Never-ending yard projects

I really wanted to work on this neglected corner.  The cannas were there when we moved in, but have never been tended to.  

I added a border, planted a few more canna bulbs, moved my potted bougainvillea, added a small water dish for the birds, and our broken St. Francis statue---and it looks so much better!  Next year I will add a few elephant ears in the back corner and some day lilies out front.  We have so many new birds drinking from the water dish and from the tiny bowl on the St. Francis statue.

I had dug out this bed in the front yard a few months ago when we were getting torrential rain showers, but then never finished it.  It was covered with weeds so I decided to take action.  I bordered it and planted lots of different shades of lantana, and have seen several butterflies landing on the blooms already.

This started out as Stanley's memorial garden, but we've decided to make it our pet memorial garden.  I had already planted the clematis vine and the Turk's cap last year, and then added caladium bulbs at the end of May.  The amazing thing about this garden is the Turk's cap.  I planted six plants last fall, and thought only two were going to come back.  See the tiny green clump in the sun (to the left of the caladium)?  That's a new Turk's cap that broke through the ground the day after Henry died.  It gives me goose bumps (the good kind) every time I look at it.

And finally, construction has started on Phase II of our path project.  I marked out the border the first day, and have been digging out grass in small sections every other day (it's just too hot when Gabriel is napping to do more, or to get out there every day).  I plan to be done with this part at the end of next week, then we'll put down the plastic and start laying the border.  

I've become a little obsessed about the yard.  The better it looks the more I want to get out there and work every day.  It's amazing to me how little money we've spent and how much better it looks.  I would love to do this for a living some day, and maybe with all of this practice I won't be considered an amateur anymore.