How to Plan a Multi Season Blooming Garden
Let’s Gussy up the Gazebo: Week 2 of the $100 Room Challenge
Progress happens in drips and drabs around here. We’ve been scouring the clearance sales and picked up a few things to get started but I’m still unsure of where we are going to end up in the next few weeks.
There is a crazy piece of me that wants to keep these tables pink. But for $10 a piece, it wouldn’t break the bank to spray paint them more of neutral color like hunter green or black…decisions, decisions!
So I focused on the garden aspect this week. Earlier in the summer we worked with local botanical workshop to give us some overall landscaping advice. One of their suggestions was to work with a small color palette throughout the yard to offer sophistication and continuity in the various garden areas. This kinda goes against every bone in my colorful gardening body…but I’m going to try it in this particular garden at the behest of my husband.
Pick Your Palette
The goal was to find whites and blues (and I decided to add in purples and pinks) that would flower and bloom in the spring, summer and fall.
Know Your Sunlight
The majority of this area gets steady sun throughout all the seasons, so I knew I needed full sun plants. Read your tags! This part is easy.
Something for Every Season
White tulip and daffodil bulbs will bloom in the spring. I dug up some blue forget me nots from my parents house for the shadier areas that will also bloom in spring. Purple allium bulbs should bridge the gap between spring and early summer. I splurged on a heather plant that should bloom throughout the summer and into the fall, and my father-in-law gifted us a few purple asters that bloom in the fall. My mother always taught me that if you “top” or trim off the flowers of your mums in July, they will bloom throughout the fall. And I found all of these white and pink mums in the $1 clearance aisle! We have one white mum from last year that looks like it should start blooming soon.
I started clearing out the “rock mulch” and dying shrubs. Let’s just say there were a few more rocks than I anticipated buried beneath the surface.
Aaaaand I had to call in reinforcements on the stump. Tom’s going to finish this up for me tomorrow before I get home.
It started getting dark so this was as far as we got last night. We’ve got some big rocks underground in some areas so I’ll probably dig all my holes before I actually plant anything to be sure the placement doesn’t have to change. Bulbs take a little imagination but I always remind myself that this stuff can be fairly easily moved again in a year if the layout doesn’t work. I also need to tally up what I’ve spent so far – I think I’m already close to $100 and we’ve got a ways to go on this little refresh!
In other news…as part of another big purchase for our tennis court renovation, we ended up getting a gift card from Home Depot for screwing up our order so badly that it funded the purchase of a paint sprayer! Holding out for a few dry days to try to tackle spraying the stain on the gazebo. Any tips?!?! I’m seriously worried about overspray and running out of stain. We will be reading up and watching LOTS of youtube videos before we attempt this one. Stay tuned.
Check Out My Progress!
Week 1 * Week 2 * Week 3 * Week 4 Reveal
Check out the other bloggers participating this month! A huge thank you to Erin for creating such a fun event.
Wow those are great rocks too! Maybe you can add them in to garden design? I love having large stacked rocks to create a sculptural effect. Then you would not have to move them far.
Haha definitely not moving them far. I was flashing back to scenes from The Last Castle (great movie, btw). There is no shortage of rocks on our property, I’ll definitely be using them again as a piled border!
Love the little slaves! I bet they are hard workers. Looking forward to seeing what comes next.
Hah yes they work hard – mostly against my progress, but that’s ok!
The hardest part of a project is all the decisions you have to make. ha! I love the tables you found and for the price you are right, spray paint them to what you want. Have a great week 3!
So true – decision paralysis is probably my biggest weakness! You too!
Haha we have some stumps that need some help too! Great progress!
It never ends here (we’ve probably cut down 10+ dead trees and 6 dying bushes this summer). Thank you!
I can’t wait to see if you decide to leave those tables pink!!! Or what color you choose!! What a deal you found!!
I had been eyeing them for probably a month on our weekly trip to Lowes. Once they were under $10 I couldn’t say no any longer!
The tables are so pretty and you did great on the price. I love finding clearance items for this challenge. I can’t wait to see how they look after you paint them.
I tried all my thrifting spots first and struck out every time. So happy these were waiting for me!
I absolutely LOVE that you are doing a garden for the challenge. It truly is inspiring me.
Thanks Laura! They say spring gardens are planted in the fall!! 🙂