Backyard progress - bed #1

That's a terrible post title but I've had these pictures for weeks so I just need to get them up because this weekend is the AFTER!!

Remember my angry Haikus about the Yahoo! Weather app? That was the day I was out in the backyard, working on the area to the left of the newest plantings just off the patio.

I was digging all the &#*@! rocks out of the bed up next to the house for about 3 hours. It's a tiny, tiny bed so I thought I was starting on the easy part. I quickly came to realize that the previous owners had used the rocks as mulch but hadn't put down any kind of cloth and also hosted Riverdance shows on that patch of earth, so the rocks were firmly pressed in. Digging them out was awful.

The Before. If this were a picture of the BEFORE Before you'd see a giant, ugly holly there too.

See all those #!$@% rocks?!?! I just piled them all against the bottom edge of the house. I'm sure there's a reason that's a bad idea.

The after Before.

Below you see a (mostly) clean bed ready for plants.

The before After...

And now, plants! Ta-da!!

For those of you keeping score at home, those are the Valentine roses I pulled up from the beds in the front. And now, almost 2 weeks later, they look even better because they're SO happy!

To the right (against the fence) is a Pennisetum 'Purple Prince'. It's likely going to get too big for that spot, but I love that plant.

To the left is a little peach tree called a Patio Peach! I don't know if it will ever produce fruit, but the leaves are a nice dark color rather than the typical green, so it will look lovely regardless if I don't kill it. And yes, that's the tag hanging off of it. I'm the Minnie Pearl of gardeners.

Today's project is laying down that brick edging I talked about! The bricks are all piled in the driveway, so wish me luck! 

And in other gardening news

Decided there was a height gap in the back bed and it needed something weeping in shape. I was lucky to find a Chaparral Weeping Mulberry at a local nursery:

The Salvia Guaranitica 'Black and Blue' are looking good, and slowly taking over the bed by the shed:

And things in the new bed look happy, especially the Purple Prince Pennisetum grass and the elephant ears. Compare to April when everything was tiny!

This is an elephant ear I transplanted from the back bed - look at all the little shoots!

The bananas and cannas are also getting bigger:

And last but not least, my little sunset strip.

The Red Yucca has only sent up one stalk this year, which is unusual. The Honeysuckle seems to be taking hold on the trellis, and the Lafter roses have survived the transplant.