Updates and Briefs

1. The weather this weekend was so pleasant that E. the Cat (shown below guarding the poppy and hollyhock seedlings) is sitting just outside the screened door and plucking at it, which is her way of suggesting that I should be outside, too. So, I'll be brief.

2.) The latest from the herb garden. Moderate growth. And I have noooo idea from where those two additional varieties of basil came. Nope, not me, scout's honor.

3.) My birthday present from J.: trellis plus clematis. I also planted two of the moonflowers started from seed on each side of it.

4.) We trimmed the giant bonsai tree this weekend, and it looks better. It is only about half-completed with shade plants, but the idea is evident.

5.) We had our first hummingbird sighting yesterday (feeder only shown below, lacking photographic evidence of hummingbirds).

6.) The neighbors think we've gone batty. We've installed a bathouse a week ago, in hopes of attracting the cute little things to eat their share of our mosquito population. It is now the beginning of week 2 of Operation: Batwatch, and still no signs of them.

7.) It was decided that O. needed a sandbox. Immediately. The first time he played in it, he was silent for 45 minutes. Which only occurs otherwise while he sleeps (and even then--he has inherited his mother's abilities to talk and sing in his sleep). I have to admit the sandbox is a nice way to entertain him for a few minutes.

8.) For Mom--my hyacinth bean plant has twirled its way to the top of the trellis now.

9.) Surely there is no better combination than spring, being two, and hiding in the lilies.

Doomed?

This is Japanese Maple, one week post-transplant. Oh dear.
The few green leaves that were on the tree when it arrived have shriveled up, despite judicious watering.

Keep your fingers crossed, or your branches crossed, or whatever.

The Japanese Maple

At some point in life, I decided I really like Japanese maple trees. I like the shape of their leaves and their color range, and I like the tidy but relaxed structure in compact habit. I've wanted one near my home for years, so I could watch the leaves change during the growing season and appreciate their beauty.

When we moved last summer, we finally had a plan to live somewhere long enough to justify the purchase. Note that this is the highest amount I've spent to purchase a single living thing. And it came in a box. Or as J. said, "There's a tree in there?"

Yes, J., there is a tree in that box.

We diligently followed the directions from the nursery. We placed the tree in a shady, windless spot for three days to allow it to adjust to being free from its cardboard box and packing popcorn prison. We watered it until it was the roots were soaked. After the third day, we dug a hole exactly 3 times wider and 1.5 times deeper than the root ball. We fertilized and enriched the soil with humic matter and mudded-in the roots to prevent air pockets. Finally, we lovingly created a dam to collect and direct water. I would have gladly mulched if it weren't for the rock project, and I'm out of mulch at the moment. And voila.

Yes, there is a tree in that photo.

Tipsy Pots

I found a use for the terra cotta pots that came with the house.


Link to the instructions.

I used a fence stabilizing rod instead of rebar, mainly because it was what I could find quickly at the hardware store with O. in tow. I wish would have held out for the rebar, because I could have used a narrower piece. Because I chose the rod instead, the holes in the pots were too small and I had to use dremmel tool to enlarge them. Oh well, live and learn.

You know it's time the mow the grass when...

...your two-year old is captivated by the nearly (toddler) knee-high "helicopters" growing in the yard.

Ceiling Fan #2

New fan in the master bedroom.

Two down, one to go. O.'s room is next.

Miscreant Irises

I have a problem with irises. Although I like the flower, the foliage doesn't do anything for me, and the foliage lasts a long time. Plus, they have always seem to be a bit promiscuous and untidy in their division, which offends my Victorian sensibilities, I guess.

Imagine my delight when we bought a house with an entire bed of irises.

It's not a big area, maybe 8 feet, but it was on both sides of a fence and a mess. My strategy was 1.) clean out the beds on both sides of the fence, 2.) insert shrubs that can stand up to the irises on the East side of fence 3.) replant a small fraction of the bulbs along with some heirloom irises (for sentimental reasons) on the West side of the fence and 4.) hope for the best.

The irises won. See irises below, crowding the spirea.



And encroaching on the peony and hosta territory.



One of the heirloom irises bloomed--the first. This iris have been passed down from my great-grandmother. It smells like grape Kool-Aid.

The Herb Garden

One of my goals this year was to start an herb garden. I don't have enough time to take care of a larger vegetable garden, but I really wanted to have fresh herbs, and I always will remember Mom's wonderful-smelling herb garden.

Last fall I converted one of the few sunny spots of our backyard to a flower/herb bed. The previous owner had left a mound of daylilies here, as if they had dug them out of the ground and then didn't know what to do with them. J. and Dad cut back the cedar tree on the other side of the fence to bring in some more light. I spaded the area and installed the border. The soil here is hideous clay, so I added humic material. We planted some of the rescued daylilies along the fence, then added a weigela and a few other perennials. Mom provided chives and sedum from her garden.

My plan was to start herb seeds indoors and than transfer outside. However, I was a little busier than I projected this winter, mainly due to an opportunity at work that was too good to miss. When the weather turned unseasonably warm in March, I assumed winter was over and thought, "Well, heck, just throw the seeds in the ground." A respectable plan, until the freeze. Although nothing had sprouted when the temperatures dropped that week, the poor little seedlings probably never stood a chance.

So, I decided I'd replace what I'd lost with potted herbs. Photo from last night:

It's mostly mulched now, just a few spots by the fence. The bare spots on the ground are the few seedlings that did survive (marjoram, thyme, and catnip) plus a couple species for which I haven't found the replacements (tarragon and lemon balm).

I think I have gone a little crazy trying to fill in all the gaps with something green. J. now longer allows me to go to Lowes without a chaperone. I added a few annuals (marigolds and lantana) for some color and I couldn't resist a blue-eyed grass plant. And there are some perennials on the edges of the garden (out of frame) that I didn't photograph and I won't admit to.

Labelled version of photo:

I've been targeting culinary herbs plus herbs that are supposed to have mosquito repellant oils. I've read that you can run your hands through catnip or lemon balm and other herbs and fend off (partially) the bites.

So, that's where it stands. Can't wait to see what it looks like in a month or two.

Annuals

I planted annuals in the rosebed (the former rose-rockbed) today. I pulled back the plastic under the mulch and found a surprise.


The orange cable. It must be the cable/internet/phone line that our cable provider could not find when we moved here. Also, there's that a white plastic pipe with a square top, which reminds me of a gas release for a sewer. What is that?



The cable extends almost to the fireplace, and then I lost it again. I shoved the cable back under the tarp, so it now sits at the edge of the fold of the tarp (about 14" away from the cement). Mental note: don't dig there.

On with the annuals. I add some potting soil to the clay to increase the odds of survival. Then, I planted one six-pack of coleus (back row) and two six packs of impatients (pink and white mix in the front). I left them high relative to the ground surface, to account for the mulch.



The next step was a little tricky. I cut the "Ts" and "Hs" into the tarp so that the plants would poke through. Then, I pull the tarp back and rake the mulch back into place. (In retrospect, I should have cut the tarp first, then planted the annuals.)



Wow, they look so tiny there.

Neatest Park Ever

One of the lesser-known treasures of our area is the Rochman Park. It was built by a local investor as memorial to his son. This park has a Dungeons and Dragons theme, complete with dueling wizards, dragons, and gnomes. The main feature is a castle, which means Owen is in heaven.


The castle. (Pardon the bad photoshopping on this one. I think I focused on a cloud instead of the castle, and the castle become too dark to see anything. I lightened everything so that you could see the castle, but this made the sky look strange. I'm sure there's a way around it, but I need to learn more about photoshop first. Or, I could just learn to take better photos in the first place. Never seem to find time for either.)


Owen loves this place.


I like the ogre guarding the castle entrance.


The castle is a maze. What you see in the photo above is likely no less than four different paths through the castle. And that's just a part of one corner. Children and husbands easily become lost. Fortunately, there is only a few exits, so at least they're contained.


View looking upwards at one of the towers.


The level of detail is insanely amazing. Everywhere you look, there is something else to see. In the photo above there is a goblin, towerguarding a corner.


A finer point; a handmade tile.


Still astounded by the details; this is one type of the light fixtures.


Again, sorry for the surreal-looking photoshop job. What I was trying to photograph is the flying dragon, carrying a skull in its claws.


