A piece of earth

Well, my spring gardening has officially begun. I planted a semi-circular bed a few weeks ago to enclose a seating area I created with two Adirondack chairs and a little end table. What went in:
5 pink crepe myrtle trees - decidous flowering understory tree/bush
12 lorapetalum shrubs - burgundy leaves, flowers hot pink in spring
4 rosemary bushes - evergreen in the south, good herb for cooking, structured bush
This part of the back yard gets a fair amount of sun, and all of these plants are hardy growers in central Mississippi. What that means is that I can pretty much plant this bed and forget about it. No special soil amendments, no arduous watering schedule, no babying the plants. (Felder Rushing, our area's former extension agent and general garden guide, taught me how to plant low-maintenance in an Enrichment course at Millsaps College. I am forever grateful. It's the only way to go down here, where the summers are so hot and humid that lifting a glass of tea to your lips takes about as much effort as you can muster.) I mulched everything over with pinestraw, then moved on to my next project.

I put up a metal arbor by one of the gates to the back yard. I bought it years ago (it was a great deal!) and carted it around with me until I got to a house where I felt I could put down roots. I set it in some buried concrete and planted a confederate jasmine to grow up it. Confederate jasmine is a great climber for several reasons: the leaves stay green all year, it grows in sun or shade in this part of the country, it produces fragrant white flowers in the spring, and it's a no-fuss plant for our region. I tied it to the arbor with snipped pieces of old pantyhose, which make a great plant tie because they are pliable yet strong, so they allow the plant to grow, but they provide good support. (Support hose! Ha!)

I also planted four mock orange shrubs (aka English Dogwood) by the side fence. These grow to be pretty large specimens, so leave plenty of room around them when you plant. They are not evergreen, but they have a beautiful white flower in spring. I had them at my old house, and I enjoyed them so much there that I wanted to use them again in my new landscape. They will form a nice-sized hedge in front of the fence, and backdrop for the azaleas which I've bought but have yet to put in the ground. Because I have alot of space to fill in that bed, I bought 15 pretty little pink azaleas. They like the shade, and they will grow to 3x3 feet at most, so they should fill the bed nicely. In front of them, I plan on using a full row of variegated hostas. I will wait and see, though, to make sure that part of the bed doesn't get too much sun. Otherwise, the hostas will scorch.

Last but not least, I bought two gardenias that will grow in part shade. I LOVE gardenias for their gorgeous, glossy leaves and their fragrance. Also, because my back yard color scheme is a mix of pinks, whites, and purples, they should fit in nicely.

I've also hung my hammock up between to tall pines and placed a bird bath at the edge of the dogwood/azalea bed. (I'm trying to decide what to plant beneath the bird bath bowl - maybe lilies?) All in all, it feels great to get some plants in the ground, and the back yard (at least the left side of it) is starting to take shape. Long live spring!