My little seedies

Our flower bed was a complete disaster. We had mismatched bushes that the builders had planted. They had put 5 of the same bush, 2 of another type and 1 random flowering bush. Random would be the key word. And on top of the randomness we neglected it. So it was weedy randomness. I'm sure our neighbors loved it. I finally have a before pic! Of course it would be the most embarrassing one. Here goes:

This was actually from last April. Horrible. So fast forward a year and we decided to actually do something with it. JJ and I figured since those bushes were so puny we could just move them all around and they would be fine. Nope. Shows you our extent of knowledge on landscaping. We also bought 5 packs of mixed flower seeds. We didn't read until we got home that one package covered approximately 150 square feet. Oops. We still used all five. Again, we are gardening geniuses. Here's the after bush moving picture:

We bought the recycled tire border that looks like mulch. We thought we were doing good. I mean those bushes aren't the biggest or prettiest but hey! that's a biiig improvement from before! While we were moving the bushes around we moved the 2 random bushes to the back beside the screened in porch. It was just bare before.

We're currently trying to grow grass, again not successfully, so that's why there is mulch everywhere. (Anyone have any tips? It's impossible in sandy NC!) The two bushes in the middle are the ones we transplanted from the front. We bought two lilies to go next to them because Harley loves chasing butterflies (He's a dingbat haha) and they are supposed to attract them. 

So fast forward again approximately 3 weeks and our little seedies are taking off! Our bushes on the other hand, FAIL! All but 1 and a half died. One that we didn't move and the other was only half alive. The bushes we moved to the back are thriving though! I think it's because they are supposed to be in partial shade.

Look at those green shoots! We for sure thought the little guy wasn't going to make it. And here's a close up of the flowers:

Pretty, pretty.

Ok, but back to the front failure. Our neighbors told us about a local nursery so we decided to hit that up. We were looking for these big flowering bushes that I've been seeing everywhere and found out they are azaleas. They happened to be having a sale on azaleas 3 for $30. Perfeccct! We both agreed that the white would look good with the green siding we have. And the flowers would give it the punch of color and be the stars.

Here's to hoping we don't kill these bushes!