Life, Art, Beauty, Plants & Craziness
It started raining and got dark before I could post final product pictures. Although the bed is very pretty, it isn’t finished by a long shot. Over the next month or so, once these plant babies have grown and spread, we will add exciting textures and interesting foliage to give the little garden some serious personality. Until then, feel free to offer suggestions and ideas. HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!.
What an amazing day of digging, flowering goodness. We finally got up and around about 10:30 and headed outside. What awaited us was an under worked, front flower bed of no shame, with several beautiful Indian Hawthorns and holly in full bloom. We broke everything up in 4 phases. Simple really. Right?
Phase 1: was to get all of the over run grass out of the bed. To do this, we had to de-mulch and shovel the heck out of it. Then to pull,it was time to pull pull pull, which was simple enough work but labor intensive. We hit a snag when we discovered how awful the soil was. It was amazing anything was growing here at all. The best kind of soil is a mix of clay and sand mixed nicely into a sandy loam. The optimum word here is MIXED. What we actually found was not necessarily a mix of sand and clay as much a layer or pocket of each at various ratios. We were literally pulling pockets of ready mixed clay for sculptures; and still had enough sand to fill a small pit.
This is a seriously striated and unbalanced soil sample. a layer of solid clay with a layer of solid sand!
Ahh grass free and mixed!
But BFS is HAWTER!
When this was finally done BFS and I were ready for some serious lunch at Cafe Brazil, which was so nummy and delicious. Whilst out and about we made a quick stop at the garden centers where we picked up a few things and then back to the ranch…er farm….er, sorry, suburbia, ready for Phase 2.
Phase 2: All about reconditioning the soil to promote good healthy growth. FRK disappeared for a few hrs to take an awesome nap, BFS did the edging while I worked the amended soil into the dirt. Again, simple but labor intensive.
Finally the good part.
Phase 3: All about planting the pretty pretty flowers. there was plenty of plant to go around the bed. At the garden center we picked up some creeping Pansies, Lavender and Rosemary and it really pulled together nice. At this point, it was time to get our grill on. FRK decided he was going to treat us to t-bones and fresh grilled veggies. He and BFS cooked an amazing feast while I finished off the mulching part of phase 3.
Phase 4 is all about the clean up, fertilizing, and watering, unfortunately it started to rain before I could get to the fertilizing and watering part. But the drinks on the porch replace that phase nicely and I will get up extra early and finish the job.
What a wonderful day. I enjoyed every second of it. I loved the quality time spent with peoples I love. The smells of the freshly unearthed clay mingled with the voices of children playing, and people BBQ’ing reminded me of the lake. I truly felt sad for people who shut themselves in and never truly enjoy being outside. Possibly I enjoy the gardening aspect more than most, but today was so fulfilling to be outside and immersing myself into the dirt. This may not be the acres of land I am used to but it feels like the most rewarding. I have a sense of satisfaction right now that defies the average.
Tasha was a huge help. She is the best flower watch dog in the whole world.!
It’s Go, Go, Go
Today marks the start of the official spring planting season for Texas. Easter weekend is always my traditional day of planting and is one of my favorite days of the year. According to the Farmer’s Almanac we should be out of any predictive freezes so the time is right. Since I am at BFS’s house this weekend his front bed is getting the royal treatment. This bed is about to feel like she’s having a spa day, full of dirt reconditioning, weeding, planting, fertilizing, and mulching. This little bed will be breathing a nutrient filled sigh of relief once we are done. Sound crazy do I? I don’t see how gardening is any different than rooting for your favorite sports team. Especially here in suburbia where the competition is high and HOA fines are penalties. So consider this Season Opening.
The above picture is the target. Today we are basically preparing the soil. I went into more detail in the previous post about the specific of what will be planted, but only a few border and highlight plants will be going in today. We will mostly be focusing on getting the soil up par. I want the dirt nice and delicious for when the specimens go in. Specimen plants being those you really want to shine in the bedded arrangement. As you can see, there is much work to be done. It is a challenge to keep up with even a small front garden and when it hasn’t been worked in a while, and this boor bed baby really needs some TLC.
