Spring break was wonderful. I slept a lot, ate a lot, and gardened a lot, just as I wished I would. My backyard looks amazing, it really does and I love how everything turned out.
We are redesigning parts of it, but as of now, we are working around the gazebo. I have been training a different set of climbing roses to make their way up the second set of garden arches by the side gate.
On Friday we saw a sun dog, (a little late as it was fading away). It was bright and quite a sight.
Sun Dog.
The Spanish Lavender I thought I had lost last Fall came back strong this Spring. It did poorly in a planter, so I planted it in ground, in a well drained soil and it’s thriving. I love the pleasing scent and vibrant flowers.
Spanish Lavender.
The Julia Rose Itoh Peony has tripled in size since last week and the delicate leaves will soon turn green.
Julia Rose Itoh Peony shoots.
A lone California Poppy plant.
California Poppy (young plant).
Today was such a wonderful day and I decided to reward myself with a simple pleasure. For dinner I had a barbecue chicken pizza, a glass of beer (I hardly drink beer, if at all. But when I do, the only one I can handle is Stella Artois). I also enjoyed a delightful read (Didn’t My Skin Used to Fit?: Living, Laughing, Loving Life After Forty!) by Martha Bolton.
BBQ Chicken. Stella Artois. Martha Bolton.
I feel blessed in my garden after all the work we have been putting into it these past years.
It’s been a very busy weekend for us. We helped two neighbors get rid of weeds around their property. Although we are a little sore, it felt good and it brightened their day. We offer such physical labor once in a blue moon to neighbors who need it the most.
We were gifted a 3 year old, 8 and a half foot Elm Tree, which we transplanted on Saturday. The seed from the mother tree landed on my neighbor’s backyard, on the side of a sprinkler line and grew. We carefully dug it out and transplanted it in our backyard. We hope and pray that it survives and thrives.
The weather has been wonderful since the beginning of the week and even though the ground is getting stiffer, it is still a good time to pull out those weeds before they start shooting their seeds (which remain viable for many years). It took me a few years of dedication and hard labor to eradicate those seeds and my yard is weed free today because I never gave those weeds a chance to sprout to begin with.
My Gaura plants as well as my Scotch and French Broom shrubs have spread their seeds all over my property. It’s insane, I could start a nursery with all the seedlings. Since it was a little gloomy in the morning, I spent over an hour digging out, transplanting and relocating the seedlings. I also transplanted a few Dwarf Cup Flower seedlings.
The Purple-Leaf Cherry Plum trees are now in full bloom. The Snow Fountain Weeping Cherry is starting to bud and flower.
Snow Fountain Weeping Cherry Blossoms.
I haven’t done much this Winter but read, drink tea and read some more. With the weather getting warmer, I am ready to redesign and expand parts of my backyard garden.
Today we are having a little break from the dreadful weather. The sun is up, the skies are blue and light winds are expected all day with a 10% probability of rainfall. The neighborhood is alive. Some are busy with yard clean-up, setting up for a yard sale and others are soaking up some sun while listening to music. I have barely seen my neighbors in weeks, so it feels good to know they are still alive and kicking.
It snowed a little on Wednesday night and Thursday morning was extremely cold. This is the first time in so many years that I have felt this cold and we haven’t had so much back to back rain storms either. Still, we are very grateful to Mother Nature.
Backyard pallet deck on a cold morning.
The view of the mountains was particularly breathtaking on Thursday morning. So much snow, so much white.
Snowy Mountains.
We didn’t realized that one of planters in the front yard had retained water from the rain; and this morning, the water was frozen.
Frozen planter.
Thankfully all my plants are drought and frost tolerant.
Frost on pretty much everything.
My Report Cove furry boots kept my feet warm and got me through the day. I have had these Alpine inspired boots for thirteen years and they are my go-to choice for cold weather.
Keeping my feet warm (Report Cove).
The sun came up this morning and I had an opportunity to take a walk in the backyard. Not enough warmth to do some gardening, but enough to watch a horse trainer teach a horse to dance, most likely for an upcoming event.
Horse trainer.
There’s something about raindrops on plants …
Photinia Fraseri & Heavenly Bamboo.
I hope you all have a beautiful weekend despite the cold weather.
Just when we thought the weather was getting a little better and a little warmer, we are entering our fourth day of consecutive rainfall and high winds. Saturday was the worst with trees uprooting, debris floating about, roof tiles coming undone and power outages.
Raging Clouds and Sunset.
The only damage we incurred around the property was a broken clay planter.
Thick Clouds and Snowy Mountains.
Evenings are gorgeous, but the extreme cold prevent us from fully enjoying the sights.
Sun Set.
Mornings are the hardest, but it gets better once I get moving. I am an outdoor person; but due to the severe weather I have limited my time outside as much as possible. I make sure my kids dress warmly for school and sometimes put an extra jacket in their backpacks, just in case. This has been by far the coldest winter.
We hope these rainy and extremely cold days will soon come to pass.
For those of you across the US Midwest, our prayers are with you as you fight the extreme weather.
The kids are out of school for Winter break and I am so happy to finally get some personal time to tend to my plants. Yes, it’s cold outside, but I have a few unfinished projects. The mountains are once again covered in snow, and the view from my backyard is breathtaking. All I need is a cup of coffee and a nice spot where I can soak up some (limited) afternoon sun.
So far the days of the week have been brighter than the previous week as we went through a few days without seeing any sunlight. We have beautiful sunrises and sunsets. For the first time in 12 years, the intensity of raindrops from the heavy, non-stop rain we had a couple of weeks ago created soil erosion here and there, and the ground in some areas is still soft.
Rain (double rainbow), Fog and Frosty Roof.
Heavenly Bamboo also known as Nandina, is a beautiful evergreen shrub, drought tolerant and a toxic plant too. This plant as well as Dwarf Nandina ‘Nana’, add dimension and color to the landscape as their foliage make them a great accent to the yard as they brighten and light up the grey, dreary days by becoming the focal points in Winter.
Heavenly Bamboo.
This summer we redid our 44 years old driveway and in doing so, we had to remove three of our mature Photinia Fraseri ‘Red Robin shrubs. There is still a gap next to the gate and as you can see, the ugly stumps in the landscape. The good news is that new growths are forming at the base of the stumps and they will continue to fill their place in the landscape as they regrow.
Photinia Fraseri ‘Red Robin.’
My Agave Ovatifolia has gotten really big. Five pups can be seen coming up from the larger mother plant (the 5th one is still breaking through). There is another pup that is not in the photo because it’s growing on my neighbor’s yard.
Agave Ovatifolia ‘Frosty Blue’. Mother plant and pups.
I went to Lowe’s last week to get a couple of fuses for the Christmas lights and I ended up buying a few Asparagus plants, including Plumosus, as seen below.
I am still collecting Antique cast iron patio sets. The arm chair is one of the new additions I got this year (the matching bench/settee can be seen in the first picture). I am searching for the extremely hard to find planter.
Asparagus Plumosus.
I am grateful that my yard is still weed free. I did well, the weekly maintenance if paying off. This is also a good time get outside and pull out those weeds, while the ground is soft and the weather is not too cold.
Weed Free Yard.
It has been a wonderful year with no set backs:
We are safe, happy and healthy
Our families and friends are doing great
We completed two major projects
We were given so much and we gave as much in return
By JM Perez
