Tabula rasa is a term I learned in college Psychology 101.
Tabula rasa:
the mind before outside impressions or experiences have affected it;
a clean or empty slate.

That’s what I call our Dutch colonial’s front yard,
now that we’ve yanked out the errant, overgrown evergreens . . .
. . . a tabula rasa!

7 years ago, when we bought this brick bungalow,
we inherited another blank slate.
Our very first plants were the 6 boxwoods you see here,
planted at the foundation of our north-facing, shady front porch.
* * * * *
Looks nice, if I do say so,
but don’t you think it ‘needs’ some white flowers to add brightness + contrast?
Well, here are my go-to white flowers for any + all shady spots in our yard:

White impatiens! They really do ‘pop’ in the shade.
At dusk, they turn into little white stars — so beautiful!
Don’t they look great as companions to pretty, green boxwoods?

Stunning!
Even more stunning — in my world — are THESE white impatiens:

They’re called ‘doubles’ impatiens,
+ I think they look like small, white roses,
which, coincidentally, are my favorite SUN-loving flowers!

Iceberg roses
+ this brings us back to our Dutch colonial’s south-facing + quite sunny front foundation:

What shall I plant here? — I’ve been asking myself, pretty much from Day One.
Well, since I love the combination of boxwoods + white flowers so much . . .
. . . I want to do that again.
No shade-tolerant impatiens this time, though . . .
. . . here I’ll spring for sun-loving white roses, instead!
See some of my inspiration photos for yourself:

Very beautiful, no?
Perhaps the most beautiful of all is this photo:

These are ‘standards’,
which the dictionary describes as
a tree, shrub, or other plant having a tall, erect stem.
Here’s what I envisioned for our front bay:

I know. Perfect!
I saw some Knock-Out (brand) rose standards at Wal-Mart
for a mere $25 apiece.
WHO KNEW?
And how fast could I get 5 of them inside my Volvo wagon?
Not very, as it turns out.
Saner heads prevailed, + I’m going to WAIT to landscape out front.
I blogged about it here:
https://redbirdv.wordpress.com/2013/05/16/landscaping-part-1/
Yes, that’s right — I’ve been forbidden to plant anything
until AFTER our house’s siding is up + at ’em.
Otherwise, we may end up with a trampled mess, like this:

Oh, dear.
Fingers crossed, though, that the siding will be up + at ’em very soon . . .
. . . + that, this fall, I can still find standard white rose trees + boxwoods!
Stay tuned!