It's so funny how many odd similarities there are with this house and the mid-century-modern cottage we came from during our short stint in the Emerald City after leaving the farm. The alley in back (which our ducks like to take walks in, like they did with their sisters before). The massive white fireplace/chimney in the middle of the house, with the kitchen wall on the opposite side. And yep, even a rockery out front.
Fortunately this rockery is teeny-tiny compared to the massive one we had before, which while it was great in keeping the house set way off the street (no porch pirate worries whatsoever!), I did not like the many stairs getting up to the front door, particularly as we hope our current house is our last house now that we're both in our 50s. And, to be honest, while it taught me a LOT about gardening in rockery situations, that one was FILLED with St Johns Wort, which I hated with a passion. Yes, it's good for erosion...but it's also wildly invasive, and every fall I'd plop down on my bum and pull a bunch up and plant other goodies there (as it takes the past of least resistance and will not take over where plants already exist).
Anyhow, our rockery here is just set up a grand total of about 4' off the sidewalk, so I can do some 'awkward leans' to get the smaller stuff in...which this spring has meant doubling the amount of sedums and other spreading-but-tame rockery-friendly plants, and even seeing if I can get some sunflowers to take off (crossing fingers there...). Fortunately, we arrived with some good basics in place - a beautiful corner of hens 'n' chicks, several good-sized patches of kinnikinnick (bearberry) and other nice groundcover. So with that, I decided to experiment with some new plants I'd always seen at the nursery but never picked up, in particular, the ice plant. And boy did it respond to these first few days in the 70s, already blooming y'all - and as you can see, even a li'l bee was checking it out!
I can't wait for it to take over!
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