What a difference a year makes!

A brand new flower bed in 2009.

2010: the perennials have filled out nicely.

It's kind of hard to tell, thanks to the glare, but the area in the first pic, beyond the flower bed (where the clothesline is) has all been converted to garden space in the second pic. So much less to mow, and so much more to eat! ( The area may look small, but is over 40 feet wide and 100 feet long.)