bees and sedum

Last summer, we took up all of the grass on one side of our yard, and I planted a perennial garden in its place.  This year, that garden is thriving (mostly-always a few clunkers) and we're coming into my favorite garden season.  Oh, of course I love the first spring flowers, and the riot of color that happens in mid-summer, but I really dig the subtle changes and late bloomers of the autumn garden.  It seems that a lot of people rather give up on their gardens at this point, but I just keep cutting back any dead stuff and letting all my plants soak in cooler temps and fall light.  It also might be that it takes me all summer to really get my gardens where I want them to be, and now I can just sit back and enjoy the show (after I pull a few more weeds....)

The front bed is making me really happy, and I've got some great summer to fall transition combos right now.

The silvery leaves of perennial alyssum and dried spikes of the lamb's ear still look great against some dried yarrow (this I don't usually cut back until late as I think it adds some texture and yummy fall color to the garden).  The sedum is just coming into it's glory and is loaded with bees taking full advantage.  A little dragon's blood creeping sedum adds a splash of red, and the bright creeping sedum (sorry-not sure of the exact variety name) adds a big dose of vibrancy to the whole palette.

I wanted the front garden to be well-composed and compliment the house without overwhelming, so I kept a really tight palette and repeated a lot of plants.  The house is painted in very warm, vibrant colors, so I used  cooler, calmer tones in the garden-silver, chartreuse and deep purple.  I love sedum because they are so easy to maintain and they look great for the entire garden season, so I planted a lot of varieties (bush and creeping) repeated throughout the garden.  I sprinkled in a good dose of my favorites, including lady's mantle, penstemon and mountain bluets to round things out.

 I have been working on my list of changes for the spring, and will be doing some major changes in the back half of the garden.  Meanwhile, I'm still anxiously awaiting the blooming of an orange geranium..........   

 (oh-the tall yellow flowers in back are heliopsis-everyone asks.)