What I've been planting

The vegetable & herb garden I had at my parents house a few years ago.

Lately I've been doing a lot of gardening.

Since this is our first spring/summer in this house the yard is a bit of a blank slate.

I love a good challenge :)

For at least the first 5 years we live here I plan on only planting perennials.

It helps cut down on costs and gives lots of time for the plants to grow big and establish themselves. 

I see perennials as an investment in my yard and annuals as throwing away money. Don't get me wrong! I think annuals are beautiful...but since I'm on a budget with my gardening ...I'd rather invest in plants that will come back each year.

I've already bought many plants from Lowe's distressed plant rack.

They were all 50% off and I asked the manager for an even greater discount and I was given 75% off!

So I got some BEAUTIFUL pink French hydrangeas for the bed along the driveway/patio area for only $3 each. I planted them, watered them, watered them some more and then some more and now they no longer look "distressed".  I also purchased miniature daffodils, purple salvia, and a few unmarked plants. 

Flea markets are also a great place to find deals on plants. Last weekend at our local flea market Caleb bought me a white butterfly bush and a yellow butterfly bush. They were only $5 each. I'm familiar with white butterfly bushes since my mom has one in her garden, but I'd never seen a yellow one. It's already grown like crazy since we planted it last week. 

This is what it will look like when it blooms:

Isn't it so pretty?! I took some cuttings from it and I've got them rooting in a planter outside. 

Another way that I've found to garden on a budget is to plant bulbs. I planted 40 ranunculus, 20 purple gladiolus, and 20 "My Love" gladioulus bulbs. 

The My Love bulbs look like this:

Another favorite that I'm planting from seed is Rose Campion.
I love love love this flower!

You can read about it here.

I plan on planting them below my bird feeder which is on a two tiered round bed. 

I haven't decided yet on what I want to plant on the lower tier.

What have ya'll been planting?