Here you go, sorry for the crappy quality but I used my iPhone as I was gardening this morning. Easier to take them without sun. Preface - annuals are all quite small except a few areas as I grew them from plugs or seeds and kept them intentionally small. Within 2-3 weeks they'll be looking much better (particularly the backyard as they were only planted in the last 5-8 days).

Backyard view coming up the steps. You've gone one "real" rose, followed by 3 Pink Double Knock-outs with 6 more double knock-outs farther down. Hydrangea in the foreground. There are fiesta double impatiens mixed in all along the wall.


Japanese Bloodgood Maples with Hosta and Fiesta Double Impatiens underneath.


More shots along wall (view from Kitchen). You've got the stuff listed above, you can also see some Walkers Low Nepeta. A bunch of asters (they bloom in September) are in there, as well as some Echinacea (Cone Flower) and Geranium. The Blue Geranium to the left was supposed to be dwarf, but wasn't. Sort of in the middle back one row is a drift of Volcano Phlox which should bloom in about 3-4 weeks and carry through August. The wedding cake at the end/corner has Tree Peonies and Fiesta Double in bottom row. Going up to right behind a group of 5 double knockouts are regular peony which are just starting to bloom. In the back are lots of Hyrdrangea including PennyMac (precursor to Endless Summer), Endless Summer (blue), Nikko Blue, and the pink one that starts with "M" (forgot its name). Towards the back are some Burning Bush, Boxwoods, Astilbe and some other stuff where the name escapes me.



Behind the swingset are Nepeta and Nikko Blue Hydrangea with some Asiatic Lillies behind as well as some American Hollies.


Heading back other direction:


Volcano Phlox (I lost two this winter):


Moving to the front this is the bed going to the front of the house, this is the right hand side. Tree is a purple plum. Perennial Geranium in front, Double Impatiens under tree and to the right. Kim's Knee High Cone Floer. Volcano Phlox, Lavender, original knock-out roses, anenome in the back, some varigeagated english holly, hibiscus (not the shrub), creeping phlox along the driveway.


Left side:
Some real roses, a knock-out, a Rosa Sharon Hibiscus shurb, Dwarf Jap Maple, Dianthus, Some double wave petunia and Zinnia, Russian Sage in the background.


Shot of some treets (Purple Plum/Kwonzan Cherry) with double impatiens underneath that go all the way around to backyard (400-500 of them):


Going up steps, butterfly bush to right, some salvia down low, dwarf jap maple to left (real rose in front). Some real roses along path with boxwoods behind and geranium (annual) along grass.





Path to backyard from front door. Hydrangea, hosta, PJM Rhodies with Rhodie Max and Elegans (and some Nova Zembla behind). To the right is a holly with some azalea.


Looking down from front door:


Bed along driveway:
Japanese Golden Euyonomous, Purple Leaf Sand Cherry, tons of Double Knockouts, some real roses, nepeta, May night salvia, Asiatic Lillies, Hollies between the taller trees, Crepe Myrtle at the end, verbena and wave petunias in front.


Cul-de-sac:
Holly in middle surrounded by boxwoods, then Blue Mist Shrubs (doing lousy), then knockouts, then nepeta and roseanne geranium with annual verbena, gernanium and wave petunias.


Mailbox area. Zinnia and petunia for annuals, azaleas along brick, forgot some of the other names for now.


Walls (and steps to backyard).


Sorry for the typos.

What Hosta cultivar is that? Are those "Patriot"?

yes, those are generic patriot.

One important point as you plan, realize that this really started about 6 years ago (2005), last big planting was bed long driveway (2008). I spent a small fortune with a great perennial guy, but ended up with a fair amount of stuff that I didn't like. I'd say the bed in the backyard which we see from the kitchen only has about 40% of the original stuff, I've changed things over the years as my wife and I realize what we like. I just cut down 6 huge Skip Laurels to make a new bed.

Don't be afraid to try stuff and experiment. This is not an instant gratification endeavor.

Also, I realize I missed about 50% of the stuff in there, if you see something and want to know what it is just point it out and I'll tell you what it is.

I agree 1000%. I have beds that have evolved over 25 years. My wife is the primary keeper of the beds, but I'm always filling and encroaching with my Hosta, Lily Of The Valley and other shade plants. We also have a special spot for Eastern Fir/Balsam, as this town is the Southernmost extent of naturally-occuring major stands of them.

