Perennial Garden Along The Fence

Last year we only had time for a small flower garden on this side of the yard.  We threw in a couple of irises and gladiola bulbs next to the preexisting bleeding heart and called it a day until the end of the summer (when we added a few more things).  As much as I love gardens and flowers (we were married in an arboretum in front of a huge flower garden) we were just too busy making the inside of the house liveable. 

Well this year I wanted more, a lot more.  A big long flower bed against the fence filled with flowers that would keep coming back year after year: a perennial garden.  A couple of weeks ago I posted about how I planted some peonies along the fence, and only recently were we finally able to finish digging out the full flower bed, pulling sod up very carefully around the existing plants.   Now the bed goes from the corner of the fence all the way back to the middle of the garage - it's huge and it took forever to get it all up.  Someday I'd like to make it go all they way back, but this is plenty for now.  We filled in the beds with leftover dirt from the raised bed garden - we still had at least 2 cubic yards left sitting in the driveway.

Then it was time to plant a few new things.  Seeing how large our bleeding heart grew (it's a monster taking over everything!), I didn't want to over-plant everything and make it too overcrowded.   I read the recommended spacing directions on the plants, which is as high as 3-4 feet for the peonies.  While the plants grow and take the time to establish themselves, I'm filled in the rest of the space a little bit with things that can easily be moved around from year to year - dahlias (smaller ones than the dinner plates in the raised beds), strawberries, and gladiola bulbs.

So what exactly is over here now?  Here's the official plant list:  bleeding hearts (original to the house),  irises (from last June), gladiolas (from last June and some new ones), a knock-out rose bush (from last August), anemone (from last August), 3 astilble (from the front yard redo in October), 6 peonies (new), 2 lupines (new), French lavender (new), daffodils (tied up and dying back - original to the house), dahlias (old and new), strawberries (old and new), and ah ydrangea (new - donated from my mother who received it as a potted gift).  I also technically threw in a few alyssum flower seeds leftover from the raised bed garden because we have the space this year while the larger plants (like the peonies) establish themselves.

Once everything was planted, we spread out a layer of newspaper because it's magic at blocking weeds (seriously) and then covered it with cedar mulch.  I think it looks lovely and I can't wait for it to fill in.  I'll share the progress once things grow!