For a job that I quit a a year later because of the Big Revelation of 2007. we created on a deck some container gardens that I simply adored all summer of 2008.

hanging baskets and planters
We checked them often, deadheaded, groomed. It was my idea to have the flower containers guard the precious stained glass windows; the original seating arrangement for this outdoor dining area had metal chairs right next to the windows and I could see two terrible accidents waiting to happen. A diner stands up and slams a shoulder into the heavy pointy bottom of the metal hanging baskets, or leans a chair back and shatters the irreplaceable window. These are the sort of scenarios one must always ponder when public gardening.
You may recall the truck-damaged garden that we repaired in 2007. I never put a final update on the 2007 blog so here are some photos from 6 August 2007 of how well those gardens recuperated with fluffy new soil and lavish use of painted sage along the edge.

a border of painted sage

repaired border with Cosmos, Painted Sage, Echinacea
On the other side of the paver and river rock path grew one of my favourite combinations: Lilies with Melianthus Major. Every winter I mulched and nurtured the Melianthus to bring it through.

Melianthus major and lilies
The same spot was equally beautiful on August 10th of 2006:
How I defended those lilies with Sluggo! The intense fragrance stopped passersby in their tracks.
When I had begun to care for this garden sometime in the mid to late 90s, it had only four predominant good plants in the front bed: shasta daisies, Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’ a Campanula, and some Yarrow. They were joined by creeping buttercup so thick that on my first day of work there I removed a bushel basket of it in a very small area. One end of the garden was infested with the deliberately planted (by a previous gardener) Bishop’s Weed, and bindweed twined throughout. During my time there I added many the choice perennial and had quite a few returning guests tell me that they looked forward to seeing what new plant had appeared. I have not looked closely at the garden since I departed but I suspect that the rampant pink ‘A.T. Johnson’ geranium and Rosa Rugosa ‘Alba’, both of which I kept firmly in check, may be taking back over again, and without constant battling I imagine that the Bishop’s Weed is creeping ever more determinedly through the other perennials. Is the Melianthus major still there? I rather doubt it. It was ‘Antenow’s Blue’ by the way, the best steely blue (peanut butter scented) leaf of all.
Hardscaping note: When the paver path was being laid I expressed concern about using river rocks between the round stepping stones. Indeed, the round rocks frequently got kicked onto the pavers. I always advise using tightly packed gravel (and never pea gravel) in a path that will have heavy foot traffic.