Super awesome BFS has been hard at work killing the unwanted grass and getting the sprinkler system ready…. As soon as I can get these lazy bums up and out the door we are go, go, go. I guess we stayed up too late last night watching Strange brew and having a few brews of our own. (What’s that all aboot, eh?) I will post pictures of out progress later tonight and Happy Easter weekend to all and good luck to any of you out there gardening this weekend yourself. I know several said they would be, but the chance of thunderstorms might interfere. I would love to see pictures and comments on how your spring gardens are doing. Ta!
What can be more inspiring on Easter weekend than celebrating life and joy outside digging in the dirt? To me, this is just as much a religious experience as sitting in church. This may sound blasphemous to some, and in no way am I negating the importance of this holiday or church, but I feel closer to God when I am enriching His soil and really connecting with the spirit of nature. I’ve also never been one who felt very comfortable in church, or a church family, but consider myself a very religious and spiritual person. So my main desire this weekend is to create a spotlight of beauty that comes from my soul, seeds, and sweat.
I am already piling my gear up and getting ready to head Dallas way to BFS’s house. The goal for the weekend is to get all the soil ready in the front bed in order to add my highlights and edging plants, and then my specimen at a later date. I would love to plant it all in one go but unfortunatelythe plants on order with the AgriExtension Office won’t be here until the 19th.
In the mean time, Imy plan is to use white as the main color accent. I am usingSweet Alyssum (white) along the border edges and in a few large patches throughout. Alyssum is great because it is a heavy flowering and scented plant. Perfect for sitting on the front porch on beautiful spring and summer nights. When the flowers start to die or look sparse, then simply hedge them back and there is a new burst of growth and blooms fit for a rolling country meadow. Two of my favorite spring flowers are Shasta Daisy and Sweet William. Sweet William comes in a variety of colors but I chose the white variety, and should be fabulous bunched together with mounds of daisies in a wave of white. This may look super magnificent on it’s own without the addition of the other plants.
So much has to be done first, however, to get the dirt ready for new vegetation. The grass that infiltrated the beds has been “dealt with”, and hopefully will not be a problem, and as you can see from the picture above, I have the soil amender and mulch ready to go. Since the soil hasn’t been worked with insome time, I will need to replenish and balance the nutrients in the soil. Amending the top soil with one part organic mulch and one part enriched soil (enriched with organisms, enzymes and other good, growy stuff) should do the trick. Once that is thoroughly mixed in, would be beneficial to let it sit for a week or two to acclimate. But since I’m there, and won’t be back for a few weeks, I wanted to go ahead and get the border and accent plants in. Then, I will put a 3 to 4 inch layer of Red Cedar Mulch down. Red cedar has an advantage that some mulches don’t have. It detracts bugs and roses love red Cedar. Also, the reflection of the red has been theorized to produce healthier and bigger blooms. Side note: Tomatoes and strawberries love red mulch. They have been proven to yield a larger and tastier crop.
Once all this is done, I’ll let the sprinklers do their job and let the flower babies grow. I cant wait to get back around the 19th or so and plant the specimen plants and ornamental grasses (Little Blue Stem, Mexican Feather Grass, and Blue Muhly grass)
(From post on 2/27/09 Garden of Delight)
In the perennials category: White Oxalis: These are a fantastically hardy plant that is drought resistant and attracts butterflies. (Butterfly attractiveness is one of the main things I look for in a perennial.) I also ordered passion flower vines. This vine features a super spaceship looking blue flower. I was told to order 2, one for the butterflies and one for me. I also chose Cotton Lavender and Green Santolina. These make amazing ground cover and fillers in a natural landscape.
In the Shrub category: I added a Hardy Flare Hibiscus that I plan on babying in a container for a few years, and an American BeautyBerry. I have heard wonderful thing about this bush and it produces long stems of beautiful and tasty berries.
