New addict from Alabama!

Hello all,

My name is Kristin and I'm recently addicted to plants. First off, by golly, why is it so expensive? Sheesh.

It's amazing the turn that can happen when you start to become interested in them. It originally started when I tried to 'landscape' the front of my home. I just didn't care for a lot of the bushes out there (boxwoods shaped by the previous owners) and just the plainess of all it all. In one spring and summer I've gone from almost no plants to a lot of plants. I'm attaching some some pictures of progress. I'm super excited to meet you all and to be able to share my whirlwind romance as I don't think my friends on Facebook understand. They most likely roll their eyes and think to themselves (another plant) while I've got my hands clasped in pure delight as I post a picture of it. It's a sad lonely place where I live.

I kept my 2 pittosporums and crape myrtle (off to the right). Put in a snow fountains weeping cherry, 2 ixora's, 2 variegated privets, 2 loropetalums and 2 gardenias.

I am currently planting 16 butterfly bushes, 3 forsythias, 3 mexican sages in my back yard (it's a completely blank canvas with the exception of two crape myrtles that were planted originally in the corners). It's so big, I have no doubt it will take years to do, but I've already got a bunch of plants on order and I am super stoked! Thanks for letting me babble.

Welcome! How exciting to have such a nice home with so much space for gardens that you design!
There are lots of helpful friendly folks here, so if you ever have any questions or advice, please don't be afraid to let us know.
If you haven't found it yet, here is the link to the 'Mid-south' gardening forum, which includes Alabama. Enjoy!

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/region_mids/all/

Hello there Kristin, Welcome! =) My goodness, what WONDERFUL improvements you have made already, WooHoooo! I'm really glad you decided to join here, you're going to be overwhelmed with kindness and FUN!! It's just unacceptable to be in love with your plants and have noone to share it with. :( That's ok, now that you're here, we will celebrate with you all your victories, and help you through your rough spots. =)

Again, welcome, and I sure hope I get to see you around the forums! (I'm mostly in the mid-atlantic ones).

Have fun! =)

Welcome, you have indeed accomplished much..not an addiction you can beat...with each new plant or shrub you become more enthused! Look forward to seeing more photo's

Hi there Bettypauze, I don't believe I've seen you around before. (I love your name!). How nice to meet you! =)
Gosh, maybe I need to move in bigger circles, huh? ;)

Been here for many years Kristin, mostly on sewing and crafting threads.

I moved into my home about 8 years ago with same canvas as you, now, barely a grassed area in the back yard..love collecting garden art, mostly rusted iron..made secret garden, ponds,etc..guess I'm an addict as well!

Heeheeheee, Ooops, that was me! < =D Have you shared pics? Where might I see them, please?

I've been here about a year now, but mostly I hang around in the mid-atlantic forums, with a bit of dabbling in cooking and winter sowing. I really do need to expand my horizons.

That you do, let me see if I can find a few

I will I will!! Oh Bless your fuzzy heart, and WOW!! I love your combo basket, and, is that beauty in front of the window a Monarda? Such gorgeous rich colour! Your garden art is fabulous too, Wheeee!! Thank you for sharing your beauty. =)

So nice to meet you all. Thank you, Kywoods, I put that forum in my favorites :). There is so much information here, it's going to be a long while to go through. The ones I'm stuck on currently are garden art, repurposing projects and some other small things.

Please excuse me as I feel like a small child who just ate 50 gallons of sugar and can't shut up. I'll try not to overwhelm you all. I'm attaching a couple more pictures of what's happened since June of 2012 when this explosion occurred. I have lived in my home for 6 years and never did anything to it. I kind of ignored it (I think I didn't care). I can't tell you how landscaping the front a little and now working on my back yard has made me fall in love with my home and want to be there even more. Plants are giving me an appreciation I never had of it and I am learning so very much about them.

