the bark tree

Our new house!

Allow me to catch you up... It has been awhile since I posted.

September 2010 we moved out of my mother's house into our own place.  A new gardening adventure begins!

With boxes yet to unpack, I immediately started work on the flower beds.  This dark foliaged evergreen is Chinese fringe flower (Loropetulum chinense 'Plum Delight').  Hopefully, it won't eventually seem too monstrously large.  I perhaps should have held out for the more compact variety — 'Purple Diamond,' which is more expensive and wasn't in stock at the time, but I couldn't wait.  I think I have the space for it to get to mature size (6-8 feet), but we'll see.

Our landlord grew up in this house and his garden-loving mother lived here in until she died so there are some nice things already here like a flowering quince (Chaenomeles sp.) which looks like sticks here. Adding evergreen plants for winter interest seems like the best way to begin.  3 little boxwoods (Buxus microphylla 'Baby Gem') will stay small and tolerate this somewhat shady north-facing bed.

The ugly black plastic cover of our water meter box was in plain view in the bed by the front door.  I used this cement tile to cover it. Still not happy about the faucet in the same place, but I'll have to live with it until I come up with a solution.

On the other side of the walk is a big old holly, (Ilex sp.) rounded off into the typical suburban meatball shape.  I'm guessing maybe 'Burford' or 'Nelly Stevens,' both of which get much too large for this spot by the door.  I would love to take it out, but that's a major project. I'm going to try cutting out some of the lower branches to see if I can make it look more natural and then planting underneath it.

Pansies bloom through the winter here so I planted a few along with some Iceland poppies (Papaver nudicaule 'Champagne Bubbles').

My father chipped up some cedar branches which I used as a mulch in this bed.  I'm adding any and every kind of organic matter I can to these beds to slowly improve the gummy clay soil.

Our landlord also had this nifty old reel mower in the garage.  We mowed over piles of leaves on the lawn to chop them up and raked that back on the beds for the winter.

This long border is full of weedy trees (self sown elms, hackberries, oaks, privets and honeysuckle) which I spent some time cutting down and attempting to kill with a stump killer.  It's not an organic method, but the chemical is targeted only on these specific stumps so I can clear them out to plant some flowering shrubs, perennials and maybe even a few vegetables in spring.

Again, adding evergreens and extending this border, I planted this cherry laurel (Prunus caroliniana).

This is only the front yard. Unlike our little 360 square foot garden in Brooklyn, which was all contained in a little fence there are possibilities (and messes to clean up) on every side of this house.  There is lots of work to do, but I think we are in a very good place.

February 18th, 2011 marked my 4 year blog-iversary!  Thanks for tolerating my infrequent posts!

Revisiting

In June, Brandon had a chance to see and photograph our old garden in Brooklyn.

June was always my favorite month in New York, but the garden already looks wild and overgrown.  We left a number of projects unfinished and my short-sighted plantings are certainly in evidence.

It's weird to look back after a just a few months and see the garden living on without us.

Summertime tree loss

A brief, but powerful July storm tore off the top of one old post oak tree (Quercus stellata) and smashed it down on top of another already weak old blackjack oak (Quercus marilandica).  This all happened in the front yard at my mother's house, where we were staying until September.

While rocking August to sleep for an afternoon nap, lightning flashed and thunder clapped so loudly and simultaneously, I was sure it must have hit right outside. 

Out the window, we saw that our neighbor's tree across the street had been sliced longways.  We stared out at this for a long while before finally wandering to look out the front door where we were shocked to see that our own trees had also been struck by lightning.

Strangely, just before we moved back to Texas in March, another old post oak (the stump of which I showed you earlier and which you can see here in the foreground) was badly damaged by a winter storm.

The trees did hit our vehicle, but fortunately, aside from a few minor dents, only broke the windshield.

Most of the ivy that was growing under the two trees fried in the resulting sun and these recently planted elephant ears that were receiving afternoon shade now need a new home.  It's amazing how quickly everything can change.

  

Ouch

In Texas, it's inevitable that a baby who loves to play in the dirt will get stung by fire ants.

Mom's house

August stays with my mother one day each week.  Here are a few of the things I planted at her house while we lived there which were still thriving until the winter frost.  Some folks might poo-poo annuals, but these little star zinnias (Zinnia linearis) looked wonderful all summer/fall and even survived a tree falling on them!

Texas Tarragon, a.k.a. Mexican Mint Marigold (Tagetes lucida) blooms prolifically in the fall. The leaves have a robust anise/licorice-like aroma.  This clump started as two little 4-inch plants in springtime.

Alongside more yellow star zinnias, coreopsis and guara they were part of what I'm now calling a "yellow border" which I began along her ligustrum hedge.  I'll add a few more this year to make it look a bit more deliberate.

 

My nephew also has a day with Grandmom each week which sometimes coincides with ours.

He and Augie had a big day pushing brooms around.