In the rose category: I chose a few eye poppers and nose tempters. The Antique Cadenza is an amazingly hardy, deep red, climbing rose shrub with an out-of-this-world fragrance. To compliment this rose shrub, I added the Duchesse de Brabant rose. This rose is cream to pink and equally fragrant. Maybe later on I will add some white Knock-Outs to add more ooompf….Phases…phases! I have to learn that I can do things in stages and not all at once.
So that is the plan for now. I am very excited to only have to concentrate my plantings on flowers for now. I have my vegetables safely tucked away for the night in the garage growing in their little buckets because the news said that there was a chance of a freeze tonight. I already have a wee tiny little tomato and the tops of a few peppers are blooming out, and am so excited that I chose to do a container vegetable garden this year. It may take a few years to perfect it, but I’m digging it so far and can’t wait to see how to utilize it in small spaces year round.
It was a beautiful spring day (except for the winds), so I spent a little time checking on all the growing and goings on outside. PCH was outside as well, playing in the water. Give this kid a water hose and he is literally entertained for hours. He was busy arranging rocks and putting the hose on them making fountains. I, of course got the camera and captured the moment.
Watching my normally moody preteen jump with abandon really reminded me to appreciate how fortunate we have been in life. We have been blessed with freedom and the ability to express joy. I pray his world stays that way forever. In the mean time, we shall splash away, and cherish the good times.
Sorry no pictures tonight folks. Just some updates.
Plant Nanny Experiment: This is (mostly) going well . The plants look good but it is probably too soon to tell. I do have one little problem. Tonight, there was an empty bottle already. I placed the plant nanny in one of my coconut fiber lined hanging baskets, in which I recently planted all my propagated Ivy babies. I have a few theories on the empty situation: 1) the soil was still loose and hadn’t had time to compact fully yet, so the aeration might have affected the dispersion rate. 2) Possibly the absorbent fibers sucked the water out faster than normal. and 3) The plant was located in a high traffic area. The dogs and people walking by could easily bump the stand it rests on causing the water to dispense quicker. Also, being an old farmhouse, the floorboards are a little bouncy and might cause the water to disperse unevenly. The rest of the plants’ however, are still 3/4 full and look great and the soil feels evenly moist. I plan to move the one uncooperative plant to a different location and try again. I may have to wait a few days as the soil is quite saturated.
Container Garden: A big *SIGH* We survived the evil rabbit invasion, the predicted cold spell, but darn that West Texas wind. Poor plant babies have taken a beating due to my neglect! I may have to do some emergency replanting and get the peppers in deeper and add more support to the tender stalks if they are going to beat the seemingly extra harsh spring winds. (Seriously, is it my imagination, fretful worries over my tubs o’plants or do the winds seem extra blowy this year?
Seedlings: Well the little seed babies are still hanging in there. I will get some pictures taken and post them so you can see that the survivors of my negligence are doing fine. If you remember, I went out of town for a week and tried another self watering shortcut, and the result was powder mold. I lost a good portion of my crop but lesson learned. Well, maybe not as I have the plant nanny experiment going on right now. I am determined to find a solution to cheap, effective self watering. I love gardening but fear It will interfere with my love for traveling. I will find a solution! In the meantime the surviving seed babies are doing great and I hope to put many of these plants in the Master Gardener Plant sale.
Photography projects: I would dearly love to post a photo of the day every day, but these days of mine are getting crazy. I can definitely snap a photo each day, but getting it edited and posted…… Ok, ok, voice in my head, I will try harder.
With all the busy goings on and vacation coming up this summer, I began to think about the possibility of a self watering system for my potted plants. I did some research and think I found what I was looking for. The Plant Nanny was simple and appealing. Basically, it is just a hollow terracotta stake. I particularly liked the Plant Nanny model that was adapted to utilize the aesthetically pleasing wine bottle as the water container. For smaller plants, I can even use soda or beer bottle.
