Flower Bed

Looking through my computer for nice pictures to post from the most recent season teaches me that I will definately need to work harder on my picture taking skills. It also makes my eyes cringe as there are so many more things to do in my yard. Note to self: Never plant petunias in beds again. Even a bed that gets plenty of water can't seem to make petunias thrive. So why do I invest every year and plant them anyway? They tend to look leggy, and dry and crummy, which is exactly what I don't want. I do like the "Million Bell" variety in hanging baskets and pots, but I am officially swearing off petunias (maybe). The bed in these pictures sits right under the only large window in my home. It faces west, so the afternoon sun is brutal here. It is also the only current bed I do not have weed cloth in. I used newspaper topped with 4" of super fine mulch. This coming spring I will likely need to do this again. I am always trying to hide the old house. New siding will help at some point but alas, it's not on this year's agenda. That is what you get when you live in the old railroad depot. Historic but no longer fun. Old gets irritating after 8 years, I just want new and pretty.

Many things that I wasn't so sure would come back did. For example, the hydrangea did and of course, the daylilies. I have bulbs planted in this bed and they never have trouble returing. This coming year they should have multiplied nicely. We have a "vole" problem in our yard so we have to plant accordingly. This first year we owned this house I planted 200 tulips and had 2 come up. Voles are awful. We went right to the local vet and adopted 2 rescue cats. They do a decent job but it is actually the dogs that keep the population down. This is a very fun game for labs to play. They team up and do a fine job.

This bed was nicely full this last year but I fixed that by dividing the daylilies for use in the new island bed. I would also like to plant the front of this bed with more perinnials and forego the annuals all together. We have much less snow than the 4+ feet we had on the ground last year. So I am hoping that the spring maintenance will be less. The maple planted in this bed is a small variety that will only get 20 feet tall. I planted it for bird habitat and have kept it pruned from the house.

Some things are done blooming in this picture but you get the general idea. I plan to use more Liatris in my yard this year. The mouse/mole varments seem to leave it alone. Won't spend the money on expensive bulbs in quantity until I test one first next time.
I don't know if any other bloggers feel the same way but my critical eye comes out a lot more when I look at my yard in pictures. My "To Do" list is getting longer the more I look. Good thing there is always next year!