Well, if you recall, the planting bed between the house and front walkway was a row of beautiful bronze flax.  Flax is super hardy in our climate but somehow I have a knack for killing it. I think the bed, too, had a little to do with it – poor drainage (one side is really wet while the other is really dry) and a fair amount of shade made for bad growing conditions.  We had a bout of powdery mildew which killed a number of the flax and then my parents transplanted the last few survivorsin the hopes they will thrive elsewhere.  So now we have this sad long empty bed and a big swath of blank wall on the front of the house. 

Since my parents have been here, we’ve been taking the baby out on long walks and perusing the various plantings in our neighborhood.  Finding something ideal for the conditions and for the size of the bed (and the height needed) was not easy.  But I think we have settled on horse tail reed.  It works well in places with poor drainage. It tends to spread a bit but being hemmed in by the walkway will help that.  Monrovia suggests it combined with the bronze of Pink Spice Cranesbill Geranium which I think is a nice idea. Cross your fingers that it works and let’s hope that the in laws are willing to get their hands dirty when they come to town 🙂