Rain Garden II

Okay at 9:30 a.m. yesterday, it hailed...bouncing little balls of BB-sized pellets on my deck. And yesterday was planting day for me.

Deterred? No, certainly not. A rain garden is full of native perennials and these little guys can take it.

I'm sorry I didn't take progressive pictures like the last time, but you must know that my hands were full of dirt and not only did I plant, but I moved all the pile of sod that I'd dug out in the first place. I wanted my front yard to get back to some semblance of non-construction.

The list of native perennials includes (in rough order of height):
Bristly Sedge - 18 - 48'
Blue Flag Iris - 18 - 30"
Little Blue Stem - 24 - 72"
Cardinal Flower - 24 - 36"
Boneset - 24 - 48"
Prairie Blazing Star - 24 - 48"
Blue Vervain - 36 - 72"
Swamp Milkweed - 48"
Helen's Flower (Sneezeweed) - 48 - 60"
New England Aster - 60"
Culver's Root - 72"
Joe Pye Weed - 84"

So the stuff at the bottom of the list has been planted through the middle of the garden. I got these in four packs, so I worked with diamond shapes of planting, frankly because I didn't know what else to do. (We gardeners are such a nutty lot!)

All these plants are pretty little right now, but the flat of these natives was a great deal at $54 for the entire. That's 48 plants for $54 so with a little math, you see that it's a great deal. Most four packs are much more expensive that under $2.00...just so you know. I frequent the Friends School Plant Sale, which is an amazing way to run a bake sale for plants that benefits the school. They've taken over the State Fair Grand Stand because the sale has become so popular.

It's a Mother's Day tradition.

My neighbor gave me some of the larger plants around the edge (Thanks K!) and my second cousin in Missouri sent me up some of her Tangerine Supreme daylilies which are also planted around the edge (thanks C!). I figure that since it's a plant's job to grow, these little guys should be doubling and tripling in size in no time.

I think I will work the drainage into the garden a little differently, but I really want to see how it works first. I bought two plastic, accordian extensions for my downspout and while they are supposed to be able to be buried, I don't think I can go deep enough to cover them well. I may have to dig a trench and just sort of route them that way.

Today is half price day at the sale to clear everything out, so I'm going to go back for whatever I find to plant in my flower beds. I only have a few, but it's fun to try out some new plants at half price. We gardeners are such mavericks...I'm taking that word back!