Musical Chairs: Part 2

We've made more progress in the great daylily reorganization of 2017!  the Barrier Garden has been reworked.  This was the really the center of the chaos originally and is what started the whole game of musical chairs.

Here's a before shot from earlier in the summer.  It was a rather messy bed of just daylilies that looked great in May and June, but after that it was really just green foliage.  We wanted to move any daylilies that were not diploid, add pathways to make hybridizing easier, and finally add a few other plants to extend the bloom time and attract butterflies.

Here is what it looks like now.  It's still going to be a pretty messy bed of almost all daylilies, but we did start to add a little variety.  We left the irises, loquats, abelia, and Chinese snowballs in the bed.  Over time the shrubs will become less awkward looking and add some nice structure to the garden.  We added two butterfly bushes, some Agastache, and two different kinds of milkweed.  We also added some stepping stones to help us move around the garden when the plants fill in next spring.

Next spring there will be a few other additions to this garden.  I adore Verbena bonariensis and plan on adding it to this bed.  We're also going to add some zinnias and maybe some low growing plants around the stepping stones (sort of a natural mulch).  Eventually we will redo the fence that helps remind the dogs to stay out. 

I really think it's looking great.  The reorganization is going to make the daylily hybridizing so much easier and I can't wait to see how it grows next spring!