Happy Mother's Day! My mom was gracious enough to pose for me back in March, and at 58, she is almost as beautiful on the outside as the inside! It was a special day together, and she didn't complain at all when I asked her to lay down in the grass.

May 2, 2008

I have lots of work to do back here! The contraption at the bottom of the photo is to keep the chickens away from this area long enough for the grass to start to reestablish itself. It looks ridiculous now, but it will be worth it if it works. The white color plants along the front border need to be transplanted to the back bed; I don't like how they look with the chartreuse coleus that is behind them.

This is the view from the corner of the porch. I have just started to plant the bed that is/will be below the porch.

May 16, 2008  

Tropicana (cana) with a salmon-pink bloom

This was a transplant gift from my gardening friend/mentor, Judy. I've had it in a pot for several years, but I will probably plant it this year.

Agapanthus/ Lily of the Nile/ African Lily

I love this plant! I rarely find them on sale, but when I do, I buy them. I found these (a dwarf variety) for less than $5/ one gallon. I planted them in several clumps in the new bed below the porch, and they are blooming like crazy--which is awesome considering they often do not bloom in their first planting season. I think they might have been last year's leftovers since they were so root-bound, we had to cut them out of the containers. Fortunately, agapanthus is one of the few plants that thrives when it is root-bound. It is native to Africa, and I've seen photos of it growing in the rocks (I guess it had to survive with compact areas for roots there...). There are so many varieties of agapanthus, but I don't think twice about combining them. The bloom time varies with the different varieties, so I get to enjoy them longer if I have more than one kind. Some of my later blooming varieties have a deeper blue bloom.

Illustris Elephant Ear or Taro

This gorgeous black/chartreuse plant is one of my favorites. I've always known it as an elephant ear, but when I was searching for the name of the variety, I found it also referred to as "Taro," which is similar to an elephant ear, so I'm not sure which one it is. It spreads quickly, which is fine with me, because it is easy to remove and share the babies. My sister-in-law, Brandi, shared a bag full of them with me last summer, and I had enough to share this year.

May 24, 2008

A few of my favorite backyard blooms for Harper's Birthday BBQ...

Cana and Caster Bean

Agapanthus Bloom and Banana Leaf

Yummy ribs Dwight made for Harper's birthday...

May 26, 2008

Bamboo, jute, and a few zip ties were used to construct a trellis for a rangoon creeper. It took about an hour to build, but it is very sturdy and inexpensive. Rangoon creeper can grow rapidly and be quite heavy, so I can easily add pieces of bamboo for width to this trellis when needed. I told Harper it looks like an oil-well, but it will spurt flowers instead of oil--I'm pretty sure he rolled his eyes!

I am slowly setting the old bricks and concrete that I have been digging up to use as a border. There is enough slope that run-off could be a problem, so I'm using old landscape timers to create simple terraces. Once the plants take off, the roots will prevent erosion problems that could affect the porch.