The Creation of a Garden Bed

Finally I have a garden bed that is almost done. It only took a few months to get one done. Taking out the grass was the longest most boring and painful process. After taking out the grass it was easy.

I purchased some herb mix soil from Fertile Garden Supply. I got to say I love that place as it has every mix of soil I could want and mulch too. The herb mix is made of compost, decayed bark, orange sand, and cedar flakes. It makes a nice airy mix with a touch of nutrients. I liked it out of all the other ones. Just straight compost was my initial want but they husband did not want poo in his then new truck.

Planttone was added and plants were planted. Then off we went to get some mulch. This was a harder choice as I have never mulched anything in my life. I got double shredded cedar as others say it repels pests. If only it repelled dogs from going into the bed.

The white plastic picket fence is not to my liking. It was bought because the dogs know no boundaries. They see new dirt and that mommy is digging so they think it is okay to go in there. It's easier for now to keep them out of it because they have small areas to sneak in from. I'll be getting some stone pavers to put in the place of the fence so it looks more...natural I guess. Hopefully they will still see the pavers sticking out of the ground as a boundary.


I potted up this container just a few days. This container is plastic or something like that and it was about $16 or something, so it was a real bargain. It makes a great focal point in that bed. In the container I planted a Tiffany rose, a balloon flower, and a lemon thyme. The Tiffany Rose was what I bought the container for, plus I like blue. The rose blooms pink and the other two plants I just added in because they needed to be potted up. Hopefully it grows and looks awesome.

I'm very nervous about my bed because it's hard to plant things and think of how they will look in the future. I took into account leaf texture color and blue color. The leaf color was hard since everything was about the same shade of green. There are annuals in the bed so I will be able to put new thins in after they die. The grass that I am putting in the back is Panicum Cloud Nine. It's nice and airy so It should provide a nice background for the other plants and make them stand out more.

Here is the progress of the bed.

Hyacinth Woodstock

Hyacinth Woodstock

My hyacinth woodstock looks like it should be blooming soon. I orginally bought these to force indoors. The container I had didn't fit all the bulbs so half went outside. I planted 3 inside and 3 outside. The other one outside is in another container and is not as large as these. The ones inside are outside right now getting some sun.


Photo from www.dutchgardens.com


Woodstock Hyacinth is a fragrant hyacinth with burgundy purple blooms. Some vary from a deeper wine purple red to a light reddish purple. They grow 8-12" high and can be grown in sun to partial shade. This hyacinth would be great for forcing indoors with the wonderful fragrance. I can't wait to smell it when mine bloom. The Woodstock Hyacinth is also good for containers and borders. They are deer and rabbit resistant. Their blooms last 3-4 weeks in mid spring.

Green Thumb Sunday

Seedlings of either phlox or dusty miller

I planted some seeds of Phlox "Phlox of Sheep" and Dusty Miller a week back. There are little seedlings popping up now. Not sure if it is the phlox or the dusty miller. I'm assuming the phlox for now because I think dusty miller is hard to grow from seeds. I could be wrong.

When I planted the seeds I had already put some grape hyacinths in the same planter. I thought by now the grape hyacinths would be blooming but they are taking their sweet time. I have a glass container where I put some grape hyacinths and they are much larger then the ones outside. I wonder if the depth that I planted them has made that difference. I'm hoping the combination will be okay with the grape hyacinths for now. If not it was a learning experience.




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