the giraffe life

My snowbells didn't come up this year, but at least my neighbors are having better luck. I spotted these on a walk this weekend :) linking up for  wordless Wednesday

My husband doesn't particularly enjoy mowing the lawn. I understand - I don't either. It's boring and hot and tiring. And I don't want a monotonous expanse of green as a backyard.  We have clover, thistle, cattails, dandelions, and other weeds I can't identify growing out there, but not much grass. (I think the random assortment of plants is one of the reasons rabbits love our yard.) So I have an idea to make this better for both of us:  more flower beds! :) Right now we only have flower beds lining the sidewalk up to our house. That's where you can see the Black-Eyed Susans and hibiscus . That leaves both sides and the back of the house open for some flower bed business! Here's the first area, right behind the sunroom: Not too exciting. I'm being picky about the plants for this bed. They have to be native to the eastern US, pretty (in my subjective opinion), perennial, and easy to care for. Basically, I want to put in the time and effort picki...