Pine Straw to Plants

By Skeeter

This picture was taken in my Georgia Garden last year. I have always been happy with this pine straw area until now. This spring it was time to change things a bit in this area. The patio is to the left in this picture so it's a wonder why I have waited until now to work in this area. I would say the soggy issues we can get in this area as that is why it went to mulch in the first place.

A few years ago, I had Spider Plants hanging on the front porch. They dropped baby plants onto the ground below and I dig them out when they pop up each spring. I put some around the stump where I always place a Boston Fern. You can see them popping up in the first picture. Strange thing, I have not had the spider plants hanging for about 3 years but still have them popping up in the front planters! This year I have them hanging on the porch again so I am sure to get many many more baby plants next year!

With the Spider Plants acting as a Perennial and returning for me each year, I decided it was time to add more to the area. I started with Heuchera's and added more things as I found them at bargain prices.

My first Heuchera was a gift from Tina's garden! So this one gave me the motivation to add more to make a collection. Thank you again Tina for teaching me about Heuchera which I had never heard of before then. I had heard of Coral Bells though. Heck, I cannot even pronounce the word Heuchera so Coral Bells they will be for me. lol. Tina says this one is called "Mocha Mint" Hum, sounds like a nice cool ice cream doesn't it?

Mocha mint has the most dainty blooms on it. I also see a spider web!

The second one I picked up at a bargain price of $1.00 being the "Palace Purple". At that price, I should have picked up a few more. Oh well...

Since noticing the Coral Bells, I am finding that this one seems to be the most popular one in the garden centers.

The blooms were not as pretty as the blooms on the Mocha Mint. I don't even consider them blooms as they do not look like blooms to me. "Tiramisu" is the second one I added this year. Since I found the bargain one for a mere dollar, I felt it was okay to pay $3.95 for this one. I have paid more for a piece of Tiramisu cake in a restaurant!
Again, the blooms are not so pretty but this bee sure does seem to like the way they taste. Hum, wonder if this is an Italian Bee? Tiramisu is still in its pot for now. This area was real soggy from the massive spring rains and I about lost the other two due to the moisture. As a matter of fact, this is the third time I have moved Mocha Mint! Tiramisu arrived at a later date so I kept it in the pot and buried the pot. This way, it was not so soggy by not being in the ground soil. The area is now bone dry and the hole is dug so I need to plant it when I find the time. I am thinking of maybe trading Tiramisu and Palace Purple since it is so much smaller. I know in time it may reach growth but for now, it looks a bit funny don't you think?
I also found some bargain hosta last fall. I found them for $2.00 a pot and I was able to separate them into 3 pots. So for $4.00, I ended up with 6 plants! I have a problem with the Voles eating my hosta. My Mother in Law let me in on her secret to keep them from the Voles mouths. Keep them in the pots and bury the pots in the ground! You can see how I have done this in this picture above. The pine straw and plant hides the pot and you can hardly tell they are not in the ground. They will not spread this way so I will have to separate them each year.
So far the bury method is working for the Voles but not for the deer! Argggggg, I finally took someones advice and invested in a bottle of Liquid Fence and so far, they have not bothered them again. They also ate most of the leaves off the Black Elephant Ears!

In this picture, you see the hosta before the deer found them. The pots hide well don't they?

The deer also found and ate most of the leaves off this Black Elephant ear that I planted in this area. I sprayed it with the Liquid Fence and it became spotted. I can't win for loosing with the wildlife around here. I love my wildlife but also my plants. What's an animal loving Gardener to do? I guess keep Liquid Fence on hand.

Well this is part one of a two part series on this area going from PINE STRAW TO PLANTS, In the Garden...

Stay tuned tomorrow for the conclusion...