With two people adding things to beds, and having their own favorites, things change again and again until we reach a balance. I love adding things that encroach from the woods (either naturalized or escapees from captivity). Some people call them weeds (like natural Lily Of The Valley or Creeping Jenny), but they work for me.

I am very particular about the symmetry and flow of the beds through the lawn areas. I'm not talking about perfect geometric design at all - I'm looking for a natural flow that might really occur in nature. I'm always adjusting the flow of one bed into another.

While my wife has a good eye for planting, she has one "problem" that drives me nuts. She'll add a Fir seedling she found on the property, and put it 6' from another Fir seedling. OK for 2-3 years, but these trees grow to 60' tall, and by 5 years they are competing and harming both of them. I get the unenviable job of relocating one, with the ever-present "don't damage the other things in the bed". Ha! It's an impossibility to relocate a big tree without leaving a huge gap.

My motto with the beds is "it's the process that's fun, not the final result".

andy10917 wrote:
While my wife has a good eye for planting, she has one "problem" that drives me nuts. She'll add a Fir seedling she found on the property, and put it 6' from another Fir seedling. OK for 2-3 years, but these trees grow to 60' tall, and by 5 years they are competing and harming both of them. I get the unenviable job of relocating one, with the ever-present "don't damage the other things in the bed". Ha! It's an impossibility to relocate a big tree without leaving a huge gap.

My motto with the beds is "it's the process that's fun, not the final result".

Must be a male/female thing. Her biggest complaint is that I space everything too far apart. Take a look at the doubles in front of the house, those were spaced almost to the label. 3 weeks ago it looked sparse, now it looks about right and in 2 week they'll all be in bloom. I hate moving shrubs that were planted too close together.

There's nothing wrong with a few simple annuals. They're great, bloom like troopers if watered and fed, and tend to be easy to care for.

My workhorse plants are salvia, marigold and zinnia, or the most common and most old-fashioned things out there. Inexpensive, drought-tolerant, heat loving, heavy blooming, and low maintenance.

I do try to mix it up with some more unusual varieties of those, but the base plants are the common old favorites.

Annuals are what give you summer long color. The peony is one of the most stunning flowers in nature, but it lasts for about 7-10 days. Zinnias can flower from now through late October. I would throw petunias into the standby, great color, relatively easy to care for. And don't forget impatiens; too proletarian for my wife, but great color and grows just about anywhere but full sun (and I think there are varieties that can grow in full sun now).

+1 JG.

Verbena's easy to care for and various colors and heights, and just does its thing in the summer and fall garden. Celosia thrives in heat, and reseeds pretty freely, blooming heavily until frost. Red, white, purple, pink, and mauve are all easily available.

Butter daisy (Melampodium) is stunning and barely needs water once established. Covered in blooms into October.

Some people have great luck with ageratum (I do), but it's mostly that it does require water. Blooms blue all summer into fall.

Heliotrope does well in the summer and fall gardens, purple, lavender, or white blooms on dark green foliage, and smells a bit like sweet vanilla (and quite potent).

Impatiens find homes in my less-sunny areas of the garden, and there are singles, doubles, and so many colors it's impossible NOT to find something. I went with dark orange this year for a bit of a splash.

My new love is the dwarf Teddy Bear sunflower. If it produces at the end of the season like it does at the beginning, it's being increased in number next year. Requires deadheading, but blooms last two weeks or so and are easy to clip.

Knockouts should do very well in hot areas if irrigated--and yours clearly get enough water.

What I see on the bush is a bit of under-feeding, actually. A bag of Milorganite would clear that right up, and probably last you all season long. Some Miracle Gro wouldn't be taken amiss, either... In Texas, you should be able to feed right into late September, where I cut mine off in mid-September as far as any synthetics go. Organics get dropped on them right up to November first.

I think the key is keeping them fed and watered. Last year was actually warmer than this summer (hard to imagine), and the heat came sooner; I didn't get a second bloom on any of the shrub roses in 100% full sun. The ones that got a bit of shade handled last summer's heat better. I try to remember to throw some handfuls of whatever is going on the lawn onto them (SBM, MO, Alfalfa, etc.) I'll probably give them Alfalfa and MO one more time this year in the next 7-10 days and then I'll be done for the year. I usually get some flowering into November.