The first picture is where my original patio was. Those plants in the corner were all I had and they just kind of sat there. I didn't completely ignore them, but I didn't dwell on them either. In June 2012 we had the patio extended and I went on an all out binge of plant buying, lol which is the second picture. The third picture is when our neighbor threw out a good full vinyl lattice piece. We took it, cut it, staked it and planted some confederate jasmine on the sides (can't wait until it grows). The last two is of my plants taking a break in my back room for the winter. I have on the other side a large shelving unit where all my small ones are hanging. My fiance bought me a black and white bat lily at the end of summer which are my new loves (the black one in the fourth picture was so large I had to split it into two).

I'm still new at this and I am worried I might be taking on too much. Each plant requires me to research it to learn how to care for it when I get it. It's pretty time consuming but I'm trying to be the best plant mom I can be.

Alright, no more pictures here, this is the last. Thanks for letting me share some of my exciting summer. My next project is a gnome village (and to think, I never was a huge fan of gnomes) and I've already started.

Seriously Betty, your yard looks wonderful. Totally jealous.

Minus that back patio, my backyard looks barren. The new shrubs and trees I planted back there are all babies. Eventually I'll get more. I'll probably never have as much as you as my yard is really for my dogs and I leave it open for them. But I'm going to plant a lot of stuff around the fence and I really want a pergola and arbor.

Gosh Gnomey, you've made some massive improvements already!! I love how your patio is looking now, it's great!

Do you have anything in mind to plant around the perimeter? I'm thinkin now... maybe some Bottlebrush or Eucalyptus? =)

The perimeter of my fence or the patio?

I currently have on the back fence (2 large crape myrtles) and 8 baby butterfly bushes (the other 8 come in March) for a total of 16 butterfly bushing lining the back.

I really like the bottleneck, that is a neat tree/bush. I had to look both up. Is Eucalyptus a type of gum tree, like sweet gum? We have a lot of them down here, my fiance hates them so if it is anything like that he won't want it.

I just planted 3 mexican sages on the right of the patio line and have the following on order for the back yard. Sorry for the caps, I just copied and pasted.

FRAGRANT CLOUD HONEYSUCKLE (fence vine)
TUTTI FRUITTI HUMMINGBIRD MINT (patio boarder)
MAYPOP (fence vine)
MOERHEIM BEAUTY CARPET PHLOX (under my cherry tree out back)
WHITE DELIGHT CARPET PHLOX (under my cherry tree out back)
SWITZERLAND BEGONIA (pot)
BLUE MOON REBLOOMING WISTERIA (want an arbor)
IMPROVED MEYER LEMON PLANT (pot)
BURGUNDY LACE JAPANESE PAINTED FERN (pot)
SMALL GLOBE THISTLE (no idea, I just liked the way it looked)

I also purchased 2 camellias to put somwhere.

Oh, I'm so sorry, I was thinking along the lines of the perimeter of the fence... the things I mentioned get pretty big.

OK, so Eucalyptus is out. ;) Yeah, they are a type of "Gum" (many types, actually).. personally I love them and have fond memories of Eucalyptus when I was young, but... never mind that). ;) heehee

Bottlebrushes are cool though, .. at least I think so. Sounds to me like you've got loads of ideas already though, so you can just put mine on a back burner, so to speak.

Just a thought, with that wisteria and the arbor; make sure your arbor is really REALLY sturdy 'cause wisteria can be SUPER destructive to structures. Using 8x8's would not be out of the question to build that arbor. Seriously!

Oh wow. I didn't know that. So no wimpy metal one then? That is what I was originally looking at but now might change my mind. Or maybe I can find something that looks columny? Like a mini pergola type thing?

He just doesn't like them because of the things they drop. Oh, most of my stuff out there is kind of small. The cherry tree says it should get about 30 feet (if that). Thank you though for all the ideas and suggestions. I appreciate it. I'll definitely keep that arbor thing in mind.

Oooo, what a great place you have there! I would love to have a back room like that for overwintering plants. Love the bat lily, too!
Betty, thanks for sharing your garden pics, too--they're beautiful!