Arlington Homes & Gardens, Part 3

I think that I've metioned before how much I love cottage-y gardens. I'm planning to cottage-ify the very front of our lawn that slopes towards the sidewalk. For the third installment of Arlington Homes & Gardens I present this lovely jumble of color & texture.

Why do I like it? It's controlled chaos. Densely planting also usually means less weeding. And, it's colorful. If you could see the inside of my house, you'd know I wasn't afraid of a bold use of color!

What I was most concerned about my upcoming project (not going to start until fall when the rains will return. I'm all about the free water!), was not being able to plant lavender. Sure, I've got some lavender in the herb garden, but that's on the side yard. And who WOULDN'T love to be greeted by the smell of lavender as they approach their front door? (Answer: Nobody.) Since lavender loves well-draining soil & I've got "I don't ever want to drain" clay soil, planting on a slope with a teeny bit of soil amendment should work out perfectly! The water can't stagnate and I don't have to do serious amendment.

But how would lavender look with coneflowers I wanted to plant and the liriope that already exists? Being the novice landscaper & a highly visual person, I couldn't quite imagine it. Until, that is, I passed this house!

As it turns out, the coneflower & lavender look fabulous together (see below). While I'm not a huge fan of daylilies, they have a similar color & texture to the liriope, so I think that will also look nice.