Eighty Feet: That's a lot of Pedicure.

That long, 80-foot semi-shady planter is all done... and the babies are growing after only a few weeks - they even survived an hour of hail on Monday, sturdy little plants.

But this is the end of the saga before it even begins...  before planting, there was:

...3 hours of weeding with my son to pull the grass in sheets out of the planter... I call it weeding only because I hate the grass in the planter.  

...Deer proof research AGAIN, because plants are not inexpensive and it really chaps my hide when I spend a lot of time on the yard, only to have it disappear the very same night.

I found everything I needed from my previous post's list at the Tahoe Tree Company, my 2nd favorite log structure in the Tahoe Basin.  Totally bummed they closed their deli and wine bar, though. That used to really top off the gardening purchase experience.   That aside,  if you live in the basin, it is worth the drive to west shore for this horticultural experience.  

The next day, a Friday a couple weeks ago, I was celebrating because my husband had gotten a job and we could keep on living here (YIPEEE)...  and it was too early to start snoggin' the bottle...   so I called my friend Julene, who is also a crazy dirt-digger extraordinaire.   We planted all the plants in about an hour and a half.   Then I made her poached eggs for brunch.

The Pedicure, Accomplished

The Heucheras are great, the leaves variegated with color,  and they are growing like weeds.   By the end of June, we should have a wonderful shrub-lined lawn.

I planted a few new varieties of columbine as well, and some foxglove.  Pictures are so much better than my diatribe...

The Heucheras - Plumb Pudding, Marmalade and green variegated.

I love how the leaves are the same, but the colors are all so different.  This really livens up the planter when around 11am the shade encroaches.. this photo was taken at 9am.

Heucheras:  Hearty to -30 degrees, these babies should keep on coming back every year.

The new Columbines, a pint fluffy type and a tall, elegant purple.

These hearty alpine forest flowers are enchanting, I always wonder when the fairy is going to come flying by.

The other plants I planted years ago, that come back every year are the Lupin, Day Lily, and types of Columbine that sprout up... as well as the new Coriopsis - which returns every year with it's small cheerful yellow flowers.  The shrubs are different types of Spirea.

Lupin & Columbine

Day Lily

Coriopsis Sprouts

There are still a bunch of sprouts in the planter:  Shasta Daisys, the Coriopsis, the Morning Glory vine, the strawberries (which will soon be gone, but I'll put a photo captured before the deer find them!).

I'll do another photo album in July of the planter to showcase the plants at their best!  Until then, I'm on to other projects:  the back deck and my hanging shade pot farming!