perked up perennial bed - late summer garden clean up

Yesterday I promised to share some pictures of my newly perked up perennial bed. 

 I know it’s backwards but I purchased four six packs of annuals, (two of impatiens, two of blue salvia and two of zinnias) and two one gallon containers of blue salvia, before I even started my clean-up.  What I should have done is first finished the clean-up, determined the holes to be filled and then purchased the flowers….but the flowers always get the best of me and any extras find homes in my containers. 

I am amazed at the bang I got for the buck.  My $20.00 dollar investment paid big dividends in freshening up the garden. 

I must confess the secret ingredient to keeping my beds fresh, aside from the new annuals, is really no secret at all…water. 

At least once a day during the summer months I am outside hose in hand providing a nice long drink to the flower garden. 

We only water the lawn a couple of times a week so that I can use that ration of water for my flowers.  It’s an easy compromise for my husband since he knows how much the gardens feed my soul.  

I admire gardeners who can rely only on rainfall but in our hot, arid climate even using drought tolerant plants, daily watering is a must for my wannabe English cottage garden.

If your not tired of seeing gardening posts, I'll be back with my container plantings soon.

I'm joining Kim for Wow us Wednesday, A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday and Fishtail Cottage for Flora Thursday.