4'x3' Bluestone Landing in progress (it looks so small in this picture)
Arbor w/ fresh mulch
Arbor with our old adirondack chairs
Huge Bearded Irises w/ Verbascum nigrum
Spiderwort (Tradescantia) (I love the tropical looking flowers w/ the bamboo, but it is actually a native prairie plant)
Things have been moving along in the garden and porch, partially thanks to Mother Nature and partially by manual labor. Yesterday I managed to dig out for the bluestone landing at the bottom of the new stairs. I just need to pick up the sand and level. I also managed to adjust the stepping stones to the new arbor and put in some mulch. In the garden, things are really starting to bloom. It is interesting now that I take more photos of the garden, how many purple flowered perennials I have. Purple is my favorite color, but I didn’t realize how much I favored it. hmmmm…
I used the spiderworts in my planters. They survived the winter well and are about to bloom.
If you like purple flowers, here are my three favorites. None seem to comeback after winter however. All are in part shade and I don’t think they would take full sun.
–Setcreasea “purple heart”-its stems spreads like ground cover. Its purple stalks have small pink/white flowers
–Streptocarpella “concord blue”-trailing small green leaves with many small purple flowers
–fushia “shadoow dancer marcia”-drapes over pots with almost neon purple and pink flowers
I love your arbor! That’s a great idea to put mulch between the flagstones. I think I’ll try the same thing in my side yard. Any idea where I can find an arbor like that?
Cheers, Betsy
[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The poster sent us ‘1733574767 which is not a hashcash value.
Hi Betsty! Ibought my arbor from Three Man Products on Ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/threemanproducts/m.html?item=400453527428&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562
But here is a post with some of the other arbors I considered:
http://www.statelykitsch.com/garden-arbors/