The Flowered Path Less Traveled

I know you've all been waiting with bated breath for this moment, but it's finally here! I am finished with the strip garden on the left side of the stairs!

The original, visitor-eating left strip on 8/17:


To this, stripped down version, on 8/31 (Note the Borg Strawberry plants in front.):


To this, half-way through planting on 9/8 (Notice the pile of strawberry plants still in front? This is after I'd already ripped out the first bunch and threw them away!):


Finally, it looks like this, as of 9/12 (Work stopped for a few days due to seemingly incessant rain.):


This bed now includes 4 alyssum 'Basket of Gold', 5 phlox subulata, 2 heather 'Mrs. Maxwell', 10 Russian stonecrop sedum, 3 coreopsis, 2 new (one from seed and one from the backyard) and 1 relocated lavender, 3 blue flax, 5 'Johnson's Blue' geraniums, 5 wild Sweet William and the clematis tanguica at the top of the stairs that needs a trellis to grow on. That's 41 plants and a bunch of mulch and no strawberry plants. Those are in a box at the end of my driveway with a sign that reads: "FREE strawberry plants! Have some!"

Technically, I'm not done done done until I get the weeds out from under the clematis. However, I'm calling this good enough so that I can get more plants relocated from the backyard to the front. I can weed whenever I feel the need (har har har!) and it would photograph the same way! So now there are new plants on either side, none of which should make it higher than 2' tall. Except for the climbers, of course.

This oughtta keep the bees below your knees!

Come on in! The stairs are fine!