The front bed ... before 50 days of hell

Here is a record of what my plants in the new front bed look like before the begin of August (with 100 degree temps and no rain).

Things have grown quite a bit!

Compare to the beds when they were first planted in March and April

Left side Link
Right side Link


Pride of Barbados

Maybe most pleasing of all are my two Pride of Barbados.  These are ones that Dave sowed from seeds from our back yard PoB.  While two of the original four transplants did not make it past the first two weeks, these remaining two have hung on and grown.  They now stand almost a foot high. They have grown taller than any other Pride of Barbados transplants so far.  Woot!

I don't think we'll see any blooms this year, but they look so established, I' hopefully we might see some next year!

White Trailing Lantana

My three white lantana have gotten big and beautiful.  They started blooming maybe a month or two ago, and have been constant bloomers since.

I'm now kind of wishing I had planted more!

Knock Out Roses

Both Knock-out Roses are doing very well.  The one above has been nibbled at by the deer, while the one on the left of the bed has been left alone.  So this one is much smaller, but still looking good.

Copper Canyon Daisies

Wow, the Copper Canyon Daisies have gotten so big.  They were full of blooms in the spring, but have not had any this summer.  They are also starting to get a yellowing tinge.  Hopefully they are not dying.  I love their fragrance.

Artemisia

My fifty cent Artemisia have spread into one big planting.  They seem to be somewhat heat and drought sensitive, so I am expecting some die off in August. But they have been well worth their cost!  The three on the other side of the bed are also spreading.

Flame Acanthus

The Flame Acanthus started to bloom the week we were in Colorado.  It has also gotten quite large, and now that it is in bloom, it is very pretty!

Esperanza

Both my Esperanza and my Skyflower Duranta have gotten to about three feet tall and are full of blooms this summer.  I love both of these drought resistant beauties!

Skyflower Duranta

Black Foot Daisies

I lost one of my Black Foot Daisies (on the left side of the garden) within the first weeks of planting.  But the other five are doing well, and continue to bloom.  

These guys are somewhat drought sensitive, so we'll see how they do over the next month in the hot sun.


Random Free plants :o)

Above is the random collection of plants that I have used to fill this area. Most of these plants were freebies or Lowe's clearance :o)  The Agaves are doing fairly well.  The little one hasn't grown at all, and I'm not sure the second largest has, but the big guy is pretty well established at this point.  My $1 Coreopsis is doing well (the other one died within days of planting it).  It has recovered from the sad looking guy he was, and continues to put out blooms all summer.  The Arizona Sun Blankets... well, they aren't doing so well. I've lost at least half of them, and the remainders look pretty sad.  Oh well, you gotta try.

On the plus side, a freebie Basil plant must have been seeded along with one of the Sun Blankets, and it is doing well.  In fact, it is doing much better than any of the other Basil planted around the house!  

And the freebie salvia that I received is alive.  It hasn't grown much, so hopefully I can pull it through the summer, and it will do its stuff in the fall. It was a late planting...

And this is one more freebie plant.  I think it is a native that was growing in the area.  It sort of looks like a Four Nerve Daisy.  I keep watering it, hoping it will spread.

Bamboo Muhly

I still really love the wispy texture of this grass bush.  It has grown quite a bit since planting it!

Purple Pixie

I haven't been so thrilled with this plant, or with the large sized Loropetalums that I planted in my back garden bed.  They are not holding up well to the drought at all.

Aloe Plant

I don't know how, but this plant continues to live.  Potted plants are almost impossible to keep alive in the summer here, they heat up and dry out waaay too quickly.  But this guy keeps hanging on.  We even got a bloom out of it a few months back.

Four nerve daisies

Not surprising for a native, but they seem to be holding up in the drought and heat pretty well so far.

Here are some more street views:

And here is a quick look from the backside of the bed - looking toward the street.