creating a little patio corner garden

BEFORE

rocks placed

adding dirt and a stepping stone

adding plants and putting the furniture back

adding a cat always helps…

I got this idea because we don’t sit in the corner, and it just called out for a little raised-bed rock-lined garden. I stopped by a local nursery and bought $35 worth of annuals to plant there.Then I realized that, although this corner faces south, because of the growing elm and maple trees on the hillside nearby, it doesn’t actually get full sun. Then I thought, I’ve been reading this great book about the importance of native plants to support our native bugs and birds and other wildlife. So I went around the yard with a trowel and carefully dug up small pieces of the following plants. Not all are native, but most are, and all can tolerate part shade.

primrose red and yellow

forget me not

dicentra bleeding heart

wild woodland primrose from Downerville State Forest down the road

white bleeding heart

foam flower from our own woods

There are eleven kinds of plants I transplanted there altogether; here is the complete list:

1. tiarella foam flower from our own woods
2. three kinds of primroses, one from nearby woods
3. pink and white bleeding heart from my sister
4. wild ginger from our own woods
5. woodland phlox from the roadside in nearby Heuvelton
6. forget me not from the in-laws’ yard near Albany
7. violets, both purple and yellow wood violets here when I got here
8. purple columbine from Eleanor’s garden
9. sweet woodruff from a friend’s garden in town
10. pulmonaria I can’t remember where from
11. woodland anemone from a catalog, but it grows around here

Just after I planted them, we had a bit of rain, and this morning they all appear to have made the move without a problem. Now, where will I put those annuals?

My next project is to build a nice stone wall at the top of the front yard. I already have it done in my mind–but the actual doing has to wait until classes are over! I did, however, take the before photos already! Here they are:

that’s from the driveway side–here is from the other side:

Stay tuned for the “during” and “after” photographs. I am hoping to finish it before the garden party on Mother’s Day.

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