Hostas

I procrastinated big time on my garden this season. Normally I'm itching to plant in April, but this year I wasn't even sure if I was going to touch it. After dealing with the insatiable, ravenous mosquitoes last year that are out ALL hours of the day here in Kansas (and I mean all hours of the day, watering at 9 am was a battle), I had told myself not to bother, but the desire for a pretty garden got the best of me.

Mosquitoes love the sweet smell of petunias, so a repeat of last year's garden was a no go. Here is last year's version that I never did share on the blog:

So after peaking my head in and out of some garden shops, I found a good deal on some hostas! These were some of my favorite plants to use in my gardens back in Ohio because they tolerate just about any level of light, even though they are commonly used in the shade, and will come back year after year with little maintenance.

And they will require less watering and pruning then flowers, meaning I won't have to battle the mosquitoes as often.

Now hostas are not hard to come by and you can find them at any garden shop, but I found mine at Walmart, marked down for $2.50 a piece. What a steal! I easily saved 50 bucks on these fine plants.

They were looking a bit desperate when I put them in my cart, but I knew that with a little time and TLC, they would be rejuvenated. So after a few hours of getting the garden ready by tilling up the soil, chopping up a massive root system, and leveling out the garden, they were planted.

A little bit of mulch, water, and sunshine cleaned everything up nicely.

And to go along with my beautiful new garden, I also have 63 fresh mosquito bites covering my legs, back, and derriere. (Yep, I counted them just for you) Gotta love Kansas!

I am now thinking about tackling a section of the backyard with my left over mulch and handy shovel. We shall see what becomes of that!