Sun Hogs

I think the roses would be growing even more if it weren't for the caladiums hogging their sunshine. I don't even water them very often and they're still taking over! They are gorgeous from the road too.





When we replace the railroad ties with a rock wall, we are going to increase the depth of the bed by a foot or so to allow the caladiums more room next year. The roses are currently tolerating the caladiums crowding in on them, but I doubt they appreciate the intrusion.

I am surprised that we are the only house in our neighborhood with caladiums. We saw a lot of caladiums in Mobile, but I guess people don't want to bother with digging the bulbs up in the Fall. Down South, they can be left in the ground during Winter, because it does not get as cold, but here they cannot.

The Fun Never Ends!

It seems like we should be finished with the front yard since we have spent so much time and money getting it to this point, but we actually have two more projects in mind. First, we intend to replace the railroad ties that are currently forming the flowerbeds with a rock wall. And second, we plan to replace the grass in this triangular section of the yard with a more tailored groundcover - maybe Purple Wintercreeper. The rock wall needs to be done before the groundcover though, because we will trample the groundcover trying to install the rock wall. We're not exactly sure what kind of rock wall we want, and since we are going to build it ourselves, we need to do some more research to be sure we build it properly. Rocks are not as cheap as they should be, so we don't want to waste any money doing things wrong.

Breaking the Rules

So, I broke the rules and planted Caladiums in full sun. Caladiums are rated for partial shade to full shade, so I'm not sure what I was thinking. Well, actually, I was thinking, "I want to plant Caladiums to fill in the bareness of these flowerbeds until the roses grow," and I threw caution to the wind and planted them. It took a long time for them to start poking through the soil, and at one point I considered digging them up, because I figured they had been baked like the bulbs in my flowerbox. Thankfully, I held back, because they did come up, and they are doing great. I guess I got lucky this time!