The Mailbox Garden in August

One of the first things to greet anyone at our house is the mailbox garden. It's the first thing that people see as they drive by or visit. It's also about the only thing you can see of our gardens from a distance since our house sits down below the street level in a cul-de-sac that most people probably don't even notice. The mailbox garden has changed since I last wrote about it. A couple plants have faded away while a couple others have entered the fray. I'm a little ashamed of the state of the mailbox post itself. It needs a good sanding and painting, but I'll get around to it eventually!

On the right side are some small daylilies that I divided last fall. They are blooming but are very small. they were nearly single fans when I planted them.

Underneath the mailbox I have a clematis that came from a discount rack. It's starting to show some buds. I want to train it up the mailbox but not until I get the post repainted.

If we move a little closer you can see many of the young plants I've added. The 'Purple Homestead' Verbena is a staple of the mailbox garden for me but the 'Walker's Low' catmint it is surrounding is new. Behind the verbena and catmint is a 'May Night' Salvia that was raised from a cutting and to the left is a 'Caradonna' Salvia. Creeping phlox borders the left side of the garden area. Somewhere in this mix of plants are two Veronicas that were also made from cuttings.

In the back I submerged a pot and planted a sweet potato vine. It's small now but hopefully in a few weeks it will put on some good growth. It's not hardy in our area so I'll either have to take cuttings to preserve over the winter or get new plants next year.

Eventually I'd like to add some ornamental grasses to the mix.