New front hillside update

Echinacea, pennisetum and volunteer fireweed

Remember my new front hillside, created by removing a railroad tie retaining wall? I've been spending a lot of time here, planting, watering, weeding and thinking.

This is the view from the bottom, comparison from early March to late August:

A lot of the plants visible in the newest photo are rescued from before the excavation and probably temporary, but they're good at filling in space for now:

• Geranium, probably Rozanne - a bunch of small pieces are multiplying quickly
• English daisy - I thought only one piece survived but now there are two and they will spread fast too
• Hollyhocks - planted from seed last year, some were just below the excavation and I transplanted some along the wall
• Fireweed - a lovely native volunteer
• Gladiolus - I planted a bag of bulbs along the wall

Looking back from the house, here's a clearer view of this sunny section along the neighbor's wall:




I have added a lot of sun loving perennials, many bought on super sale from the big box hardware stores:

• Echinacea purpurea 'PowWow White'
• Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum'
• Acaena inermis 'Purpurea' - a lovely purple groundcover
• Coreposis 'Mercury Rising' - rescued from the big box dead plant section
• Amsonia hubrichtii - same
• Spiraea, have to look up which one, maybe 'Goldflame' - same
• Hemerocalis 'Pink Flirt' - same
• Hemerocalis 'Wine Delight' - same
• Ajuga reptans 'Burgendy Glow' - a less aggressive bugleweed
• Fuchsia 'Delta's Sara' - as close to a blue fuchsia as I can find, crossing my fingers that it can handle this much afternoon sun
• Asters - a few small varieties that I seem to have lost the tags for are planted in front

There is a definite purple and gold theme to the perennials, and also to the larger bushes that I've planted in the back:

• Smoke bush, cotinus 'Grace'
• Variegated red twig dogwood, I think it is cornus alba 'Gouschaltii'
• Ninebark, physocarpus 'Morning Star'
• Native flowering currant, grown from a cutting

The bushes will eventually shade out some of the perennials, but this area has a lot of room for both - and this is only the bottom section of the new front slope! The rest will have to wait for part 2 of this post.

Here's a couple more views of this section, I like how it merges into my north shade border down the hill: