Garden Detective

Note: The diagram above is more of a reflection of my poor Photoshopping skills than of my pen-and-paper sketch. Use your imagination.

I had a dream last night that my garden was in full bloom. My Knockout rose bushes were twice the size they are now, and there were absolutely no weeds to battle. Plus, my backyard, which right now is little more than mud due to a cesspool intallation last summer, had a beautiful curvy border along the back fence.

I suspect those images entered my subconscious due in part to my longing for an end of winter, but mostly from how I spent the last hour or so before going to bed last night. As I was flipping through my programmed favorites on my remote control (HGTV, Food Network, all the HBOs, Travel Channel, various news channels and VH1), I stumbled upon a movie I had never heard of titled "American Dreamz," starring Mandy Moore and Hugh Grant. Not the impetus to intellectual debate, to be sure, but entertaining nonetheless. A few minutes in, I spotted a beautiful garden border way in the background of an outdoor shot. Thanking technology for the DVR on my cable box, I hit rewind and then pause and then ran for a pad and pen.

Though I couldn't quite identify most of the plants (they were way in the background and probably would go unnoticed by most viewers) I did get some initial inspiration and sketched it out from there.

So now I have a plan that includes a ground-hugging blue spruce, a spirea, a smoke bush, a hot pink crape myrtle, some climbing passion flower (or clematis), a Montauk daisy and some Sedum 'Autumn Joy' and catmints. I've already got some low-lying junipers along the fence, a red maple on one side and a Leyland cypress in the corner so the "bones" are taken care of. It's simple, but it's just what that spot needs.

I can't wait to get to work. What are you dreaming about for Spring?