Next year, this ground cover will cover the ground!

I was struck this week by how much of gardening is about next year. I got drunk and bought plants again [which is a joke. For one thing, the logistics would be complicated. How would I get the plants home? It's kind of a metaphor for the feeling one gets, when one goes to the nursery and sees all. those. plants. and just buys maybe a few, and then a couple more, to round things out, and comes home, and finds that one has a good hour of planting to do, because one somehow bought thirty different plants, *again*. Anyway.] and this time I branched out a bit into perennial ground cover suitable for sun. This is a tricky category. There seem to be more shade-loving perennials than sun-loving ones, and despite my best intentions, these are fixed categories. Shade-lovers don't do well in strong sun, even if you ask nicely. And I have a big, sunny front yard that needs some more plants to keep it from looking bare.

So I looked at my neighbors' garden, which I keep meaning to talk with them about because it's so beautiful and well-planned, but I'm little shy about introducing myself to strangers and demanding information about their plants. Plus, I never see them outside, which is a little mind-boggling considering how lovely the garden really is, but it's a mystery I have yet to solve. At any rate, they have some of this yellow stuff, and I like it so much I bought some of my own. Unlike theirs, mine is new and kind of small, but in a year or two it will fill in the spot I put it in and look great. And the same with the pink stuff! In a year or two, it's going to spread nicely, and then the problem spot under the tree will be carpeted with gorgeous pink flowers and nice green leaves.