Can You Dig It?

Ugh. I am exhausted.  I skipped out on an afternoon of work in trade for work around my yard.  As always, I am a notorious under-estimator of time, but I did manage to get a lot done. It just took me all day!

My Farmers Seed order finally arrived. I won't lie, I was disappointed. I didn't realize what small specimens you got.  They are a good root system, however, and will grow quickly with a little rain and sun.  It will be beautiful in the end, however, the instant gratification of a pretty, newly landscaped yard was not to be.  That just means that you will have to bear with more pictures throughout the summer *wink*.

Lets start with a reminder of the "Before":

Well a total of approximately 18 hours later, total, here it is:

Super anticlimactic, huh?!  I know.  It's a mix of astilbe, hostas, flame grass, a hydrangea, clematis, salvia, black-eyed susan, mini bells, creeping geranium, & russian sage.  Oh, and whatever those ugly bushes are that have always been there. 

The window boxes are a mix of coleus, begonias, princess snow and creeping vine.  Simple, but should fill in prettily. 

I have repainted the house numbers and hope to say good-bye to the blue door this year and perhaps purchase some new hardware.  It is Curb Appeal 2013!

And because I'm a glutton for punishment, or perhaps a gardener extraordinaire, I cleaned up the area near the driveway under the lilac bushes, pruned them (somewhat as I am not ready to lose all those blooms) and planted 48 plugs of golden sedum in an effort to choke out weeds, stop mulching, an beautify that area that has become an eyesore. 

Then to round it all out, I had a beer, well, make that two, steak and a hot shower and sat down first to write it down and tape my plant tags into my garden book. Yeah, HUGE NERD!! Then, to type this all to you.  Hoping to get a back rub out of my dear hubby, yet too!

P.S.) If there are any other nerds like me out there that keep a garden journal I would love to hear more about it.  When did you start it? How often do you update it? Do you share it with others?