Front Yard Planters

We have a pair of large planters in our front yard that sit at the bottom of the stairs leading up to our front door. It's tricky to find flowers to plant in them since our humongous silver maple creates tonnes of shade at the front of the house.

Alex took me to the greenhouse last weekend (on my very first Mother's Day.... ♥♥♥) to choose some flowers to plant in them. While I browsed, he stood at the end of each tent-thing holding the baby / car seat looking bored out of his mind. He suffered through it just for me. What a guy. ;)

I filled the planters with a mixture of potting soil and black earth. I try not to use solely potting mix as I find it dries out too quickly.

I planted some ornamental grass in the middle of each to create some height.

To add some volume, I planted two Rio Pink Dipladenias at the back of each planter. They are really pretty and bloom all summer long.

Toward the front of each planter I planted two Light Yellow Begonias. They do really well in the shade so I tend to buy them every year. 

And at the very front of each planter I planted a German Ivy. Last year I planted three in each planter and they kind of overtook everything else.

Here's how the two matching planters are looking right now. They look kind of small and pitiful but hopefully in a few weeks, with a little sun/water/miracle grow, everything will fill out.

So now that the planters are done, I can start planning what will go in my giant, twelve-foot windowbox. I'm so looking forward to choosing all of the flowers, not looking forward to the hefty price tag. Is it just me or are flowers ridiculously expensive?!?

Better Homes and Gardens has a slideshow with 25 different container gardens that are all gorgeous. You can check it out here if you want some inspiration.

How are your gardens coming along? Are you as behind as me? ;)