Of backyards and movies

If you've been around me or talked to me in the last month, you know I've been working hard on the backyard. I hired a friend to do some of the heavy work and he did an amazing job - removing bushes, trimming a bed, fixing the gate, removing a sidewalk, and some other odds & ends. Then another friend helped me just because he likes playing in the dirt. I adjusted last year's plantings and added more. Slowly but surely the flowerbeds are coming along. I planted mainly perenials so it won't be so much work every year. Laying the ground cloth & mulch was a huge job that took me a week. But I am very pleased with the finished product.
I make this disclaimer: I have no clue what I'm doing when it comes to gardening. I'm as surprised as anyone that I have a somewhat green thumb.

This is my new daisy bed - shasta, button, gerber, sea-breeze, black-eyed susans, dahlias.

The hostas I planted last year have come back quite well. The back bed is mainly hostas with some coleus, ferns & impatiens.

I was surprised at how large this hosta is. That's my size 8 foot for some comparison.

The clematis is blooming like crazy.

The snowball hydrangea had great blooms this spring. And you can get a peek at the fixed & freshly painted gate.

My big deadline for finishing the backyard was May 30 - Backyard Movie Night. It's becoming an annual event. This was the 2nd annual. Saturday I hung a sheet on the back of the house and the boys set up the borrowed audio equipment & projector. After church Saturday night, people came over to hang out and I had the grill available. We hung out until dark to watch a movie or two. The only requirement is to show up with a blanket or lawn chair.

Forty or so people came and several brought their kids. We watched Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and then a handful stuck around for Top Gun. The weather was fantastic this year except for a very brief sprinkle of rain in between movies.

A big thanks to all who helped set up or man the grill.

Be excellent to each other...and party on, dudes!