As much as I love Gregg’s Mistflower and the mass of butterflies that love the purple tufted blooms, the front garden bed was not the right environment. Even though it is one of the places in our yard that receives the most sun, it isn’t enough to keep the plant from bolting, growing too tall, and falling over onto the side walk. Mistflower also really doesn’t like being trimmed, it won’t flower if trimmed shorter, and the whole point is to flower.

Gregg’s Mistflower is native to Texas and self seeding, so in order to remove it from the flower bed, I first pulled up all the plants, then dug out the top layer of soil.

Tearing out the plants took about an hour. Digging down 3-6 inches across the entire bed took 5-6 hours. I put the seed heads in the meadow, where the sunlight is brightest, and I spread the dirt in the meadow and around the house in areas it was needed.

I am hoping this will also help with the chronic grass problem in this flower bed by removing the roots that kept coming up. I had one hardy hibiscus that was struggling in the lower light that I also replanted.

The next step is to fill the space with garden soil and mulch and plant different species.

Yes, it is December and I’m gardening. It is Texas.