This product does not have my seal of approval just yet. However, I will be testing it for the next few weeks to determine if it is helpful, and can actually water a plant for up to 2 weeks. I am starting my observations with a few of the household plants and my larger garden containers. Today, I placed 4 Plant Nannies in a few lucky house plants located in my bathroom jungle. As more bottles become available, I will place them in other locations. This should be a fun experiment. Especially since I have to stock up on more empty wine bottles! Woot! I’d better get started emptying them.
This is the photo from the web that sold me. It is simple and a style that I find interesting. All it requires is a small hollowed terracotta stake and a bottle.
Spot the bottle. I tool the label off of a few white wine bottles and placed them in my peace Lillies. I liked the contrast of the glass and the greenery. I hope these things work.
I just love the contrast of the pot with this beautiful lavender plant. He’s soaking up the sun and trying to brave the awful wind today.
These guys were hanging out with me as I was trying to photograph the mud finches on the front porch (= fail). Parker was excited to see Jimmy 12 and Jimmy 13 were not eaten by the cat and were back for another year.
The lilac has finally bloomed and the fragrance is heavenly. It is truly my favorite in the yard. There are two bushes in the front that, at one time, were taller than the house and just as wide. However, due to age, drought and disease, a heavy pruning saved their lives but reduced the size considerably.
The fragrance and beauty of the little purple flowers are still beyond compare to me. I dedicate this post to the awesomeness that is MY lilac.
Weekend frost seemed to have bypassed, and the fruit trees should be fine
Well, the weekend temperatures were down for sure. I had family in Lubbock with snow in the ground (informed via text-by-text updates) and I had family and friends in the Dallas/Ft. Wort area with ice and rain. I even had Austin reports of hail and thunderstorms. However, we had a very mild and in between weekend. It was cold, windy and bizarrely sunny. My gardening solution was the “be safe than sorry” stick everything inside the garage approach. I kept track of the garage temperature and it got as low as 38 inside. Thankfully, I chose the container route this year and everything should make it fine as long as I can fight the rabbits and ground squirrels that have seemed to flourish in the last few years. Mainly, since the farm across the way took government subsidies for letting the land go natural. Understandable and noble, but a pain in the <beep> for us fighting the critters. Anyway……
The mud finches have returned, another signal that spring is here to stay. So the time is approaching for some serious gardening and flower planting! I’m getting very excited. In the mean time….. This last week I made observations on the blooming status of already established plants are a Go, Go, Go. Below is a pic of the rose tree that I severely trimmed a few weeks ago, It is out of hibernation and ready to thrive.
This week, I am removing everything out of the garage and finding somewhere permanent to place the veggie babies in a safe protective place out of the wind. This will probably be the back patio. I have already observed that the wind might be my major battle this year.
Tomato babies in a different light. safe and sound in the garage.
Let me know if any of you had any serious weather issues this weekend and what your solutions were to protect any plants you are growing were.
It really has been a busy few weeks. I’m not even sure if I have managed to accomplish anything besides mismanaged multitasking. Och, well. Despite this, I am still trying to click away with the camera. I think my photography skills are improving, or should that be my photo SHOP skills?! Since amateur is the key word in my photographic title, it isn’t too much of a heartbreak if I can’t quite get that expert shot. Today’s photographs are ones that I find interesting, not necessarily because of the skill and quality, but because of the grit or contradiction they represent. Feel free to comment on the photos below and let me know how much of my BS you buy.
It is always fun to find two things that contradict each other and make them be together. It is like forcing the eye to accept differences. It is my belief that if the world had less contradictions it would be more tolerant. Artistically, this is my favorite concept. Therefore, put the things that don’t belong until they match.
This was taken through an old window, frosted with age, out at the Farm. It gives the photo a timeless quality. I like how the light plays off the faucet and dripping water. I get a sense of sadness or loneliness viewed from the outside.
