My client wanted to transform her front yard beds into a cottage style garden with blooms that lasted from spring until fall for continued interest. Her front yard received harsh afternoon sun, so the plants chosen would have to be okay in clay soil on the drier side, since she is busy and can't always go out to water them.

Her current front bed around the crepe myrtle was overgrown with weeds. I added some dwarf yaupon hollies and switchgrass in the background as foundational backdrops and layered native flowers such as purple coneflower, coreopsis, black-eyed susan, aster, bergamont, wild blue indigo, blazing star, purple love grass, and beardtongue. These flowers will bring plenty of pollinators to her yard while also supporting the ecosystem.

Included in the plan was also a mailbox planting with more native flowers surrounding it, and off the right replacing an island of english ivy with native shrubs such as ninebark, bottlebrush bush, and native flame azalea.