger next year. Thanks for keeping us updated on your kidney bed. I'd say it was a big success this year. I think you're right about the impatiens because next year your hostas and bleeding hearts will be bigger and you won't have as much room in that bed for other plants. Thanks again for the pictures!

It looks very nice. If you ever wanted a change, flowering maple would look nice. (Would that work in your zone?) with the bleeding hearts and hostas. Keep it kind of skinny? Campanula ground cover is shorter than impatients if you think there covering up your hostas and does ok in the shade. I like to change things around alot. But really, it very nice how it is. horstail is cool looking and vertical but maybe invasive. Again I'm not very familiar with what grows in your zone. Way to go good job.

The bleeding heart will be just fine, they have finished flowering for this year, mine are already hidden back underground, but I live in a cooler area than you have, maybe next year you could go for perennial geraniums, these are blue, purple, pink or white and will come up again each year, they only grow to about 6 inches, once flowering is past, you can give them a hair cut and you get a second flush of flowers from them, another good low growing plant is Cat mint, Nepeta, these spread low, out from the one plant and as you brush past them as you walk, they give off a wonderful perfume, so you would probably only want to plant a couple of them, look for the height and spread on the labels, they are also perennial and again you give them a hair cut at the end of the season, the grayish green foliage and lovely tiny purple/blue flowers will enhance the Hostas, remember, the Hostas will get even more growth on them next year and the leaves may even get larger depending on the type, maybe try a Peonies, the flowers are lovely and as the flowers fade, the contrasting foliage will look good with the Hostas too, but for this year, you sure had a lovely show considering all your doubts about the shape and size of the bed, so well done, never be too scared to experiment, it is your garden and for your enjoyment, if it dont work, then change it for the next year, watch the dog dont trample your plants next spring as they come peeping through the soil for the new show they want to give you, the tender tips of the Hostas are easy damaged if they are stood on as they first emerge from their winter sleep. good luck, WeeNel.

what are the tall spiky bamboo looking things in there? i have something similar and love those

It's papyrus.

i havent seen those for sale. i'm in zone 7 and will be spending next 4 mo's in zone 9,where did you get those?

Out here pretty much every nursery carries them. Often you'll find them by the water garden plants since they can grow in a pond (although they don't need to) The genus name is Cyperus.

thanks ecrain,a pond is my project next year

I have a miniature papyrus in a small pond, that I brought in for the winter. Do you think it will survive as a house plant? I think the winter is too cold here for it to stay outdoors.

MsKatt, I have enjoyed reading of (and watching!) your progress. Your space turned out to look spectacular! Like some stated, it just takes patience and the willingness to experiment. If you wanted more color, you could put in red or mixed colored impatiens. For texture and height, a collection of ferns would be pretty, too. I don't know your zone, but if azaleas would survive your winters, they would look truly amazing in that spot as well. The beauty of gardening is in its freedom to try new things and change them as you wish. Personally, I love it! :-)


This message was edited Nov 22, 2007 10:13 PM

shune--I think they're hardy to zone 8, so it might be OK outdoors, although it would have a better chance if it's in the ground instead of in a container. I don't know how it'll do indoors, I'd make sure to give it some light and keep it watered and see what happens.