First Planting Bed & Organizing the Garage

Now that we've been in the new house for nearly 2 months things are starting to come together. Tonight I planted a pretty garden bed with shade-loving ground cover plants! The planting bed is right next to our front porch, along the sidewalk and right in front of Andy & Jaina's living room window. Because it's in front of their window I didn't want to plant anything that would block their view so I decided on some interesting ground covers.


Ryan has been working on getting the garage organized. For weeks now he has been sorting, hanging up peg boards, shelving, and building his new work benches. We want to put my car in the garage this winter so we don't have to scrap ice & snow off the car every time we need to go somewhere...I am looking forward to it VERY much. I've never had a garage that my car can actually go in before so this is quite the exciting prospect!

The SueBee will sit right here warm and cozy when it's all white outside.

Ryan's work side of the garage is coming together too. The big machine is on it's new table, peg board is up for small tool easy access, and the snowshoes are safe up on the high walls! Eventually the new work benches will go along the wall as well.

Front view into the garage. The light in the back that was abandoned here is working out pretty well next to the back peg board. It'll be awhile before I know where things belong in here but I'm loving the way it's looking now!

Now....let's move on to my beautiful plants! :)

Here is the front of the house. It looks so much better than it did when we started this project. I found so many weird things in the dirt: nails, roofing pieces, legos, mini matchbox cars, christmas lights, guitar picks, beer caps, and more! Hopefully by next summer the ground covers will have spread over all the dirt and all you will see is GREEN!!

Closer photo of the rows.
The rock border is made up of river rocks Ryan and I collected. The cinder block trail to the hose storage area is made from remnants of Ryan's old "cave man style" book shelf that he had for years at the Cherry Street house.

Row #1: Hens and Chicks, a succulent plant that does well in dry, sunny conditions.

Row #2 & 3: Thyme, an herb as well as a ground cover that blooms dainty little pink or white flowers. The light green is "Variegated Thyme" and the darker green is "Woolly Thyme."

Row #4: Lamium, a ground cover with silvery white foliage and white flowers in the spring. It is very hardy in shade/part sun, and it drought tolerant so if I forget to water it it will be A-OK!

Row #5, next to the garage: Birch Hybrid Bellflower: Interesting new purple flowering plant that I just had to try out once I saw it at the nursery! It is also a ground cover, although it grows a little taller than the other I picked out.

In the back right corner you can see my "Sweet Mint Geranium" from last summer. It does not flower like other geraniums, but if you rub the leaves it smells slightly of sweet mint.

Closer view of my little river rocks & the cinder block trail.

Hens & Chicks: Pretty first row succulent.
Technically this is the "chick" of the Hens & Chicks plant. Brittany and George have a whole bunch in the garden beds in front of their house and kindly gave me some little "chicks" to start my own plants. Thanks Britt & George, the hens and chicks will look great next to the sidewalk!

Woolly Thyme.
When you get closer to the plant you can see the fuzzy leaves which give it it's name. They say once thyme is more established in your bed if you walk on it the smell of thyme fills the air, yum! When this one flowers I have a hunch they will be petite and white.

Variegated Thyme.
This type of thyme does not have little fuzzy leaves, but rather smooth ones that vary from almost white to light green. I believe this variety will have tiny pink flowers once it's roots are established. I only bought 6 plants of thyme total, but was able to plant 12 by separating the "pots" into two plants! The guy at the plant nursery told me that thyme is so hardy that you are able to split it like that without harming it.
Economical plants, yes!

Lamium or "Dead Nettle"
Another great ground cover that is hardy and spreads easily. These grow to be 5 or so inches tall, with leaves spreading as far as they can. My Dad & Gail gave me 4 plants when they moved out of their house in July and I found the perfect use for them! These also flower in the spring with colors ranging from white to medium pink.
Thank you Daddy & Mom!

Birch Hybrid Bellflower
I picked these two plants up randomly at Crossroads Nursery on the Pullman Hwy. They grow to be 6-8 inches tall so I placed them next to the garage wall where they will not block Andy & Jaina's window. I'm also hoping they will camouflage the gas line termination in the middle of the bed, it will look much nicer when you can't see the metal post!

My poor little mint plant that I bought at Renaissance Fair back in May. I wasn't sure that it was going to keep surviving in it's pot so I stuck it in the corner. We will just have to see how it does. You know what they say: it's hard to kill mint.

A few days ago I was able to re pot my half-price Hydrangea bushes into their large pots! The one on the left is a pink variety and the one on the right is a blue variety. So far I've seen a lot of flowers from the pink one and a lot of foliage from the blue one. In the middle of the Hydrangeas are my 2 year old chives!

My dinky little tomato plant. It is "100 sweet" or something similar, it is suppose to grow small, very sweet tomatoes in clumps. I started it in this pot pretty late in the season so I might get some tomatoes if I bring the pot inside once frost arrives (no, no! I did NOT just say that! No thinking about frost for the next 2 months!!!).

Beautiful tomato flower.
I may not like to eat raw tomatoes, but I love growing them!!

I think I'll set a chair out here and watch my little garden grow.


Oh wait, I have other things to get done around here? yes...

More plants, ground tilling and yard work on the way!!
xoxo