A large community plating project

Here's my before picture... a long stretch of chain-link fencing bordering a parking lot, right in downtown Ottawa. Definitely in need of beautification!

I'm planting pink cleome the whole length (250 feet!) which I've grown from seed. You get a lot of cleome seed for $1.69! This stretch will be a mass of pink once they take hold, and cleome (an annual) produces lots of seed so it should re-seed itself.

I'm 'punctuating' the cleome with insets of canna, tall yellow marigolds, and black dragon coleus every 15 feet or so, and also with amaranthus, white cosmos and coleus. If it works, it should be quite dramatic. It's exciting to have the opportunity to design a large landscape planting like this.

I'll post an 'after' picture in the fall -- assuming everything grows as planned. We're having a drought here in Ottawa and I've been lugging hoses and watering cans to keep things alive.

Looking forward to seeing your progress photos. You planting scheme will certainly liven up that strip of ground.

Andy how are things coming along?

Andy,

Was that grass or weeds when you started?

Just curious.

Just noticed that this forum has now been closed to non-subscribers so feel happy about posting here again.

Yippee.

Thanks
Terry,

The plants are in and just starting to fill in and bloom. We had a lot hot dry spell in June, but July has been kinder. Vandalism has been a problem, but I have backups. Photos soon, when It's worth looking at.

It was mostly grass with some typical weeds, Terry. Not bad.

Andy,

What do your signs say.

"things like

Please water us

We are your friends

inanda

I haven't posted signs, not in the budget... but I hope to. It might stop people from stealing the flowers. Or the plants... cleome has leaves similar to marijuana! About five plants were ripped out two weeks ago. I wonder what happens if you try to smoke cleome? HA!

Very hot and dry here. I watered yesterday morning, but by evening the soil was dry again. Thunderstorms are in the forecast for today, and rain next Monday and Tuesday, so I hope they'll survive. We reached 35C yesterday, so I think my watering probably saved my babies from frying.

If you plan to replant the cleome, perhaps you could add some signs identifying the plant and casually mention that some folks mistake it for marijuana but it doesn't do the same thing. That might put the thieves off.

We had a really heavy downpour today... it lasted only five minutes, alas. Aside from a few sprinkles, our only rain since the end of June was one really good soaking on July 19. Other than that, it's been hot and dry. My plants are clinging to life with their fingernails (remember the turbot and the Spaniards?) (oops, Canadian joke there)

Things are looking so bedraggled, even the vandals have stopped stealing the plants.

Here's a photo, at last, worthy of posting. It shows a small part of my 250-foot strip of cleome. I've never spent so much time hoping for rain...

PS Zoë is not pooping, she's just sniffing!

Lovely Andy,

Good work.

inanda aka Ginny

Yes indeed, nice job! The flowers add a lot of life and texture to the fence area.

Thanks, I'm starting to get neighbourhood compliments too! Makes the work worthwhile. I love walking by it with Zoë.

Wow I wish you were my neighbor! Great job. Pretty dog too.

Very, very nice. I do gardens at church, and I KNOW how hard it is to do public gardens. As the neighbors start enjoying the flowers, you should have less vandalism. Bravo!