Weed?

Look carefully at the tall weed growing in the bed by the front tire of the truck.

After chopping down dead roses and cleaning out the other weeds, I just didn't have the heart to pull this weed(?). It had gotten so tall and seemed to have buds. 

Now let me be clear, I have pulled up thousands of these weeds(?) this summer and if it blooms and is gorgeous and turns out to be something valuable, I will live forever in Master Gardener shame.

Until bloom day,

Shelli

If dandelions were hard to grow, they would be most welcome on any lawn. 

~Andrew Mason

Conquered

I have conquered it - that gigantic, overgrown flower bed in front of the she shed!!! It is without a doubt the hardest gardening job I have ever tackled, but I am victorious!!! The weeds are pulled, the briars are poisoned, the saplings have been dug out, and my muscles are reminding me I am almost sixty years old!!!!

But as with remodeling a house, reclaiming a garden often reveals hidden problems. Once the dangling briars were removed, we realized that the retaining wall was dangerously bowed. I wanted to cry just because I had no energy left to start unexpected repairs. Thank goodness for James!!

My sweet husband, probably realizing I was nearing a breakdown, dug out soil, buried and set posts in cement, and then pulled in the retaining wall boards with 7 in. lag screws while I just stood by and cried tears of joy and appreciation.

Then I hauled home a truck load of soil and mulch that was spread over everything. And finally it was done - my nemesis, foe, enemy, specter, was gone.

Before...

After.

During....

After.

I will stalk this garden for the next year, clippers in one hand and Round-up in the other, and turn my attention to the pathway that has been settling all summer. It needs minor adjustments and mortar. But the hard work is behind me.

I wish I had had a bottle of champagne on hand. Then I could have toasted the end of this yucky job...

To you, overgrown flower bed,

I toast the demise of your weeds and briars

and I curse their future offspring.

May bountiful bulbs adorn your future

And bring beauty to future generations!!

Until tomorrow,

Shelli

Succulents

I've jumped on the succulent bandwagon. I must admit that I have not always been a fan. Succulents just weren't as appealing to me as vibrant, lively flowers; frankly, succulents looked half dead.

But in this forest environment, I don't know, my attitude began to change.(Do succulents even belong in a woodsy environment?) I found myself giving them a second look at the nursery. Then I found my self actually lingering over them at Lowes and thinking which ones I would buy 'if I liked succulents'.

And then there was this log. It had fallen down by the dry creek bed last winter and when James went out to drag it to the burn pile, I asked him to put it behind the pole barn instead. There was just something about it and a little idea started to form.

Finally, James and I were out poking around the antique shops and came across this old syrup tray and all the pieces of a plan for a succulent garden fell into place.

James attached the syrup tray to an old rought iron stand. Then he cut the log into pieces with his chain saw. I laid a base of cypress mulch and then added the pieces of log that were hollow or had interesting cavities and I filled the cavities with succulents.

I also added some coral, rocks, and a turtle shell from my earth science teaching days.

We love it, but have NO idea how to care for succulents!!

 We'll see how it goes!

Until tomorrow,

Shelli

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks

- John Muir

Look Who Showed Up!

Gardeners know that after the Fourth of July, it is only the perennials and annuals that are as tough as woodpecker lips that keep the yard looking good. Even the vegetable gardens shut it down for the end of the summer. So it was such a surprise to see these guys show up this week!

A late blooming day lily.

Another kind of lily that reminds me of a crinum, but a smaller and paler bloom.

Hostas

And these weird lilies that fill up the ditches all over south Louisiana.

Dear Friend, I am hoping you know the names of these!!

Until tomorrow,

Shelli

Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it.

 ~Russel Baker

Well, I Give Up!

They're back, but I still have no idea what they are!!

These beautiful delicate lilies are popping up in all the flower beds. Their dark orange petals sit atop tall, impossibly slender scapes that originate in a clump of narrow, lily blades.

I have searched numerous lily identification sites and can't find hide nor hair of them.

Any ideas, Dear Friend?

Until tomorrow,

Shelli

People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us. 
~Iris Murdoch

Oh, The Orchard!

Oh, the orchard is doing so well!!

Whereas before I hesitated to even call it an orchard, I now have no such hesitation!!!

Surely apples, lemons, and blueberries an orchard make!

***I am rushing to write this orchard post before pests inhabit, disease riddles, and all the fruit mysteriously falls off.

Until tomorrow,

Shelli

A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle.

~Benjamin Franklin

Oh, What Folly!

Uh oh, I have messed up!! But it all happened so fast...

Saturday, James and I went to Lowes to pick up something and when we drove up they were unloading the prettiest pallets of sod that you have ever laid your eyes on! Now James and I have plenty of experience with sod having laid it at two houses. Sod also gave me nightmares about inmates in the parish jail, but that's a story for another day.

