Some Landscaping for the Screened Porch

Completed Porch

 
This is the second post in the screened porch saga.  If you missed the first one go here.
I really needed to add some plantings to the porch.  Let me remind you what it looked like when the porch was completed. 

And, a reminder of the horrible embarrassing before.

My son's baseball game was very near a Home Depot.  In the past I'd found very good deals on plants there, so we decided to stop by.  I couldn't believe that  they had one of the main shrubs I use in my yard, Cherry Laurel (technical name Otto Luyken).
They're usually very hard to find at a good price.  

I couldn't believe the size.

And the price was only $24.95.  I've never paid less than $35 each for them.

I couldn't wait to get them home and put them in the bed.  Here's the result.

I added a fern, also on sale, to the planter box.  If you notice at the corner of the porch is an old clay chimney pot.  I always look for these for the garden.  I'll do a separate post about these.   On top of it I used an armillary.  I also have used  the chimney pots as  tall planters and as a stand for a sun dial.

Here's a side view.

Now all I need is for the grass to grow.

Since I wrote this and took the photos, I've already made some landscaping changes.  No surprise, huh.  So now I'm changing up posts before they're published.


I added a column and put an annual (Mandevilla) in the planter.  My Black-eyed Susans are starting to come up again along the bed beside the sidewalk.

Also, the area next to the porch was a mud pit that needed some erosion control.  Sorry, no before pic. Trust me, it looked bad.  I actually had to shovel some of the mud off the lower patio after a rain storm.  I added rocks, divided and added my perennials from other gardens-hostas, sedum, coreopsis, liriope--along the walkway, and added some new Nandinas. I also planted some annuals in my bird bath and in the garden for some color.

This is another view looking down from the porch area.

I'm planning on putting some flagstones in the walkway and dividing my Sweet Woodruff from my other garden so it can fill in around the flagstones.  Here's what it looks like blooming in the spring in another of my gardens.  Sweet Woodruff is a perennial ground cover.  

It will look so pretty surrounding  flagstone on my now semi-muddy path.

What do you think so far?

Kathy

Thanks