Really looks lovely Val!

I finally bit the bullet and went to Tagawa Garden Supply and bought some low flowers, stepables and ground covers to help fill in the bare spots where hubby ripped out the pansies. Didn't think I'd spend that much, but it'll keep coming back. We've got just a few more plants to get to fill everything in...but I think that's going to have to wait until the Fall.

I wish I could come see your front and back yard...I bet it's beautiful!

YEAH!!! Claudia bit the bullet! Welcome to the club. I hope u used all the deals I told u about can't wait to see pics

jbealer wrote:

YEAH!!! Claudia bit the bullet! Welcome to the club. I hope u used all the deals I told u about can't wait to see pics

I did! Thanks for the tips!
I didn't think I could spend the 'WHOLE' day at Tagawa, but....I could see myself wandering around there for HOURS!

We know want to go back to spend out 'Kitty bucks' that we earned on today's purchase....and since we have a little more to fill in, we WILL be going back!!!

Thanks ladies and I expect some pics soon, Claudia! Will we see a new gardening thread for you perhaps?

I went out after dinner to water my flowers and found one of my May Night Salvia plants almost completely BLACK! Yesterday morning I watered it and it was just fine and this afternoon it looks like it's been torched?!?! I can't figure out what could have happened especially considering that everything around it and my other Salvia are all doing just fine.

So the sudden death of my Salvia, coupled with the lump I found on Faith has completely ruined my mood for the evening. I need to get off of here before I bring my dark cloud with me.

Oh no!!
I have no advice to offer for your Salvia...as I don't know much about gardening....but I'm thinking I may start a gardening thread since I 'bit the bullet'....

I think the Salvia is pretty much dead now. My pincushion flowers around the mailbox have deteriorated to the point that I am not sure if they will make it either. I think with the purple pincushion flowers they could not handle the all day intense heat and humidity. I've pulled them out and put them in pots, we'll see if they recover in the pots in partial sun...I'm not holding my breath.

So I planted my 2 Moxie Blanket Flowers by the mailbox yesterday, they are supposed to be able to tolerate the heat...I sure hope so! They have a few heads that are about to open up!

Oh and now that we finally have the new sprinkler zones added to our existing irrigation all the flower beds will now be watered by the sprinkler system rather than me having to hand water. So now all that stuff I bought from the end of May till now can finally be planted!

I know, I know...I did it again...what's new, right? Lowes' clearance plant section is like a magnet for me and you know I can't walk away empty handed. Those poor plants NEED me!

Today's Lowes clearance haul includes:

3 Dwarf Burford Hollies
4 Purple Butterfly Bushes
5 Saucy Seduction Yarrow
1 Leyland Cypress
1 White petunia

Geez I could barely fit it all in my car!

A pic of today's spoils:


I am taking the 3 Holly bushes and 5 Yarrow to the house up in North Carolina and keeping the Butterfly bushes, Leyland Cypress and Petunia here at my house.

And a couple of update pics to follow.

The verbena has started reblooming on my hanging planter, absolutely stunning! Pics don't do this planter justice.


And my Moxie Blanket flowers that I planted around the mailbox on Thursday have started blooming! Here's a pic of one of them:


Now comes the fun part of placing and planting all the new stuff! It's so hot out that it'll have to wait for early morning or evening when the sun is not out. Hopefully I'll get most of it planted next week and will post pic updates as I go!

Hanging planter is gorgeous! The heat has been so KILLER.

Also, you guys have another house in NC? How did I miss this!

So it's a good thing it's PLANTS that need you and you want them....otherwise, if you were frequenting the rescues...

Kristina, you didn't miss anything. The second house we kept quiet about for the most part. I never made a public announcement about it. And the heat is awful! Our high today was 93 degrees! Morning and evening temps are still decent though.

Lol Claudia! Oh if it weren't for my other half putting the brakes on more dogs I guarantee I'd have at least 3 more rescues! I'm just happy he's allowing more plants...for now. I'm thinking of keeping 2 of the dwarf holly bushes for myself.

Wow val! Good score. I have had no luck on the rack at lowes I try to go mid week but maybe weekend mornings are better? I bought a red pepper plant today. So a second home you say? What does that yard look like

Jenn, I don't see any rhyme or reason to my Lowes' clearancing. It's hit or miss at mine. Sometimes I stop by a certain day of the week and they have junk and other times I go the same day and time and it's like hitting the jackpot. So I just try to swing by whenever I'm in the area to check.

Oh the yard in NC is nothing spectacular, it's pretty small and has a bunch of rhodadendron and Leyland cypress on the property. I'll see if I can find a pic later. I've drawn up some planting/landscaping ideas on paper that I'd like to put into action at some point. It's a joint venture between us and my in-laws, so the house belongs to both families so we both have a vested interest in it.

Where in NC? Is it a vacation home? Do u rent it out? Cause I realy did enjoy our time in kill devil hills, the beaches were nice, I would go back but with out the flight in to pa then the drive there! I think when it really warms up here is when the racks fill up better I think a lowes.

