Weekly Front Garden - 5/19/2012

And we're back on the regular schedule! On 5/19/2012, the front garden looked like this:

The grasses have grown - a lot. The Stipa tenuissima is starting to make its seed heads. Its not a horrible re-seeder here, although one did show up that I let stay. Its peeking around the stone column. The roses are nearly tipping over with their blooms. Who planted climbers without something to climb on? The pinkish-white flowers that have shown up by the roses are Oenothera speciosa, Mexican Evening Primrose. It is borderline annoyingly invasive back there - it spreads by rhizomes, and gets in the lawn. It usually dies out in the summer heat though, and it is very dought tolerant, and the large non-watered area around the cherry tree keeps it contained.

The society garlic (Tulbaghia violacea) doesn't show up too much in this picture, but they're the light purple flower stalks in front of the roses. They are actually also orginial to the garden, although not in that spot. They were going under the roses (without flowers though), and so survive the massive overhaul. I moved them without knowing what they were, because plants are expensive (and extensive landscaping even more so) and I figured I could always get rid of them later. Now, they  add some interesting color from late spring through fall, don't need a lot of water, and are multiplying to the point where some will probably get moved to the back garden in the fall. I love surprise success stories!