A Journey From 2016 to 2019 part two

Again, this is what the flower beds looked like when I started working on them. This wouldn't even pass as a rock garden. The stones are just ordinary rocks from Clark Fork River. It looked horrendous and I've already explained what was involved in converting this garbage into a flower bed.

In part one, I pointed out the Russian sage growing beside the soup kitchen building. This is the Russian sage I planted by the sanctuary building. The plants growing in front of it are daylilies. They will be blooming within the next week or two.

This is close to the same view as the original picture and it is what the flowerbeds look like today. To say that the plants are flourishing would be a huge understatement. In the foreground, most of what can be seen are pansies. Here is the thing, though; I didn't plant them. No other person did, either. They simply came up and grew this year.

The irises dominate these flowerbeds and they are in full bloom. The plants are also quite healthy. The low growing plants in front of the irises in the corner are a combination of bellflowers and primrose. None of these were intentionally planted. They came from nearby seeds that were blown in and they will be blooming in the coming weeks.

These are irises along the sanctuary building. The red at the bottom is snapdragons. I didn't plant any snapdragons this year. All the snapdragons in these images came from the original annuals that were planted. Nobody mentioned to the plants that they were supposed to be annuals, so they've come up every year since. There are also new ones from seeds off the old ones.

Did I mention snapdragons? These are a few of those by the sanctuary building that have become perennials, though they are annuals. These are the red ones, which are the most prolific. There are actually three shades of red snapdragons growing in this flower bed.

There are salmon colored snapdragons and yellow ones, along with the irises. The combination is quite beautiful and it certainly wasn't planned, at least by me.

There are even snapdragons that have just gotten ready to bloom. There are some pink ones blooming in this image. This picture is in the same location as a picture that was shown in part one that showed the weeds growing around the rocks. 

Here is something important to know...I didn't do anything special to this really poor soil that wouldn't grow anything. In fact, I violated almost every rule in the book for growing the plants in this set. Clearly, I'm not responsible for the lush, vibrant growth. I'm just a tool. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Here is a pink snapdragon, growing alongside a daylily. When the daylilies bloom, it will add yet more color, and there are a lot of them. 

I still haven't shown the various plants that have gone into the shady side of the building. This is just the side facing the road. There are more changes in store, too.

This is a different angle, but it gives a great idea of the different colors and hot they blend together. What do you think? Does this look a little more befitting a church than a pile of rocks?