Maggie's Farm

First box arrived from Bluestone Perennials. Perfect timing to complete the installation of the new beds. Small plants now, but by June they will crowd out the weeds.

In case you're interested, here's what I am putting in them (much already done in the past 2 weeks):

Pink Knock-Out Roses
Little Bunny Fountain Grass
Dwarf Red Sedum
Nepeta, tall blue and low white
Creeping Phlox
Boxwood
Perennial Geranium
Narcissus
Scilla (Bluebell)
Salvia
Stella D'oro Daylily
Giant Allium
Asian Lily
Aster
Phlox
Daisy
Agastache
Heliocanthus
Red Salvia (Wild Thing) in defiance of Mrs. BD who believes that red is tacky in a garden.

Most of these good for Hummingbirds and butterflies. Many of them are transplants from places where they aren't thriving. If any annuals are needed, obviously I will add them in the Spring. Doubt I will need any, though. Well, for the first year I might need some.

Planning, preparing, and installing a new border is great fun but, like all gardening, it lacks immediate gratification unless you live south of the freezing line.

It takes 2 years for a perennial bed to begin to mature, 1 1/2 years if first planting is in the fall. If you plant in the fall, don't fertilize until Spring.