Tackling the back flowerbed

Before

--weed patch, interspersed with irises--

Have I mentioned before how intimidated I have been by this side of the flowerbed?

So jam-packed full of weeds that I hardly knew what to do with it.

Plus the irises that had probably never been divided. {sigh}

Well, I finally I got up the gumption to tackle it.

I decided there was nothing I could do but tear everything out and start over.

I was glad I did. The crab grass roots were all intertwined under the irises. There's no way I could have kept it weeded with that being the case. I'm putting all of the irises up on the slope, in the back corner by the alliums.

After adding several bags of topsoil and compost, I tranplanted the rose bushes from out front to that spot. I don't think they're going to make it, though. We weren't able to get very much of their roots when we pulled them out, because the roots went straight down into the clay and broke off. They look pretty dead right now.

I will give them another few weeks and if they don't perk up I'll probably pull them out and put something else in to get it settled before winter.

I'll add the current "after" pictures soon.

On the plus side, the mockorange shrub has grown almost a foot this summer.

I have been watering it diligently and it has really been shooting up.