tree feature: arborvitae

Happy April everyone! Its a beautiful day and looks to be a nice weekend so I have gardening on the mind yet again. Specifically, creating a privacy hedge in our front yard between us and our east side neighbors. We are pretty fortunate in that our house staggers from our neighbors, however, our living room window looks right at the side of their house. I don't really want to do a window covering as the room gets such good light so I am thinking of doing an evergreen hedge. 

At my parents house, they have some really nice hedges made up of a lot of arborvitaes. Arborvitaes (Thuga) are an evergreen tree with scale like leaves that grow tall, narrow and thick. There are several varieties that grow throughout North American with all of them being fast growers and liking full to part sun. I am thinking we would need 4 - 6 depending on their size...Off to my trusty local nursery for some expert advice!

Hope everyone has a nice weekend!

from top left - design by Land Architects via Houzz - via Quintessence - design by Zachary Duff via Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles - design by Falkner Gardens - via Bungalow Blue Interiors - via The Tree Center | THE PLACE HOME

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flower feature: autumn joy sedums

The thing I love most about Autumn Joy 'Sedums' is how much they change and evolve throughout the seasons. In the spring, they just look like a large succulent before turning into a sort of giant broccoli. Green blooms begin to form in early summer and by late summer they have turned pink. Through fall, the pink blooms turn to a rusty red and tend to stick around longer than most flowers before turning into dried seed heads in the winter. 

This perennial is super low maintenance and grows in hardiness zones 4-11. They need partial to full sun and grow about 18 - 24 inches tall. 

from top left - autumn joy sedums in spring via Stephi Gardens - via Monrovia - via Wikimedia - via Ledge & Garden - via Fine Gardening - via BHG

flower feature: blazing stars

At one time, the former homeowner of our house must have been a gardener as there is a whole mix of random perennials throughout our yard. One that I had yet to identify was a blazing star. This drought resistant perennial also commonly known as a gayfeather (genus name - liatris) is a U.S. native plant suitable in hardiness zones 3 - 9. Great for attracting pollinators, its known for its unique slender blossom that blooms for an extended period in mid to late summer. I personally like this flower most when mixed in a prairie sort of setting and if I had more sun I would be planning a whole patch of them. 

from top left - via GARDENISTA - via HGTV Gardens - via Greenfuse Photography - source unknown - source unknown - via Hayefield