The park is set in a grove, and the trees complement the area perfectly. Above: a carving in one of trees.


Our little monkey, scrambling up a knight's effigy mound.


And sliding down the mulch.

That's all the photos. There is much more, just too much to take in at one time.

Brrr.

We've had a cold snap, with night temperatures in the 20s oF for the past three nights. Last night was supposed to be the last of the freezing temperatures. I'm kicking myself for setting as many things outside as I did. Eh, live, learn, and go back to Lowes.

We covered the hostas, the basil, the lavender, and the rosemary. The basil is deader than dead. Everything else looks a little stressed.

We should have covered more, though. The hydrangeas, the weigila, and the crepe myrtle have all suffered. Even the boxwood bushes and the nandina are droopy in the morning. Argh, so much for an early spring.

A Tree Surprise

We have a dwarf/ornamental-type tree on the southeast corner of our house, outside of the master bedroom. I had assumed it was a crabapple tree from the shape and size of the branches and from the fruit that Owen enjoyed hurling at the fence last summer. I have been looking forward to seeing it bloom all winter, partly to see what it would do.

The tree bloomed today, and this is no crabapple.


Dogwood, maybe? There are lots of dogwood in bloom right now, but I haven't seen one like this yet.

Flowering Quince

According to Grandma B., these shrubs are only worth having during the spring, as they are messy and ugly the rest of the year.

So I thought I'd better photograph it while it is in its prime.

We will rock you

All of the flower/shrub beds outside of our house are covered in black plastic with rocks on top. When we bought the house, J and I didn't love the rocks, but they promised to be a low maintenance form of weed control, so we called it good enough.

Rocks are not as low maintenance as we'd hoped. They collect leaves and twigs. We've tried rakes and leaf blowers but there is no efficient way to keep the rocks from looking junky. And we were constantly picking rocks out the grass. Plus the grass and chives grow through rocks regardless.

J and I hatched a plan to spiff up the shrub beds, and mulch is the answer. With this, we'd be at least maintaining a bedding material that we like to look at. We also learned that mulch is not advisable next to our house, due to termite issues. And since we wanted to put in beds for shrubs on the southeast and southwest sides of the house (underneath the bedroom windows), we decided to save to rock for those areas. J was jazzed to start this project, and we decided we'd start on the area closest to the patio first.

Please note that the record shows that J's comment prior to the de-rocking project was "Oh, it'll only take a couple or hours, and it'll be fun!"

Ha. Well, fun is relative term. And it took the better part of Sunday. But we have completed this much.



Hmm. This project definitely has a high tedious and sweaty work to landscaping impact ratio.



Here's where we stopped. I buried the cable/internet/phone line (apparently Medicom does not bore through rocks) and put in the stepstones, with the hope that this will remind me not to dig there.



But we have a long way to go. The rocks go to the fenceline.

One last photo.


This is where one of the new flower/shrub beds will be. I put in a snowball viburnum, which is supposed to grow 10 ft x 10 ft and cover the brick between the two windows. We plan to put in an edge border with some artistic swoop to accent the viburnum.

Oh, and it was 80 oF and sunny here this weekend.

Spring Break at Home

Mom and Dad visited last weekend. They helped us paint (and/or entertain O. long enough to enable the painting) the laundry room. It's a sunny yellow color called "linen napkin." Sorry if the photos are framed strangely. I was shooting from odd angles.



This is much better, I think. Bright, warm, and clean.

We did the cabinets and the trim, too. Now all that is left is to replace the door between the laundry room and the garage.


We also burned a good portion of the of the sticks, leaves, etc. collected from our yard during the winter in the outdoor fireplace. O. found this fascinating.


And, because we can't have the excess of combustible materials in our yard dip too low, Dad and J. replenished the firewood supply.

First Day of Spring

And things are changing, yet again.

The grass began turning green about a week ago. Daffodils, snowdrops, crocuses, tulip trees, forscythia, and scilla are in bloom. Everything has buds. Our favorite hardware stores are stocking mulch and compost.

I've potted pansies and purchased a lavender and a rosemary plant for the soon-to-be herb garden.

I think really like this more southernly spring.