I live in a condo building in the city. It sits on a corner lot with a small front yard and small patches of grass between the sidewalk and the road. No backyard--just decks and a swath of concrete. It's a great place, but not exactly a homesteading paradise. When we first moved in, there was a bed of lava rocks all along one side of the building. We removed the rocks and added mulch, and formed a new bed on the front of the building with the leftover mulch. The mulch was certainly an improvement over the rock, but I thought we could add a little green. So I decided to learn a little about flowers.
A very little.
We wanted something relatively low-maintenance (no yearly plantings), so I focused my search on perennials. Since one bed was on a north-facing side, and the other was shaded by trees, I looked at shade perennials in particular. Hostas are a popular, easy choice for shade perennials, so I relied heavily on those for the design. I added some lily-of-the-valley, a flower I have seen in many of the beds in our neighborhood. Bleeding-hearts are also popular in the neighborhood, but I was concerned about blocking windows, so I found one little spot where I could tuck a bleeding-heart against a wall. I love the look of the tall, feathery astilbe blossoms, so I found a spot for them where the height wouldn't be an issue either. I also love hydrangea and lilacs and desperately wanted to fit them in the beds. Unfortunately, lilacs don't really do shade. Hydrangeas, however, do! So I planned one right against an empty spot of wall. Add a few ferns, a few bugloss plants, and a couple of dead nettles, and I had a fifty-plant perennial plan.
I ordered the plants online and the majority arrived this week--some bare root, some in containers. I put them in the ground today, with the help of another resident. We scooped aside the mulch, dug holes, and planted the bulbs. I am already itching to see them pop up.
I know many back-to-the-farmers advocate growing food in any free space you've got. However, don't forget that bees need blossoms in order to eat, and flowers can help fill in any veggie-garden blossom gaps. I am not going to guilt anyone for enjoying flowers in a growing space.
Plus, I live in the city. Anything edible I plant along a sidewalk is liable to get stolen, eaten by squirrels, or peed on by the neighborhood dogs.
Only a few weeks away from the garden opening!
