Good news! We did not blow away in the night. And I would have known because I was awake for entirely too much of it.
Bitsy starts off each night safely tucked in her toddler bed. Most nights, about half way through, she toddles in to our room & climbs in bed to share my pillow. I really don't have a problem co-sleeping, but I'm trying to get her to stay in her own bed longer. Recently she's decided the best way to lull herself back into dream land is to rub my hair or pat my face. This isn't the gentle rubbing & patting you would associate with a baby trying to sleep. It's more of the let-me-yank-all-the-hair-out-of-your-head-and-hit-you-in-the-eye kind of thing. Not so good for a sleeping Mama.
So for the last week or so I've been moving sun loving plants out of my North facing flower bed. I've also transferred some hostas into it. I love hostas. Hostas & lily of the valley. Both do well in the shade & I can attribute my love of them to my Grandma M&M. She had a bed of Hostas & Lily of the valley on the north side of the house they lived in for more than 40 years. A few years back I added 3 astibiles to the mix, but only 2 of them made it. I do not have the same affinity for the astibiles that I have for my hostas. I want to add more Lily of the valley to the mix (I'm making up for not being able to have them in my wedding bouquet...I so wanted Lily of the valley, but in November they're more than a little hard to come by). But I'm at a loss as to what else to add to the mix.
The bed gets little to no direct sunlight at all. I do not have a particularly green thumb, so what ever I plant must be easy to care for & fairly self sufficient. I also have a pink bathroom sink living in the bed that needs something to live in it. Something low growing & shade loving & possibly in a blue hue...to mimic water.
Anyone got any brilliant ideas for me?
3 comments:
Columbine works really well in shade and it attracts hummingbirds. I'm not sure what would work in your sink - maybe a ground cover like vinca vine? That has pretty flowers in early spring and dark green leaves otherwise.
I dread putting my girl in a toddler/regular bed - she doesn't like to sleep as it is. Fortunately, she is still content in her crib.
Where I live, the Columbine needs more sun than what I could give it at our old place. It perishes in full sun, but doesn't like to bloom in full shade either. That is, if the full shade is also combined with lots of rain and coolness. Which of course, is the difference between a BC summer and an Illinois summer. Well that, and you guys have Obama.
I would highly suggest maidenhair ferns. They are beautiful, come in varying shades, love to be hidden from sunlight, and are easy to care for if you just give them a good watering now and again. If you want them to come back year in and year out though, I'd plant them directly in the dirt and not in the sink.
To fill your sink, I'd go with some wax begonias. They are beautiful and showy, but aren't a lot of work if you have the right climate. And you do. Just don't water them on top of their leaves or they will rot. They like to get their water just on the dirt.
The other flower that would work in a sink would be a fuschia plant. They are pretty, like the shade, and might not die even though Illinois is awfully hot in the summer. You'll have to grow them as an annual though because your winters are too cold.
Bleeding heart works really well in shade too. Heck, I even had success with forget me nots in my shade bed.
(this says I'm my dad, but it's really Inkling)
Ooooh...bleeding heart would be lots of fun...we, unfortunately have only one tiny spot that is shady...which contains my hostas and some shrubby things that get flowers, and some are red, and some are green...how's that for garden knowledge??!!?
All the rest of our yard is FULL, FULL sun (did I mention full sun?), so we get to have all sorts of fun, hardy plants that can deal with heat, sun, and more sun.
Oh, and I highly recommend duck tape for Bitsy...if she can wriggle her way out of a duck tape bed-belt (much like a seat belt), then she deserves to wander the house in the wee small hours of the morning... :D
Post a Comment