The Pachy

Jason loves his Pachypodium Lamerei.

It looks pretty with the dwarf Indigo Spires and Ellen's Blue Buddleia.

The Center Bed

Did you know there was such a thing as dwarf Salvia Leucantha? Me neither, but I bought three! They're called Salvia Leucantha 'Santa Barbara' and I ordered them from Plant Delights Nursery.

It rules.

Passion Vine

I planted a couple of Passion Vine on the trellis hiding the AC unit.

I'm feeling good about this!

Succulent-Off!

That's right, a Succulent-Off! Jason and I had a competition to see who could do a better succulent arrangement.

Jason's

Wendy's

I think we all know who won, but he shows promise.

Season 5 Garden upsets!

Anthony Parker Salvia - GONE! I never even mentioned planting it, sorry. It sat around looking ugly-ish and raggedy except when it bloomed, which wasn't often enough to justify its existence in my garden anymore.

Caryopteris - GONE! They always looked half-dead no matter how much or how little water I gave them, so they got replaced by some Bearded Iris from the back bed that were grateful for more sunlight.

Buddleia Ellen's Blue - GONE, then BACK! It started dying branch-by-branch after a freakishly strong windstorm whipped it around like a rag doll one night, so I bought a new one this Spring and planted it where the old one was. It's kind of like when they replaced Darren on 'Bewitched', only this plant looks exactly like the old one. Except smaller. So really you'd never know unless you were paying close attention.

Season 4: lessons learned (or "And then Summer happened")

So here's what I learned: the roses, iris (Bicolor and Bearded), Philippine Violet and Catmint came through virtually unscathed. The rest looked shabby but they'll come back.

Funky Veronica

I'm fascinated by the Veronica Speedwell - some of the flowering spikes have 2 or 3 forks!

I wonder if mine are mutant because I live near a Superfund site or they're all like that?