Finally adding some Curb Appeal

As you can see, one thing this house was lacking was some.. or any.. curb appeal. After getting the grass down to a manageable level, our next step was pulling the weeds out of the flower bed surrounding the pine tree in front. (We didn't even realize that the bed was there until we mowed the lawn!). We also managed to trim the bushes in front of the house so we could actually find things like the doorbell. Then, as we continued to work around the yard, we found that we had a stock of garden border blocks. So, we decided to tear up some of the grass from the front of the yard and install a bordered flower bed. We suspect there was a time when this area was a flower bed in the past.
Finally, yesterday, we took a trip and bought some plants!

Thankfully, we got them all planted yesterday- because today we would look like drowned muddy rats out there (it's been pouring all morning).

The existing bush behind the mailbox is a combination of a rhododendron and some sort of yet-to-be-determined berry. We planted a holly bush next to it, and in front of the electrical box we planted a peony (hoping it will eventually grow to block the view of the big grey box.) In the rest of the bed, we planted a variety of annuals- a purple heliotrope, a rainbow lantana that goes from pink to orange to yellow, some snapdragons, and petunias in our wedding colors (awwwww).
And yes, the mailbox is ugly... it's on the "Eventually" list.

Around the pine tree, the only things growing were some unknown purple ball flowers, so we added some lady ferns, some oriental lillies (which you can smell all the way in the backyard), purple penstamon and a blue delphinium.

Another bonus of working in the yard on a Saturday is that we were able to meet some more of our neighbors, which is always nice. We got more offers to work on their houses when we finish ours. They don't seem to understand how long it will be before we are done! :) Now, because I am so excited about having color in front of the house, some more pictures of the flowers...

It's definitely not the most amazing landscaping ever to be seen, but it is an absolute improvement.