It's in Northwestern NC near Asheville. It's pretty much a vacation home, that's all we really use it for. Nope, we don't rent it out. We don't really trust renters to take care of it the way we would plus we leave a lot of our personal belongings there so we don't have to pack much when we decide to drive up there for a few days. It's just not worth the hassle of renting it out really, plus we are up there about once a month or so.

So you used to visit the Outer Banks? We used to visit the Outer Banks too, we stayed at a rental on Nags Head. I grew up on the beaches in FL so I'm not much of a beach fan...kinda a been there, done that for WAY too long to enjoy it anymore thing. Grass is greener on the other side I guess. I'll take cold, gloomy mountains over warm, sunny beaches ANY day! I don't know, I just saw the Outer Banks as just another hot, overcrowded tourist trap with just another beach. It really felt just like FL in the OBX.

I planted two of my petite butterfly bushes around the Magnolia this morning before the sun came out and drove me inside. It's currently 105 degrees at my house!!! My goodness, I thought FL was bad but geez, we never saw triple digits in FL...South Carolina is AWFUL!!! Just makes me that much more motivated to get back home to WA.

i think you need a summer home in the mountains

I think I need a YEAR ROUND home in the mountains!

Oh, by the way, we have the guy that does the concrete edging all set to do the work on either July 14th or 15th. He has a couple other jobs that week so our fall back date is August 1st if July 14/15th don't work out for him.

Here's the website for the guy we hired to do the concrete edging: Curb-Crete

We decided to go with the "basketweave" stamp in "silver grey" and we opted for two notches to be put in for drainage where the downspouts from the gutters are. I can't wait!

And I sent in our application to the HOA to get the concrete curbing approved 2 weeks ago and I still haven't heard anything yet. No approval letter, no response to the 2 emails I've sent already...

im so jealous of you!!!! i want that done so BAD!!!!
i like the Sandstone, Bsketweave Stamp that is in that pic.
stupid HOA, just do it then you can be like i asked and called and heard nothing, the guy could not wait and we got a great deal so deal with it!

I'll try emailing the general HOA email address tomorrow instead of the architectural review person. And see if that doesn't get some answers. I'm pretty sure they'll approve it since other houses in the community (different subsections but under the same HOA) have it already. I just want to do it the right way. Shouldn't be an issue I'm thinking since we aren't scheduled to have it done until 3 weeks from now. And I've wanted concrete curbing since I first saw it in a FL yard 2 years ago. I'd never seen it before then and I fell in love instantly. I'm so happy I'm finally making it happen! The guy that's putting in the concrete curbing said that after we get ours done we will probably see some of our neighbors wanting to get it done in their yards too. lol I guess we'll see.

if others get it done you should get some kind of kick back from him for the referrals! maybe he can do the back yard at a crazy good price

i got a text from our handy guy that he used me for a referral, wonder if the people will call?... i have nothing but good words for him!

I wouldn't even ask for anything in return for a referral. This guy is super awesome to work with and he's already giving us a great price and throwing in some extra stuff that we asked for after our original price quote at no extra cost. So far this is the best person I've had the pleasure of dealing with since we've moved to Charleston! I just have to remember to take before, during (if it's okay with him), and after pictures when he does the work! First things first though, the stupid HOA. *sigh*

Time for an update!

I planted all 4 petite purple butterfly bushes yesterday.


And this morning I planted the Chinese Privet in the backyard by the A/C unit. Here's a close up...


...followed by a wider shot that also shows where the Leyland Cypress will be planted on the other side of the A/C units next to the fence.


And I finally remembered to take a new pic of the lovely rain gauge hubby got for me, isn't it cute?!


I just had to stop and take a pic of this white Gladiolus flower, it's too pretty not to share!


This shot shows where I'm going to plant my blue irises in front of the three windows in back of the house.


And I'm going to finish off with some BEFORE and AFTER shots to show how a few things have progressed!

First off the Japanese Magnolia BEFORE (3/21/11):


...and AFTER (6/22/11):



Stone planter BEFORE (6/8/11):


...and AFTER (6/22/11):
Front:


Back:



Barrel planter BEFORE (6/8/11):


...and AFTER (6/22/11):
Front:


Back:



That's it for pic updates as of now! I called my HOA and the person in charge of architectural review told me she'd received my emails but was busy taking care of invoices but assured me she hadn't forgotten about me. She said to give her until the end of the day to look into it and that I should hear back from her by the end of the day today. We'll see...funny how they weren't too busy to cash the check that came with the application though.

Huskyluv wrote:

We'll see...funny how they weren't too busy to cash the check that came with the application though.

to me that would be another clue to go ahead with it! but as rebellious as i want to sound i would still be calling to get the official OK from them....

i love to see before and afters! its all filling in and getting green, looks great.

i walked around the back yard and the only things taking off are my veggies... anyone know how or when to cut spinach? mine looks ready to eat dont want to chop it all if that will kill it....