4/3/12 Heather girl

Last Sunday, many of our plants were ripped out and replaced with little teeny eensy new ones. It's not completely done, so I don't have a full set of photos yet, but this afternoon was the first time I really walked around and looked at the new plants, some in their infancy.

This was inspired by Katrina, who wanted me to take a picture of her with this glorious confetti heather -- one of the mature plants that survived the makeover.

Her fashion sense cracks me up!

Some of our new plants are already flowering, like this little saffron buckwheat (I think).

I love these little salvias too, scrappy and scruffy with small pretty hardy flowers. The first round of landscaping included another variety of salvia, and they are my favorites, flowering year-round. This one will probably do the same too.

The real piece de resistance for me: a manzanita. It's hard to tell in this photo; it's the lightest-green bush in the center of the photo.

These are amazing bushes, with dark, twisted bark, hardy and desert-y. This one is placed to eventually screen the neighbors' driveway across the street somewhat. Behind it is one of those favorite existing red-flowering salvias.

I love the two little plants in front of the manzanita too, I forget what they're called, but they too are California natives of some sort.

I absolutely love the new plants -- all CA natives, and a much larger variety than before. I am going to have so much fun over the years walking around and looking at them, seeing them grow and change, making adjustments and planting new ones from time to time. This is turning from a landscape to a garden, and I just love it!

4/3/12