Our front landscape has been a sore subject for several years. When we moved in there were three giant yew bushes in front of the house which needed some serious trimming. Despite our best efforts we could not reign them in so that they were attractive to look at – especially when always being surrounded by weeds. In desperation my husband cut them down to the ground and hired someone to come grind up the stumps. So I was left with nothing but a barren wasteland of wood chips, clay and open space for weeds to take hold. The front of our house has been barren save a few annuals plantings here and there and copious weeds we’ve allowed to get out of control. It has been time to make a change for the better for too long.
The house is south facing with little tree cover so it gets full sun. This also means that it gets very dry. Our water situation isn’t the best and for my landscape plantings I do my best to rely on rain water to keep them alive. It was imperative for this new planting the selections of Monrovia brand plants had to be sun loving and water wise once established.
I packed the kids in the car and we headed to a local Lowe’s store. Their selection of Monrovia plants was extensive and it was hard to choose. The girls kept looking a beautiful shade or partial sun plants, but we really had to stay on task and look for ones that required 6 or more hours of sun.
Finally, we found a winner – the Miss Kim Korean Lilac. This water wise plant grows 6 to 8 feet tall and wide, blooms in Spring with dainty purplish-pink blossoms and requires little watering once established. Though the blooming time for this lilac bush is over I can’t wait to see the flourish of blooms next Spring.
When I do a planting I always try to do it in odd numbers 3s, 5s, 7s, 9s and so on. Artistically, and in nature, odd numbers are the norm. Flowers typically have an odd number of petals. For some reason we find sets of odd numbered items more visually appealing. I’ve tried doing patterns with even numbers of plants and end up feeling like there’s something missing. That being said I wanted to find some plants to flank the lilac bush which would complement, highlight and set it off in the landscape. This is when we came upon a new offering from Monrovia – the Platinum Blonde Lavender. This perennial herb is known for it’s fragrance. It has an upright habit with soft, thin, almost spiky, but not pointy foliage. This variety is particularly beautiful because it is variegated with darker green in the center of the leaf and a lighter almost lime green on the edges. It blooms later in the Spring to early Summer so this will create some nice continued interest in the garden. The Platinum Blonde Lavender are also water-wise plants, not needing regular watering once established.
My girls wanted to get some flowers as well to plant in front of the bushes so the landscape didn’t look so naked. When I checked on the Monrovia website I found they carry a low growing pathway plant called Alpine Rock Thyme. Unfortunately, they are not planting it right now, but I did find a similar low growing, spreading thyme plant that I ended up planting in front of the bushes along the edge of the bed. The girls wanted some red and yellow Celosia so badly that I couldn’t say no. None of the other plants have flowers so they don’t have anything to clash with right now :D.
I’m really happy I got to do this project. It was something that needed to be done for quite a while and Monrovia helped give me a push in the right direction. Their selection of plants is so vast that I’ve made my list of blooming beauties for future reference. Maybe next time I’ll revamp my shade garden beds and plant some of the pretty coral bells and other shade loving plants they had at Lowe’s. I know the hummingbirds will appreciate it.
Many thanks to Monrovia for sponsoring today’s story and encouraging me to create simple beauty with my garden!
I so want to garden – but I have such a brown thumb! I hope this info helps me. I now live in a mobile home park and can only do container gardens.
Container gardens were one of my options for this campaign. I chose the perennial plantings because my landscape really needed it. There were several Monrovia plants I found at Lowe’s which were specifically for container gardens. The plant needs to be brought into a sheltered area at the end of the season. I appreciated the amount of information on the plant tags about care – it was very complete. That’s lacking on so many brands labels today. Good luck selecting some container plantings :).
I wish I had any shade of green thumb. I would love to get some nice flower beds.
Great tip on the odd numbers! I’ll take that into account for our next planting! I like Monrovia plants. We’ve always had good success with them.
I will have to check out Monrovia at our local Lowe’s. Living in the desert, it is so hard to find plants that don’t need constant watering!
Extraordinary tip on the odd numbers! I’ll consider that for our next planting! I like Monrovia plants. We’ve generally had great accomplishment with them.