It looks like the blooms have intensified slightly since I last took pictures. I really like how the Pink Muhly Grass turned out.

This should look really great in a couple of years when these plants reach their full height of 3 - 4 feet.

Now this is strange. I appear to have a bloom on the Bridal Wreath Spirea at the mailbox. This shrub was beautiful this past spring with white flowers all over it. But seeing a bloom in September is very unusual.

Don't know why. But I've got one single bloom on the Bridal Wreath Spirea, a shrub that flowers in the spring.

I realized earlier this year that the Chinese Snowball (L) and Small Anise Tree (R) will eventually have to be moved. This is what they looked like when I planted them in April 2014.

Fast forward 16 months to today where both plants have basically tripled in size. Someone on The Auto Lounge discussion forum warned me about the Chinese Snowball when I first planted it. "I don't think I would have put it that close to the house," was his comment. Recently, my neighbor showed me the Small Anise Tree in his yard which happens to be taller than his garage roof. Points well taken.

Today's project was to move both of these soon-to-be-monsters to spots that offer a little more room. The Chinese Snowball will be moving forward to a location roughly 8 feet in front of the Mr. Goldstrike, basically in the center of the photo above.

I settled on the area in between the Japanese Maple Tree (L) and Windmill Palm Tree (R) for the Small Anise Tree. This space features enough room for the shrub to grow without hitting anything. And it also gives me the opportunity to expand my "Random Curved Shape."

I grabbed my shovel and started digging in front of the Mr. Goldstrike and interrupted someone's R & R.

His "What the !@#$%^&*() do you think you're doing" look was quite telling.

The first thing I did was grab my camera and start snapping photos, which I'm sure made him even more frustrated.

I'm going to call this guy a harmless garden snake, which is actually extremely beneficial to have around.

After playing paparazzi for a few minutes, I grabbed my shovel and moved him to the other side of the yard out of harm's way.

I resumed digging only to find a few unusual things. The most surprising find was a bunch of sand.

I was definitely NOT surprised to find more bricks. I dig up a few every time I put the shovel in the ground. I swear this house was built on top of an old brick foundry.

The metal line is actually a gas line that would have fed both gas lamp posts, neither of which work. The line is actually disconnected.

I shoveled out as much sand as possible and filled the hole with loose dirt. I also added a bag of garden soil.

Moving the Chinese Snowball was surprisingly easy.

This area will be large enough to accommodate the Chinese Snowball's 10 - 15 feet height and 6 - 10 feet diameter. Having the plant further away from the house will allow the large "snowball" blooms to be seen from the living room window, and at the same time not block the view of everything else.

The area shown above between the Windmill Palm Tree (out of view to the left) and Japanese Maple Tree (R) will be large enough to accommodate the 8 - 15 feet height and 6 - 10 feet width of the Small Anise Tree.

I also chose this area for the Small Anise Tree because it will allow me to expand my "Random Curved Shape." Instead of being just in the center of the yard, I can now connect it to the Japanese Maple, thus producing one giant area.

I didn't encounter any snakes, sand, or bricks when digging here. The Small Anise Tree also moved quite easily.

I now have a vacant area in front of the house that needs to be filled. I paid specific attention to the size of the plants I was considering this time, and settled on a Yucca Color Guard (L) and Eupatorium Joe Pye Weed (R).

Both the Yucca Color Guard (L) and Eupatorium Joe Pye Weed (R) are supposed to get 3 - 4 feet tall and 2 - 3 feet in diameter, which will work fine in this location.

I think this setup will work quite well. The Chinese Snowball should look really impressive next spring.

I finished off the project with more black mulch that was still on sale at Lowe's.

Besides the two shrubs I moved, I also refreshed the mulch around the Windmill Palm Tree, and tried to uncover the Creeping Phlox plants that surround it. Some of the Phlox plants look ok, some look pretty thin. I'll have to keep my fingers crossed.

The Small Anise Tree looked a little droopy by the time I was finished with the move. I've encountered this before when moving plants. The key to success is to keep both shrubs adequately watered for a while. This means everyone got a big drink at the end of the day.

The next morning, the Small Anise Tree looked great, thus confirming my suspicions. I'll have to keep both of these shrubs rather moist until they get acclimated to their new locations.

I'm happy with the results.

Looks like the Chinese Snowball perked up quite a bit after watering.

The new Yucca Color Guard (L) and Eupatorium Joe Pye Weed (R) will fit much better in the space in front of the living room window.

The next step will be to continue the "curved shape" around the Small Anise Tree and Japanese Maple Tree, which I'll do via running the lawn mower with the bag attached. This will work quite well during this time of year with the leaves falling from the trees.