Rockin Playin the Blues Salvia

Planting these gorgeous Rockin Playin the Blues Salvia from Proven Winners in my Southeast Tennessee garden.

I received no compensation from Proven Winners other than the plants.

Planting Rockin Playin The Blues Salvia from Proven Winners

Anyone else have huge plans for their gardens and then reality strikes?  Yeah, me too.  I am going to be the first to admit that the last few years have been a challenge in my garden.  For several years I basically worked three jobs:  blogging, Pamela Greer Photography, and teaching.  When my photography business started doing so well that I could retire early from teaching, I thought I would have so much time, but my photography business continued to grow.  Then we had a drought.  I've finally settled on balance and have limited the number of new clients I take in my photography business.  Now, it's back to being able to work on the garden.  It feels so good to be back digging in the dirt and watching things grow.

I'm doing things a little differently this year.  I tried to make most of my beds entirely perennial beds, but after studying some gardening magazines and Pinterest, I've decided it's a good idea to plant some annuals amongst the perennials.   They typically flower all season, putting all their heart and soul into their one year of life.  My flower bed by the sidewalk is planted in mainly purples and whites with some yellow.  I thought that these Rockin Playin the Blues Salvia from Proven Winners would be perfect!  It comes with all the buzzwords that I like:  long blooming, continuous bloom, fall interest, heat tolerant, drought tolerant, and deadheading not necessary.  It attracts butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees.  Perfect!

I planted all three of them together in a middle section of my bed.  Why yes, I haven't cleaned the fall leaves out of my flower bed yet.  You can either think that I am running an experiment to see if leaving the leaves cuts down on weeds and helps the soil as they decompose, or I am too lazy to rake them out.  Your choice.

You can see in the step back that they are planted between two daylilies.  They are also in front of some Russian Sage that I let get way too woody in my years of neglect.  In front of them is some phlox and some lambs ear.   You can see that my sparsely filled in bed doesn't look anything like the cottage garden of my dreams, but I am working on it.   We shall keep following these Rockin Playin the Blues Salvia as they grow and flower through the summer!

This week I am linking up to:
Maple Hill Hop
Floral Friday Fotos
Today's Flowers
Wednesdays Around the World
Seasons at Life-n-reflection
Photo Friday
Friday Photo Journal
Foodie Friday