Garden Recovery Fall Planting Plans

Yay! For the last few weeks the ridiculous heat has completely broken (it's quite pleasant actually--still warm during the day, usually the 80's, but getting "cool"--60's and even 50's at night--ha, I know up North it's probably in the 60's for a high, but to me even 80's are refreshing after this summer!), and we've gotten a couple nice rain showers. The yard and flower beds have recovered incredibly fast! The roses that were eaten by grasshoppers and then languished leafless for weeks even after I'd treated for bug, no doubt due to the stress of the drought and intense heat, have leafed out and are getting ready to bloom. Yay!

I've got big gardening plans for this fall, including re-planting the herbs in the herb /rose garden and throwing in some lettuces like last year, moving things around and planting items I've got in pots waiting for the opportune moment, and doing a new bed in front of the front porch. Right now there are five large, prickly, holly bushes and one shrub with yellow and green leaves there. The holly is well grown and has to be constantly pruned to keep it from impinging on the porch and growing into the sidewalk to the front door. I had to cut them back a good bit when we moved in (hell, just to get the furniture down the walk without getting scratched) but they grew all last fall and this spring, and I just did not get around to pruning them severely again early this year, and have been doing it lightly and piecemeal ever since. This means that I've cut off a lot of berries and/or new wood that would grow berries. Ho hum.

I'm just not a big fan of having big ol' holly bushes grown this close to spaces where humans have to pass. To be honest I'm not a fan of any sort of big ol'shrubbery grown right up next to the house--whether it's formal hedges or out of control bush that has overgrown its space. I'd like the porch to be more open, I don't want to futz with pruning the hedge all the time AND I'd like to plant more roses, irises, salvia and maybe some smaller more manageable shrubs like dwarf yaupon hollies (not prickly) or something that berries but remains relatively short. However, I'm a huge softie when it comes to plant life, and while I'm entertaining the thought of taking a chain saw to them and then hacking the roots out of the ground, I'm also wondering if I can save and just move them to some other part of the yard. My father has had some luck moving holly bushes by pruning severely so that they can be managed, and then digging them up and replanting them. So that could work--but it would also be more work. So we'll see. In any case, I can't do anything until I get back from the conference, but October is for planting around here, baby, and I intend to do just that! I'll try to remember to take before and after pics of the hollies...

Ciao for now!

Mystery Plant--Help Identify! (UPDATE)

Now--this is something I bought at the the nursery I called you from the other weekend. At the time I thought I knew what it was--at least there was a sign in the general vicinity with a name and brief description on it, but by the time I got home I had forgotten the name! All I can remember is that it starts with the letter "d" and I believe it's a tender perennial (but I could be wrong...

Any ideas oh wise one??
Also bought the cool, round purple pot there...

UPDATE: Mystery solved: It is called 'Golden Dewdrop' or 'Duranta erecta' a Zone 11 tropical.