Gladiolus Time!

So with the beautiful weather Arizona is having (sorry for those still buried in snow) I was excited to head outside and do some work on our backyard.  We have had a few storms and pretty cold nights leaving our yard looking a little rough.  I might have killed some plants by forgetting to cover them at night, our gazebo top was ripped to shreds in the last storm, and we have pretty much ignored everything out there for a few weeks now.

This is also the time of year that I plant my gladiolus along the back wall so I thought I would share our weekend project with you so when I post about how they did or did not survive (I am hoping they do!) you will see the whole process.  Alright, where to start?!? 

So here are the plants that did not survive the cold nights we have been having here.  We actually have been having freezing temperatures regardless of it being Arizona.

Both of them were Hibiscus plants that we have had almost since we moved in, I am pretty bummed they are now dead.  There is little hope for a revival from these two.

Alright, so on to the new plants.  I had some pansies and other cheap plants along the wall but decided to take those out to make way for the Gladys.  Some of them also had frost damage so I didn't feel so bad ripping them up.

I then pulled out all of the old mulch.  It had been there for two years and was just looking bad so I raked all of that back with a plastic rake, being careful of the bubblers my wonderful husband installed for me.

Alright, now on to the pretty stuff!  I bought a big "grab bag" of gladiolas and some freesia to mix in as well.  I usually pick one or two colors of Gladys but I was feeling adventurous.

I laid them out to determine spacing and pulled any remaining weeds and grass sprouts.  I probably planted them a little close together but I just love them and couldn't help it!

I topped it all with some new mulch and now the waiting game begins...

 So another project we wanted to tackle was replacing the fabric top to our gazebo.  We found a replacement top at Target for $60, which is where we bought our Gazebo.  We were so excited because online they are about $100 with $20 S&H.  SO... we got it home and while I worked on the flowers, Jason tackled this.

 Out came the ladder...

Let the battle begin!

 After trying every way possible, even taking the top of the gazebo completely off to attempt to wedge the new canopy on, we failed.  Although the box said "for any gazebo sized 10' x 10'" it just would not work with ours.  Trust me, we TRIED!

 Canopy - 1 Marley's - 0

So the stubborn canopy made its way back to target and I am left with this.  We will now be purchasing the correct one online, spending twice as much but not battling a metal gazebo during installation.

We also replaced the solar lights we have bordering our "walkway."  Jason opted for silver this time instead of bronze in hopes of them getting trampled less.

I also put some new mulch under this little guy.  My hope is he will eventually take over the trellis and hide our garbage and recycling bins.

Then I just had some fun with the new camera:

And I can't leave out a picture of the dog sunbathing in January! 

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and I will let you know how the plants do.