Rock Gardens!

My rock is bigger than yours:

Before: Spring, 2005

Inventory: 6 dead saplings, 2 ratty old whiskey barrels, 1 struggling Weigela, a few promising stepping stones & lots of stubborn grass.

I am in the best shape of my life and, I've got old Gibralter, here, to thank for that. This big boulder [about the size of my Jeep Wrangler] was a major eyesore in my front yard. He's also been my major headache for the last three summers.

A moment of silence, please. This backbreaking project is DONE. I did every bit of it myself.

And, it's looking good enough to be blog worthy!

After: July 1, 2007

Details:
The 'Big Rock Garden' is 45 feet by 25 feet, bordered by a half moon driveway and a busy road in front.

This is the garden I refer to as Dante's Inferno x 2.
It is a hot, hot spot, with full sun from morning 'til night, battering winds every afternoon. Passers by toss in a little car exhaust for good measure. In the winter, the snowplows bury it under 10-15 feet of snow (and salt) scraped off the paved road in front of my house. Heavy clay soil. No sprinkler system.

I planted a little bit of everything. Since this baby is front and center for the world to see, I wanted her to be loaded with personality!
A bright, ever-blooming, chaotic mess of color:
Barberry, Blanket Flowers, Butterfly Bushes, Catmints, Chokecherries, Coneflowers, Coreopsis, Geraniums, Geums, Hollyhocks, Honeysuckles, Jupiter's Beard, Lavender, Milkweed, Oregano, Penstamons, Phlox, Potentillas, Primrose, Rose Campion, Sage, Salvia, Scabiosas, Spirea, Sunflowers, Torch Lily, Weigela, Yarrow.

I grow lots of my perennials by seed. Snitch cuttings from friends' gardens. Actually paid for some of these. :)

PS: This is not rock gardening. Click here for a real rock gardening how-to.