This is one of the rosemary babies I planted before the first freeze last fall. Just one tiny twig with roots, all alone in a big empty space. While the babies were easy to root, I was dubious that they’d survive the winter, because they were just so small. The same rosemary today. It’s round […]
I totally blame this on Robin. I’d already started to build the first backyard bed from treated lumber—and then I went to her house, and saw her raised beds made from cement blocks. Much easier to build, move around, reconfigure, whatever. Plus, these blocks are cheap. So, today I bought the first dozen blocks, and […]
I planted these three aspidistras yesterday, in the front yard, under the bedroom window. This is in the strip of full shade, so we’ll see what happens. Since this plant’s common name is Cast Iron Plant, I have high hopes. I’m gravelling and rocking it a little at a time, because I’m moving gravel from […]
Here’s what the good side of the house looks like today. Lots of things are blooming. The gazanias are cranking up, and the cherry sage is ridiculous. I trimmed them a bit this morning. I’m a little iffy about the wood box planter. I think it’s too high. I’m contemplating building another raised planter on […]
Yes, this is a big pile of rocks sitting in the middle of my front yard. The previous owners left me very little in the way of healthy, usable plants—but they did leave me a buttload of rocks. In every color and size. These were in the bed to the left of the door, which […]
When I first moved into my house nine years ago, the front landscaping was pretty minimal. A few neglected bushes planted against the house, and a lot of grangly grass. Oh, and a large, sick tree, which I had removed several years back, because there was no saving it. That broke my heart, chopping down […]
It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve done anything in the garden, thanks to a week of rain. I’m not complaining. Free water is a good thing, expecially here in Texas, where I’ve already heard the word drought several times this month My plan for the day was simply to mow and edge the […]
Beautifully framed by the dandelions that cover my backyard, here’s the planter box I built yesterday. It’s made of pressure treated 2x10s, which are ridiculously heavy, but will last a long time. I dumped the first wheelbarrow of dirt in, leftover from last year’s digging. As I fill, I’ll add the upper pieces, so eventually […]
Today was a beautiful, warm spring day. A little windy, but that was good, because the temp got up above 80, so that breeze kept things bearable. After hammering away at nothing on the computer all morning, I threw on some clothes and went to The Plant Shed. I was hoping to score some nandina […]
Today was a lot about tearing things up. First, I poured the jumbo container of Roundup into my sprayer, and went to work on the side yard, the strip in the front yard that I’ll be reworking next, the sidwalks and walkways. Everything got a good dose of weed killer—because the one thing I seem […]
About two weeks ago, I found some yellow Knockout roses at Lowe’s. They’ve been available here in abundance in red and pink, but these were the first yellows I’d seen. Since my front yard garden is all yellow/orange/white, for contrast with the dark red brick of the house, I snapped up two yellow rose bushes. […]
These are gazanias, also known as African Daisies. I planted six last spring, not sure if they’d live or die in the Texas heat. Well duh—they’re from Africa. They loved the Texas heat. The less water I gave them, the more they bloomed. At the end of the summer, when I snapped this pic, my […]
