A Flower?

I am stiff and sore today, but very proud of the beginning of my front lawn and garden makeover. The idea is to eventually have a lawn-free rock garden of sorts, and I started by removing the four small boxwood shrubs from the very rear of the flower bed, where they completely disappear from view once the asters and coneflowers start to grow. Since I don't cut the flower stems until spring, it means the shrubs don't provide any visual interest for most of the year. I decided to move three along the curve of the stone steps, and the last one in between my Japanese maple and another wider shrub. The digging was a lot of work, and my tight muscles can attest to that this morning, but I think the re-arranging looks so much better. I also added a lavender phlox, a red asiatic lily, and some violet garden sage to the front garden, and put a three coloured flower whose name escapes me to the little side one near the clematis and silver mound. The last thing I did was choose three tall grasses to replace the shrubs: two are the kinds that turns pale yellow and feathery throughout the winter, while the last is called a porcupine grass and has beautiful yellow and green stripes. They will look stunning against the stone veranda wall, and provide a great contrast in every season without the flowers obstructing them.
















The colourful photo was taken last summer, when the flowers were in full bloom. as you can see, they completely overwhelmed and hid the shrubs.