New Flower Bed

Although the mornings are frosty the afternoons are still bright and warm.  So the gardening season is still ongoing.  I looked at my compost bins last weekend and realized they were full.  Both of them.  So much for building two extra large bins.

The bin on the left is very near capacity but the bin on the right has gradually sunk down over the last couple months.  The compost is still quite 'chunky' and I had intended to leave it over the winter but as I've run out of space a new plan had to be formulated.

Over the summer I've accumulated a few plants.  Well, to be perfectly honest, I may have made a newbie beginner's mistake.  Or maybe it was just the mistake of an overly anxious, terribly excited gardener.  The fact is I bought way too many plants.  Many of you are probably saying to yourselves - Ridiculous!  How can you have too many plants?!  When you haven't got a place to put them, you have too many plants.  The fact is I should have spent all my efforts creating beds this year but I couldn't resist and I purchased plants and had no place to put them.  The result is I've dumped hoards of plants in one, much too small, bed.  These plants will start to expand next spring and my problem will be compounded.

What to do?  Build a new bed now so I can start moving plants in the spring.  And stop buying plants.  (well, okay, maybe that's pushing it, but I definitely need a new flower bed).

After seeing how well the grass decomposed underneath my raised vegetable beds I wondered if I couldn't just pile that half finished compost on some grass and create a new bed.  Lay down some newspaper and pile the compost on top.  If I do it now, by June it will have sat for 7 months, that should be enough time for the grass to die and then I can just dig in some plants.  But where to put it?

I had previously contemplated putting a bed for cutting flowers along the side of the garage.  But I worried that the garage might get moved and then I realized that this spot only receives morning sun.  It is completely shaded in the afternoons which isn't good for a lot of flowers.

Morning sun, but in shade during the afternoons

However, on the far side of the garage the sun beats against the building all afternoon.  Unfortunately I can't see this spot from the house but the entrance to the garage is on this side and flowers would certainly liven it up and make it more welcoming.

But what about moving the garage?  Well, what we've decided is that we'd really like to move the garage.  But the cost is somewhat prohibitive and we have A LOT of other things to spend money on that are higher priority.  Things like a new roof, replacing the porch, renovating the kitchen, etc.  So the garage will stay put for now, or possibly permanently.  Either way, I'm going to make it more cozy so I can enjoy it now and if it moves a few years down the road so be it.

Work has now begun with sheets of newspaper being laid down, followed by 5 or 6 inches of half finished compost.  I believe the combination of newspaper topped with compost will keep the light out thereby killing the grass.  My hope is to come back in June and turn the soil over and then start planting.

The first buckets of compost have been laid out.

I have a couple high priority plants intended for this spot.  First is the plume poppy.  I bought this tiny plant at a local perennial plant sale in the spring thinking it was a regular poppy.  It's not.  It's a slightly invasive oversized perennial that reaches up to 8 feet tall.  Over the course of the summer it grew from 6 inches to 3 or 4 feet high and wide.  It's overtaken the bed I popped it into and desperately needs its own space.  Sticking it behind the garage seems like a suitable spot.  I can't see it from the house and if it turns into a monster, well, out of sight out of mind.

What could I possibly put with such a large formidable plant?  Hollyhocks.  My mother has red hollyhocks that she has taken with her from house to house over the years and this past summer she took seed from her plants and posted them to me.  Hollyhocks will start to bloom their second year in the ground so I would like to start these seeds as soon as possible.  They can also grow up to 6 feet high and have large leaves so they shouldn't look out of place next to the plume poppy.  The red flowers may even complement the poppy's purple tinted foliage.  There are other plants that might make an appearance in this bed but for now I'd be pleased just to get the poppy moved.