I originally used a Ginsu knife to cut out areas of the grass to create small beds. My first plants came from Lowes or Home Depot, but soon discovered the Bok Tower fall plant sales, followed by the Leu Garden spring plant sales, and I became what you’d call a specimen gardener attracted to less common plants. I am very attracted to the Clerodendrum family and the Cassia family of plants. The beds grew and grew and now are the length of my yard. The garden changes every season. It is not a planned garden in any way, I move plants around like furniture often giving away plants I no longer want and fill in in spring and fall with new ones. New plantings in spring look so different then end of summers garden when all has grown bigger than I wish. I have made a concerted effort to grow plants that bring in the birds, bees and butterflies. I spend many hours in my head staring at my garden and thinking where to move this plant or that plant. It is a labor of love. And by the way, the Ginsu knife is lost in the garden somewhere for eternity.