In my garden there is a large place for sentiment.  My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams.  The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful.  ~Abram L. Urban

I have been waiting all summer to clean up a few of my beds.  I had lots of daylillies in a couple of beds that just were not working, which is why they are now in my holding garden for future use (See earlier post). 

Also, my hydrangea hedge is starting to shape up.  The large front bed has evolved through the past few years and is finally becoming what it needs to be.  The bed has looked great every summer since the beginning but has lacked structure for the winter.  Unintentionally, it was a trial by error bed and things that had never been planned just snuck up on me.  Which is where the hydrangea hedge comes into play.  I had one Endless Summer Hydrangea survive hurricane Gustav back in '08 and have recently added more to the bed with plans of it becoming a hedge on the back side of the bed. 

The one in the middle is obviously the hurricane survivor.  The Endless summer collection has proven to be a very hardy hydrangea.  I have convinced friends to plant them and they have had as much success as I have. 

These are the "Original" Endless Summer.  They have proven to be strong, sturdy, beautiful shrubs.

This is a bloom in December of last year.  Yes!  December! 

Well, I should re-name this post Endless Summer Hydrangea.  I didn't realize I was gonna have a moment.  LOL!  Moving on....

I had daylilies planted all around my Sky Pencil Hollies.  I don't know what I was thinking.  So messy.  Next year I'm going to plant more Mondo grass.  I plan on filling the whole bed with it.  Think minimalist.  Eventually I will have a fountain in front of the hollies, facing the lawn.  I know, I have big plans.  I'm always dreaming and then scheming on how to make it happen. 

The fountain has been rid of the indigo (see previous post).  It feels so much better.

I extended the existing planting of Frost Proof Gardenias.  I figured out how to deal with Frost Proof's....don't do anything to them!  I have a healthy collection and they became that way after I practically ignored them. 

So that's what is happening this fall in my garden.  Gardening is an evolution.  You can plan, plan, plan but there is always something that has to be tweaked. 

I am known for keeping plants in pots for years before finding a place to plant them.  So for most of my friends it is no surprise that I am sacrificing my vegetable garden for plants I have no place for at the moment.  The "kitchen garden" is now officially called the "holding garden". 

I still have room for a few more flower beds and so I have decided to keep a collection of daylilies and a few roses in a holding zone until the bed can be built.  Which may be a year or 2 because for me a bed can not be simple.  Oh no,  it has to be a production, hence that it might be a year or 2 before I can afford to do it.  LOL.  Besides that and there are a whole number of things I want to do to my garden.  I just never know where to begin.  New front walk, curbside/parking bed, hallway garden, more edging, less edging, more shrubs, less shrubs...it goes on and on. 

Due to all of my wants, I am constantly adding plants and moving existing plants in the garden.  This can sometimes cause a problem of me having excess plants.  I have given plants away.  I've also traded plants for plants, which doesn't actually help my situation of having too many plants. I have even been able to fill newly built beds with existing plants from my garden.  Sometimes I even have to kick some to the curb because of lack of space and need.

The daylilies and roses are going to be held here until needed.  I will not be growing vegetables here for the next few seasons but sometimes a gardeners got to do what a gardeners got to do.

The kitchen garden is now the holding garden.