I started this year right in the front of the house. The hosta I’d gotten so cheaply from Walmart and potted up were doing so well that I wanted to get them into the ground. I think they could handle even a hard freeze if we get another one, so in they’ll go. I put them right in front, next to the deck, under the laundry room window, so it made sense to start cleaning up there. I’ve already got a lot of hosta in that bed, but it’s mostly shade, and I want to fill in the whole bed. These new ones are big blues, so they’ll contrast nicely with the other colors of hosta I already have. I need to make a note for next year, though. The biggest bunch right in the back really needs to get split hard next year. I should have done it this year, but I’m not sure where to put them. I’m still not, but I have a year to figure that out.
I brought up all the pansies I started from seed, and put them in the big planters on the front porch, which made that whole area look much better, and cheery. My window box theme is red, yellow and orange, and that’s the color of pansies I put in there, but how much do I think that seedlings from the many years of using these with blues and purples are going to come up? Oh well. I like them, and they won’t clash too much because they are pretty far away from the rows and rows of window boxes along the deck edges. I really should dump all the soil and start over. Maybe next year. It’s hard to motivate myself to do that, though, because they are so big and everything still grows well enough. Maybe topping up with compost every year really is enough?
Marmalade and I surveyed the lilacs, which didn’t make it, sadly. Oh well. I have an ambitious plan for turning that whole strip there into a raised bed, but Frank thinks I’ve lost my mind. I’m not sure if I should do it now, or wait until I have the rest of the beds done. I think it will look great, though, and balance that area nicely.