A little bit of progress

After three years, I finally have the garden beds around the shed finished and looking as though someone actually lives here.

One side of the front with one of the new forsythia bushes. When I planted the annuals I still was digging up garbage. I'm hoping I have finally come to the end of the garbage dump.

This side I did first, so it is pretty established. The iris I brought from the Big Ugly House, which had been brought from my parents' house in Arizona. Other than the iris, this is also an edible garden bed. I have herbs (oregano and thyme, with sage seeds being planted because my sage plant didn't survive the winter.) The leafy things on the left are sunchokes (or Jerusalem artichokes as they are sometimes called.) You can eat the tuber of them, and they like to spread. A lot. It's hard to tell, but right at the corner I also have growing a large horseradish plant, also brought along from the Big Ugly House.

The back... clamatis that after two years are finally looking decent as well as hostas and some echinacea.

Finally the north side which gets very little sun. The ferns I planted are all doing well and each has new growth on it.

For comparison, here is that same edible garden side from our first summer here. It was my only place to plant things, so I put a little bit of everything in. 

I like to look at these comparison pictures because it gives me a little bit of hope. It took longer than I had hoped, but it is now looking nice. I'm ready go tackle a new project.... the front yard. It is a disaster. I'll have to remember to get a couple of 'before' shots to show you. I kind of makes the house look abandoned. It will also probably take me longer than three years to rehabilitate it. I get in impatient when things don't look how I envision them in my head. I guess patience is still a developing skill for me.