coming along

We worked on the front yard all day on Sunday.
We got all the ground cover planted, Purslane and Sedium. The Purslane is all shades of pink, orange and yellow, very bright and cheerfull. The Sedium is medium green and then we also planted Stonecrop, acid green and my favorite.
We put some square pavers in with the ground cover so the we'd have somewhere to step to weed the garden.

The front garden is growing wonderfully. I've got Coleus with GIANT leaves, one with the acid green and one with deep purple. My two favorite colors. And I've been able to root some cuttings so they will multiply!



and Bougainvillea, I planted this last year and it didn't do well at all. It got really leggy and the grasshoppers ate all the leaves. It's actually been able to bloom this year, but still really leggy and not many leaves. I've got to read up on it to see if it blooms on old or new wood. I'd like to cut it back so it bushes up more. I might have to just suffer if it's old wood.


and Flax Lilly; they've really done well for me and I plan on doing them all the way down the side of the driveway along with Daylillies. That's a project for next year, I'm just full of plans.



















and there's 3 or 4 bushes that I can't remember what they are called, but the butterflies just love them. They are pretty much carefree, just water, I almost never fertilize. Of course I do add a couple of bags of compost in the spring.




This year I added 1 mystery plant that Patrick brought over, someone had dug it up to be replaced from his office landscaping. They said the freeze got it. Looked all right just a little burned, we planted it and wowee! A gorgeous Hydrangea.
I planted another to go with it.






On the left we planted an Angels Trumpet or Datura. This one is deep purple and creamy white. It got it's first bloom about a month ago and it hasn't stopped since. It usually produces about 3-4 blooms at a time. They last about 3 days and every day they look different.
Now I want to get the peachey-pink one for the other corner.




The roses are still going strong, putting out new growth and flowers. I've got a pink Floribunda, I have no idea of the name, it's been there for a long time and struggled for many years. This year it's been given some loving attention and is thriving.


That's on one side of the arch and on the other is Don Juan climbing rose. This was just planted this spring and it's doing so-so. Really legging and lost some leaves to mildew. I've had this variety before with the same problem, so we shall see if it's a keeper. May just pull it up next year and plant Clematis there. On the corner there is a miniature Floribbunda, Fairy Rose, pink and in constant bloom. Gorgeous plant!
The Lavender has calmed down and is looking a little weak, I may try adding some compost there, but I think between the rain every day and the heat they are taking a beating.
I have 3 Society Garlic here among the Roses and Lavender, they are doing a great job of keeping the bugs away! I plan on getting more of these, attractive and useful. I have a bare spot to the left of the big pink rose bush where some annuals are past their prime, they will do nicely there.
Except for this guy, I HATE these guys!!!



















I've got 2 Blueberrie Bushes on the property line on the far side of the yard. We planted them this past spring and they produced well. Escpecially since they are less than a foot high. I want to see how they do for a whole year and if they make it I want to do a whole hedge down the side of the yard. They grow pretty big and bushy, about 4-5 feet tall and wide and covered in berries in the spring. Blueberries freeze well too. Couldn't get a good picture of these, they just look like a tiny little shrub in a sea of mulch.
Next weekend we're digging up the rest of the path in front of the rose garden and over to the gate to the vegetable garden in the side yard. Can't wait for all this grass to go!

work and Play

So my son built me this table-shelf. It took a couple of weekends and we had to take it apart and redo it once, but I'm really happy with it.
I drew a picture of what I wanted and Patrick bought the supplies and we all helped but Sam did the bulk of the work.
There used to be a rusty 55 gallon drum topped with an old wooden pallet in this spot. This looks so much better and more useful too!


I still need to paint it. The wall is white and that won't change because it's vinyl siding. The porch posts and ceiling is turquoise and the door is deep purple. I love the look of the wood, but I think it needs some protection. I'm still trying to decide between painting it all funky and bright or doing a stain.

I have a lattice to add to the back, it will give the table a little bit more stability and give the Mandevilla vine something to climb on. Mine is red and pink, gorgeous. I don't have a pic of mine but here's a stock photo




I planted it right in front of the porch so it can climb the post and then the lattice. It will screen the back porch from the neighbors yard and give a bit of privacy and shelter from the rain.


And here is our latest project; we're making a mulched path from the driveway/front door to the garden. We were wearing a path there anyway, so I decided to pull up all the grass and put in a path and ground cover.



The path will be on the left of the picture and goes between the Crepe Myrtle and the rose bed in front of the house. By the driveway it will be about 4 feet across and narrows by the tree to about 3 feet and then widens again in front of the house.

Between the path and the front garden which is the garden on the right of the picture will be ground cover. I have Ice Plant, Sedum and Stone Crop. I'm also going to do some oregano; it spreads like crazy and smells great when you brush against it.


We got all of the large area in front of the door by the driveway done before the skies opened up and dumped gallons of water on us. We had a great time relaxing on the porch and watching the rain.

The Crepe Myrtle has MORE baby birds! The first batch hatched and grew and flew away and about 3 weeks later I noticed some activity and we now have 3 new baby Mocking Birds. They just hatched Saturday. So fun to hear the peeps and see the bright yellow-orange wide open mouths sticking up out of the nest. She built it just above my eye level so really easy to watch.

Next weekend we'll continue to dig up the pathway and put in the edging and mulch and plant some of the ground cover.

In the meantime, we've been taking advantage of the late summer sunsets and going to the beach after work one night a week. I love living close enough to the beach to do that. It's about a 40 minute ride and so worth it. I would love to move even closer but Patrick's not going for it. I'm going to keep working on him.

Compost Carpenters

I've been wanting to build a Compost Bin for awhile now. For the last two years I've been composting in a plastic garbage bin. It gets pretty slimey in there as there's no air circulation. So this morning after dumping the bin out in the yard to turn it; I decided today's the day. Compost building day!
Off to Home Depot for lumbar since my search for free pallets has come up to bupkiss.
Of course while we were there I dumped a whole package of nails everywhere. oops. Not my fault! Someone had torn open the end and set it back on the shelf. It was booby trapped I tell ya.

Back at home and I even managed to talk my son into helping. Doesn't he look thrilled?

and check out those Redneck sawhorses...

I'm putting them in the back corner behind some large bushes, a straight walk out the back door from the kitchen, but hidden from sight. Here's Patrick swinging a hammer.


And here we are nailing the last side together in the dark. We still have to nail a board across the bottom of front, then hardware cloth on all sides.


We also still have to build the front pieces. These will either be removable or swing open like a gate so the compost can be easily turned. They will be a wooden frame with hardware cloth stapled to it, just like the sides.
didn't the guys do a great job?