It’s been awhile since I’ve been able to post here.
There been a lot of activity that I need to document now before my memory fails me altogether. lol
We have been without significant rainfall for several months and my lawn shows it. We have a state-wide partial water ban, so I am sacrificing the lawn and pond for the plants, trees and shrubs. It sucks, but there are priorities so I am going with the flow so to speak.
I’ve hitting the box stores to snap up distressed plants like crazy. With the high temps have come opportunities to get great deals on plants. I’ve gotten lots of plants to fill in existing beds so that they will look fuller. I’m excited…it’s a lot of work getting them in the ground, but the payoff will be worth it.
Now…on to the updating everyone on the chores that we successfully completed since your last visit. We finished painting the entire front porch and it looks so polished and does wonders for the overall look of the house. I’ve always heard that a can of paint was the most efficient and cheapest way to revamp a ‘room’.
I enjoy sitting on the porch to watch the birds and butterflies, but at times, it’s difficult due to the sun beaming on us at various angles. We decided to install outdoor shades that color coordinated the house. As usual, we could depend on Will, the son of my friend, Pam to do the work for us. He’s a gem and has been really instrumental in helping us with the ‘muscle’ work in the yard. I saw an outdoor rug that resembles the shades at Lowe’s that I may purchase soon. We finished off the porch by adding wire baskets that were lined with lots of sphagnum moss that was retrieved from the soon to be trashed pile at work. We filled those baskets with colorful annuals.
I’ve only lost two of the hydrangeas after the cold snap. I think it’s because they were the newest of the batch that I bought last year for a buck each…yeah….another distressed plant deal. Fortunately, the other five survived and are leafed up rather nicely. The rest of the plants are doing great….I’ve been watering, fertilizing and praying….not necessarily in that order.
The pond has suffered a major algae bloom. I’m going to order more barley straw as I have completely depleted my supply. However, the pond plants are doing exceptionally well. I’m going to add a pump-fountain to the center of the pond just to aerate it a bit. I haven’t seen much of my fish lately….either they are hiding or dead…..I hope they are just hiding under all of the algae.
We decided to put off revamping the Goddess bed until this fall. At that point, I want to expand the bed and put more spring bulbs in it. I’ll still use the edgers when I’m done. I did get to finish the fountain…..I wish that I had a stronger pump. But it’s still nice…
My gardenia was not doing well next to the pond which is pretty much in full sun. I’m going to have to add it to my front shade bed and I’ve replaced it with an Itea (cultivar: Henry’s Garnet) and it’s absolutely gorgeous! I decided to move the yellow sweet broom from the center (it was right between the gardenia and a rhodie) and replaced it with a brilliant yellow tipped arborvitae! The sweet broom is still close by but in a strategic spot to hide some of the pond’s shortcomings. lol
I had been desiring another oakleaf hydrangea (hey, I only have ONE!) so I was quite surprised to see that Lowe’s had a huge 3 gallon sized one for 14.99! It was at least three feet tall. Needless to say, that one was snapped up quickly!
Popularity: 3% [?]
Authors bio is coming up shortly.
