ROSES & FEATHER REED GRASS...

Happy day y'all!

Well as promised I am back with some details about the roses and grasses I planted in the planters along the front of the house.

I am super excited about finally getting these planters filled with some pretty stuff.  It's been A LONG time coming.  We have lived here for almost 4 years and I have never planted these beds.  I had to wait until the house was painted and some problems were fixed before I could take full advantage of these lovely raised planters...and, I will be truthful...I was unsure for along time as to what I was going to plant here.

These are very narrow planters (only about 15-18 inches wide) and they are 9 foot long.  I knew I wanted perennials because I don't want to be planting these beds every.single.year. That's too costly and time consuming and I wanted plants that were pretty much maintenance free.  I'm also lazy!! hahaha.

So, I needed plants that were somewhat compact but somewhat tall and bushy too (I want them to fill in and spill out but not be too big). Plants that would come back every year and not have to be fussed with.  Oh and of course they needed to be pretty!

Whew, that's a pretty tall order now isn't it!

Well I found the perfect plants to fill my HUGE list of requirements...

A new breed of shrub roses (the name I don't remember but I will try to find it and let you all know what it is later) and Karl Foerster feather reed grass.

The shrub roses are similar to knock out roses only they are more compact.  They will only grow to 2 foot wide and 3 feet tall and they never need pruning.  However, you can cut them back if you wish to shape them.  They are the perfect size for these beds.

The Karl Foerster feather reed grass is also a compact version, growing to about 2 ft. wide.  The grass itself only reaches about 2 ft. tall and wide but when it flowers in the summer the flowery plumes will reach somewhere in the 5 ft. range.  Again the perfect size for these beds.

I found some information about this particular grass that I thought was neat and wanted to share with you. This grass was discovered by a German nurseryman, Karl Foerster.  He cultivated it and it became available for sale to the public in 1939.  That's the same year my house was built! I think it is so fitting that I plant this particular grass in these 1939 planting beds, don't you?

There is another planting bed that I am getting ready to tackle this weekend.  You may have noticed it in one of the pictures above...

Though you can't see it, this bed runs from here all the way around the screened porch and to the back door.  It's a BIG bed.  I will only be tackling this section of it this weekend. I will be digging all the grass and weeds out, spreading some mulch and planting some yellow Daylilies here.  This is another project that has been long overdue but I have to do things as time and money allows.  Can I get a witness?

Oh and here's a picture of the lights along the sidewalk...

I really like them and they were very inexpensive for such large lights.  I got them for $1.79 each at Aldi's of all places.  They are pretty high quality...at least as good as the ones that are $4.00 a piece everywhere else. So, if you are in the market from some good pathway lights check out your local Aldi's soon.  They will sell out FAST!

I hope to be planting some mums down the sidewalk over the weekend.  Well, that's if I can fit it in among all the other stuff I will be doing.

Everything is really coming along now and I am finally starting to see my vision for this place come to life.  I love it!

What have you been doing around your place to make your vision and dreams come true? Anything?  Do tell!

Have a fabulous day!  Ciao