Wednesday Garden Pics: My Shade Garden & Purple Beans!

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Today I mowed the back yard and hedged 2 of my Azaleas. I might have done more hedging, but my lower-back said, "nope, we done."
There's a rain system somewhat stalled over Lousiana/Mississippi, which isn't good news for them, that we might get some heavy rain from tonight into tomorrow morning.
Really, these pictures represent my adventures in Florida gardening, where it's either too wet or too dry and the weeds & insects are ferocious.

Today's pics:
First, a couple pictures of my shady "naturalized" bed under the 3 trunk native maple in the back yard. 


By "naturalized" I mean this area is planted in an unstructured way, so it looks woodsy & wild.
Around the tree from left to right is: a purple hydrangea, a pink Astribe, a hosta in tipped pot, a large hosta & a Lady fern, plus tons of variegated Vinca Major ground cover everywhere!
(Sometimes called Bigleaf Periwinkle or Greater Periwinkle--it has blue flowers!)
Behind the fern, there's a Bridal Veil shrub I just planted and you can see the edge of my insect hotel I constructed.
This bed is a work in progress. I'd like to acquire more daffodil bulbs this fall to in the area further back, where it's quite sunny in spring while the tree is bare.

Next, a side view of that pretty pink Astribe and the pot.


I've purchased bareroot Astribe from garden catalogs several times, but none it ever took. This one I bought from a local garden center. I figured a mature one would take better.
The ceramic pot was given to me by a friend years ago with flowers in it. I finally decided last year to tip it on it's side and plant the small hosta in it. 

Last, a picture of the pretty purple blossoms on my Dwarf French Purple Bush Beans:


Bush beans are among the easiest things to grow--really anywhere. I love these particular beans because the flowers are such a pretty color! This breed bears profusely on a short stature. With just two short 5 foot rows I'll get a ton of fresh purple beans!

My favorite way to serve fresh green or purple beans as a side:
Just clean & leave whole.
Throw them in a frying pan with a little olive oil, minced garlic, add a little salt and saute till heated through, but still very slightly crisp.
Serve! Yum!
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That's all the fun garden pics today!
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