Gardening: Before

There's been a lot of gardening going on the past month or so.  Just yesterday, we decided to reclaim the jungle plot that's been growing under the dogwood.

It was centipede heaven under there.

I dreamed of squirming masses of centipedes last night.

Mission accomplished; now it's filled with a variety of impatiens.
And centipedes.

Hello, Lantana!  

I was so delighted to find my favorite flower at a local nursery.  This grows in abundance in the southwest...in El Paso, the roadways are lined with huge bushes of this flowering beauty...but it is much more scarce around here.    I found only these two plants, and that was after shopping in four distinct nurseries.  I love it because of its continual flowers, and because it tolerates heat, and dryness,  . . . and neglect.

Over the past few weeks, Andy and the boys ripped out the row of dying hedges that lined the front yard.  You can see the same kind of hedges lining the neighbor's yard in the background of the picture.  

In their place, we planted a row of flowers.  

Geraniums at the corners...

followed by a colorful row of dahlias, 

 salvia, and sun-hardy begonias.

On the other side, geraniums, followed by forty feet of marigolds.

Although it's difficult to see at this time, the pictures below are petunias planted in the pattern of an American flag.  

Yes, I hang our laundry out to dry.
It smells wonderful that way.

They do look rather pathetic, don't they...

We're going to string the runners in lines; hopefully it will look better once they take root and fill in.

In a few weeks I'll post more pictures to show how everything has progressed.