I took this picture of a corner of our rain garden recently. I often have walkers from the park across the street come over and tell me what a beautiful flower garden I have. I of course then tell them that this is a rain garden and begin to explain what it does. It's a hard working little garden! Your rain garden can be planted with native plants and made to more match a wildscape but that doesn't suit every house in every neighborhood. I wanted mine to have flowers, color and have a variety of leaf textures to contrast and add interest throughout the growing period.Is it more work to create and maintain a 'pretty' rain garden? Sometimes the answer is yes. This winter was brutal in our area and some of the ground covering plants died out, not to return. Mother Nature of course took care of that for me and germinated all the dormant weed seeds in that area. I spent a couple extra hours pulling the weeds and adding 'John Creech' Sedum spurium. I hope that they are happy and spread to fill the bare spots. Another sedum I planted two summers ago, Sedum 'Angelina' is still hanging in there but barely. By now, if conditions were right for it, I should have a large area, at least two square feet covered by this variety. Instead I have just a scant few patches. Gardens are always a work-in-progress.
