With bells in

Despite the fact that the sun hasn't shown since Friday and the temperature has hovered near 40 all weekend, we celebrated Earth Day with the purchase of six new perennials for the garden. Five of the six are varieties of heuchera or coral bells. These will replace the wildly overgrown coneflower in the front garden near the birdbath.

April

 

In the spring, the birdbath gurgles away enticing every feathered creature in for a good soaking and surrounded by the small bright green leaves of emerging coneflowers.

 
By July, the coneflowers have taken over and not only can we not enjoy watching the avian splashing, the neighborhood cats have discovered that the massive growth of thick green leaves and sturdy-stemmed pink flowers provides excellent cover for stalking unwary bathers.

July

To remedy both problems, we are digging out the coneflower and replacing it with low-growing clumps of coral bells in a variety of the latest colors. With the added benefit of having airy stems of pinkish flowers that hummingbirds love.