Less progress than hoped for in back plot

I was feeling reasonably good about the back plot after planting three digitalis grandiflora (large yellow foxglove) yesterday and transplanting some of the wandering forget-me-nots to the other side of the topiary, and some of the sprouting lungwort offspring to the far side of the plot. But then I looked at the vision sketch, and where I started last winter, and where I was around this time last year, and I must say it's disappointing. On the whole I just want it to be bursting with life, and it's clearly not, even if the forget-me-nots and lungwort are gangbusters and the begonias are doing fine. There just needs to be more stuff, and taller. If the foxgloves make it, they'll help with that.

Early March, 2016. The starting point.

May 19, 2016

May 28, 2017

On the plus side: luscious lungwort.

And this person isn't disappointed. She drew chalk pictures of flowers, sun, and rain.

In the front, you see the self-seeded lungwort that I transplanted. Behind them left is a foxglove. Behind that, aster (I just don't even know what to make of that), and the stringy things behind are the alliums that DIDN'T flower. In the picture below, you see the two transplanted forget-me-nots.

Just one of the poppies in front bloomed, and it's awfully short, but still beautiful!

This little dude(tte) was just hanging out in the middle of our basement, blind and just-born groggy. 

Did I nestle him/her into a soft bed, give him/her a name, and lovingly feed him/her milk from an eyedropper? Hells no. I put it outside and fervently hoped a fox or bird of prey would eat it. Speaking of which....

This was circling the neighborhood on May 24. I think it is a turkey vulture.

Topiary is the final touch

Whilst I was away yesterday, apparently the landscapers added the topiary to our plot, thus completing their efforts. The grass has grown in nicely. Now we just sit back and wait two years for it to really look done. *looks impatiently at wristwatch.*

Plants in the back plot at last!

I finally made the time to get plants (from Williams Nursery in Westfield, where Linda Williams very kindly picked out specimens for me before I arrived) and put them in the back plot per my design! The biggest hitch was that while my design had called for nine lungwort plants, they were a shocking $20 each (quite large, and messy-looking), so I cut back to three and put in some perennial forget-me-nots and dead nettles instead.

Note that the plan above is from the opposite perspective of the photo below - picture sitting on the chairs in the photo, and sketching the plan. So, for example, lungwort is on the right in the plan, but the left in the photo.

Light-colored plant in foreground is wormwood. Small plants are ageratum. 2 plants with pink flowers in foreground is forget-me-not. Large green-leafed plants at back of plot are asters. You can't really see the dead nettles or lungwort behind the topiary.

Also, Williams did not have moonbeam threadleaf coreopsis in stock, so there are a few gaps yet to be filled. And, as anticipated, I'll need to wait till fall to add the ornamental onion, because those are bulbs.

On right, lungwort. Dead nettles visible between the asters.

I also got some brachscome (it did so well last year), portulaca, and lantana to fill in some gaps in the front, and some ageratum left over from the back plot went there too.

Ageratum, Spanish bluebells (from planting last fall), and brachyscome.

Brachyscome, next to what's left of the daffodil leaves.

Portulaca (between last year's wormwood and daffodil leaves)

Lantana, nestled below the peonies along with lavender.

Finally, digging in the front, I turned up this guy:

Friends enlightened me that Catholics may bury St. Joseph (upside down, facing the house) in front of their home to speed its sale! Who knows how long he was buried, since we believe neither of the last two sets of owners were Catholics.