Backyard beds are starting to look like something…

We have the beginning of a back garden y’all!  Thanks to the recent rains things are really filling in nicely.  Lets take look at a few key beds…This is what I see now as I walk out of the sliding glass doors onto the covered patio.  The herb bed is floating in the middle of it all.  It has been VERY handy.  Lets take a closer look…I like to make my herb and vegetable gardens pretty – I have mixed in california poppies and blackfoot daisy for color and ….well…fun!Thanks to the cool spring we have had I still have an abundance of parsley.  We use a lot of it so this has been wonderful.  That is french sorrel and red veined sorrel in front of the orange pot.   In the pot is peppermint.  I keep my mint, oregano, and thyme in pots within the bed otherwise they would take over!  I also like how the pots add instant levels, structure, and color to the bed.Pretty little combo of comfrey (essential for bumps and bruises and your compost pile) and California poppy.  In the right-hand corner peeping in is stevia.Above is my a/c bed from hell that I think (knock on wood) I have finally figured out!  This bed has  6 months in full shade and 6 months in full sun.  It has been a challenge!  On the run down, first is bamboo muhly grass (Muhlenbergia dumosa), then Jerusalem sage (Phlomis fruticosa), dahlberg daisy (Thymophylla tenuiloba) and ‘angelina’ sedum living mulch, orange bulbine (Bulbine frutescens), blackfoot daisy (Melampodium leucanthum) and Mexican honeysuckle (Justicia spicigera).  From the bulbine surrounded Inuksuk on, this area gets some sun in the winter.  Because of this, the bulbine, Mexican honeysuckle, and blackfoot daisies flower A LOT.Within the dahlberg daisy living mulch, yucca rostrata ‘sapphire skies’ has survived 6 months of shade!  Yippee!I planted the berms a little, but I have started to mulch them in and pack it in until fall.  Above, HOT zinnias steal the show.  They are surrounded by green santolina (Santolina pinnata), Mexican feather grass (Nassella tenuissima) for movement, and more dahlberg daisies for added hotness.

Like my front “purple garden”, you can see my backyard garden color choices are also analogous. The front is “cool and sharp” and the back is “hot and soft.”  I want my front garden to be soothing and easy to look at for passers-by.  To expand that thought…cool as in cool colors (purple/blues/silvers) and modern – and sharp as in crisp and organized and lots of succulents and cacti (sharp as in ouch) for structure.  However, the back garden is going to be hot and soft – a  party full of red, orange, and yellows.  Not too many cacti back here where we hang out and play.  I want more of a fiesta of color and texture.  That is the ultimate plan that I always keep at the forefront when I make design and plant decisions for home.

Happy Mothers Day to all the mommies. xo

• Posted in: Back Garden - year 2
• Tagged: backyard no grass texas, texas organic garden, xeric garden, xericstyle, xeriscape