The roto-tilling work was completed late tonight. Still some grass remains but it will be easy to remove if necessary. The soil is pretty smooth, nice rich soil at that, and now the meditation garden is ready for laying out the path and planting.

Tomorrow morning’s weather is predicted to be fierce: thunderstorms, possible tornados, but clearing by lunchtime. The winds today have been blustery.  At a garden center where this afternoon I picked up twelve more red concrete stepping stones, plants were being toppled right and left into the aisles.

The stones that will form the path in the labyrinth are accumulating slowly–84 of the estimated 160 are on site.  It is less costly to pick them up a dozen or so at a time than to pay for delivery and it is fun to peruse the aisles each visit to see what new plants have come in to the garden center.

Today I purchased three compact coreopsis and a flat of French marigolds, which along with yesterday’s flat of thyme and about eight candytufts will be used to begin to form the walls. I have been giving a lot of thought to what kind of plants to use. In researching ideas I came across an inspired garden labyrinth from Cornell created from bulbs.

As lovely as that is mostly I want to choose low-growing, evergreen, clumping forms to help maintain the definition and structure year-round. Also selecting plants that require little water is important as this region has been drought-prone for quite a few years. It will take time to fill in the entire plantable area of the labyrinth. Using seeds will help make it more affordable and there are some plants in the garden that can be transplanted.  But getting it all right, creating a perfect balance of color, form and texture will be a big challenge.