Not only was this sod beautiful, subtropical storm Alberto was headed our way and its rain would give the sod a great start. We have a little sitting area in our front yard that is perfect for sitting and swinging while you wait for your husband to get home at the end of the day or to wait for your daughter to drive up with your grandbaby. Anyway, we bought 20 pieces of sod to try as a test run, because, you see, this sod was going in a place that we both knew was too shady. Therein lies the folly.

To make the sod cover more area, I mixed it in with some remaining bricks and concrete pavers from last week's project. I mimicked the same medallion in an effort to avoid too many separate designs in this landscape and ending up with a random, messy look.

But St. Augustine grass needs at least 4 hours of sun per day to thrive. Ours will only ever get lightly dappled sun. As a Master Gardener, I should know better. As a Master Gardener, I should not be ruled by defiant determination. As a Master Gardener, I should be ashamed of this folly.

But what if .....

Until tomorrow,

Shelli

Here comes the sun (doo doo doo doo)
Here comes the sun, and I say
It's all right.

-The Beatles

Finishing Up

Day three of the walkway project and it's time to wrap it up!

Today I added the other half of the walkway and a short entrance section.

I had stolen some of the brick pavers from the border of the bed itself.

Those I replaced with landscape timbers.

And then I was done.

No more long, unruly flower bed whose weeding boggled the mind! Instead, four smaller, unruly beds to tackle one at the time, a prospect I could wrap my mind around!!

I know!!

It is hard to enjoy the new wobbly walkway with the LARGER THAN LIFE propane tank

in the picture, but don't worry,

I have a plan.....

Until tomorrow,

Shelli

Watch the path of your feet And all your ways will be established.

Proverbs 4:26

Now The Hard Part

Early the next morning, I went out to tackle the hard part of this project-the actual walkways. The flower bed wasn't straight, so placing a walkway that appeared straight was going to be, as my dad says, a little tester.

I used 10 ft. treated 2x4s to lay out the path and then stepped back to check for straightness. I had purposely refrained from bringing a square or level out to this project. These circumstances were going to call for a whole lot of "eye-balling".

When it looked straight, I set the boards with stakes, added sand and landscape fabric, and started laying the pavers.

Worn and wobbly- present and accounted for!

Getting hot; time to go in.

Until tomorrow,

Shelli

The time will come when winter will ask you what you were doing all summer. 

~Henry Clay

Divide And Conquer

That was it!!!

Take this long, overgrown flower bed that I couldn't even wrap my mind around, and divide it into four smaller, more manageable beds!

And I would do it with a lovely brick walk way!! (These are the kinds of revelations that make James slowly turn to look at me with raised eyebrows and doubt-filled eyes.) I had never built a brick walkway, but I had built a brick patio. Sure my dad was there to help me and this time I would be on my own, but, hey, why not. Besides, James and I had just visited Porches restaurant in Wesson.

The brick walkways around this old, country home turned favorite lunch spot, were worn, wobbly, and charming. Surely my best effort would at least duplicate worn and wobbly.

So I started with a center medallion.

There was a big stack of pavers up by the pole barn, and not wanting to look a gift-horse in the mouth, I planned on using a bunch of them.

Then I framed the medallion with treated 2x4s and called it a day.

Until tomorrow,

Shelli

An "unemployed" existence is a worse negation of life than death itself.

~José Ortega y Gasset

Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.

~Elbert Hubbard

Another Week, Another Project!

Here you go.....

This week's problem, umm, I mean project.

When we purchased Pine Cone Lane, I inherited lots of great flora from the gardener that lived here before us, but I also inherited this nightmare of a flower bed! It is about 40 ft. long and ranges from 6-8 ft. wide, and it has been the bane of my existence since we moved in!

I'm pretty sure I wrote about this monstrosity last year at which time I boasted of adding perennials to the bed, doing some quick weeding, and having the whole thing under control in no time. Ha! Pride goeth before a fall.

I did add some perennials and they have come back this year if you can find them beneath the OUT OF CONTROL weeds and briars. When I say briars, I mean the kind that rendered Sleeping Beauty's castle unapproachable!!

This flower bed and how to defeat it, kept me up at night!! At one time I decided that I should just douse it with Round Up, till it under, cover it with black plastic, and send for a priest to exorcise it.

But remember when God said He would spare Sodom or Gomorrah it there was even one good man in the city? Well, in the end, I treated this bed the same way. Here are the 'residents that saved the city' so to speak...

Then the solution came to me!!!!

Until tomorrow,

Shelli

Night time is really the best time to work. 

All the ideas are there to be yours because everyone else is asleep. 

~Catherine O'Hara