Another One Bites the Dust...

Seems like just yesterday,

I was being amazed it was April already.

Now, it's almost over.

Another month, bites the dust.

It's been busy.

Weeding, and mulching, and graveling.

I got the fenced yard almost finished.

Just have to clean up that bed at the back,

and along the Rio.

I got some of the Virginia Creeper cut back.

It wants to take over the world.

This is the before...

I got some things planted in the Veggie Garden...

tomatoes, squash...and, transplanted these cucumbers

that came up in the compost bed.

Not sure they'll do anything, 

but, they were there.

Why not?

The grapevine is putting on buds.

It looked so bad last fall, we thought it had died.

The buds on the softleaf yucca opened.

Aren't they pretty?

As an extra treat, here's our neighbor's yucca blooming.

No wire around it, and the deer didn't touch it.

And, to finish out the month with more beauty...

Last fall I ordered some iris online.

I got them all planted and they all did good...except one.

But, that's a good record, for me.

And, they're blooming.

First, New Moon

Next, Peaches and Dreams.

And today, Discovered Treasure.

And, all together...

We had some light rain, and have a forecast for heavier rain tonight.

So, I went out and cut the open ones,

so we could enjoy them, inside.

Look how the peach of Peaches and Dreams,

and the peach in Discovered Treasure, match.

Isn't Nature wonderful?

So...that's it from here.

Hope you have a fun and safe weekend.

See you next month.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

One More Time....

Here we are at Friday again...already.

We've had another busy week.

You know how little kids love to be swung around?

How they don't want to stop, and yell, "One more time!"?

Well....I'm beginning to feel like the gardens here are little kids,

and we're the adults swinging them around.

And, they keep yelling, "One more time!"

This is the way the front looked, the first time we visited this house.

This is July, 2008.

Don't you just love that power box thing?  Great addition to curb appeal.

But, we're here to look at that front bed.  Lush groundcover (vinca),

 boxwood, an old Viburnum, and some old Nandina.

I knew right away I wanted to change all that.

The previous owner must have poured a LOT of water on this...
and the St. Augustine grass...
to make it all this green in July.

2010

Fast forward to 2010.  

2009 was spent mostly upgrading the inside of this 40 year old house.

The groundcover didn't fair too well, during the drought and heat of the

summer of 2009.  I wasn't too sad about it.  I wanted something different.

But, most of what you see above didn't make it, either.

2011

So, the Miscanthus that didn't make it, was replaced with a Soft Leaf Yucca.

The Blue Fescue was traded for some dwarf Yaupon Holly.

Not a very good photo.  You have to look closely.

2012

Last year, we redid the Island Bed.  Ripped out the groundcover that always looked ratty,

and planted some really drought tolerant things.

2011

And, we built the Driveway Bed.  That's changed since then, too.

But, I digress....

Late March, 2012

The front bed was looking pretty good.

2011

I was feeling pretty smug.  This all made it through the 

2011 'Summer From Hell'. 

 (Sorry, but that's how it felt.)

What do they say?

Something about pride going before a fall?

Well, Fall here didn't look all that great.

Another dry, hot summer.  NOT as bad as 2011.

But, bad enough.  It all adds up.

And then, there are the sweet little deer.

Remember back in January when I was whining about the deer...again?
Well, I didn't show you the Viburnum and Nandina.
Yes, they...or she....chomped that, too.
I wanted them out anyway, but this pushed us to decide.

So, Mr. P. ripped them all out.
Lovely, huh?
I especially like the downspout thing running across the bed, that we should have had buried...
but, didn't.

Then, we hauled off to that garden center on South Congress.
(Hint: Great Outdoors)

There's still a way to go, before we're finished with this round.
But, it looks better.

There needs to be something behind the Sabal Minor.
I'm thinking Bamboo Muhly, but haven't decided.
What do you think?

The boxwood are staying.  It would look just too naked, without them.

Need more mulch, and redo the soaker hose.
We're taking the stepping stones along the house, to the porch.
There's that much room....

I'm hoping those dwarf hollies finally do something.

But, so far, so good.
No chomping, no shredding...semi-success.

But, it's never DONE.
There could possibly be "One more time!".
This starting over EVERY YEAR, does wear one down.

Then, of course, there's the other bed I want out here
(I'm a glutton for punishment.),
and, the path around the house, and.....

So, we'll probably 'stick' to it.

  I'm pretty sure this yucca won't get to stay here.
Hmmm....center piece for the new bed?

*******

Whew!  I seem to have made a novel out of this post.
Sorry about that.


It's misting here.  And, we have a chance of rain for the weekend.
Hope they're right this time.

Have a great weekend.

Happy Gardening...
~~Linda~~

At Half Time....

So, here we are....half time in the year....half way through.

Remember back in January?   I posted about my choice of  

One Word

to replace those old resolutions we all make.

My word was

FOCUS.

Well....now it's time to see how that's been going.

We did some focusing on fixing this view.  Old railroad ties and dead grass.

Not so pretty.

So...focus, focus and we turned it into this.

And, though two of the yuccas didn't make it, 

I have to say it all looks much better.

We've added a couple of things to the Island Bed, and it's all hanging in there.

We turned this next-to-nothing back bed...

...into something that makes it all look more complete.

All four sides of the house are 'dressed' now.

And, we remodeled this not too functional walkway.

And, turned it into this.

So, we have focused.  We've gotten a lot done.

Of course, it's never all 'done'.

But, it's getting there.

So, maybe THE WORD worked.

Now, we just have to keep things alive until the heat eases off in the fall.

In the mean time...

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

May~~Revisited....

Just a little recap of a busy month of 

May...

And, it really was a busy month...from start to finish.

**We started the month with a brand new bed, on the back of the house.

**Finished up the mulching.

**Told you about the San Antonio Mission Trail.

**Had some blooms and foliage to show you.

**Greeted a new crop of deer. 


**Took you along on the annual 'girls' trip.

One thing I didn't post about, but it was a very important event.
See those two beautiful young people, in the lower right of the collage above?


*****

Just in case you can't see them very well...

 They're our twin, oldest grandchildren.

And now, they are both college graduates.

I can't tell you how very proud we are of them.

May was a very good month.

Now, on to June....

Have a Great Weekend...

~~Linda~~

The Final Frontier....

This is the back of the house last fall.  Yep...it was dry out there.

A couple of years ago, I dug out a small bed back there.  

It wasn't much, but it worked for the time.  I had other irons in the fire.

You can see one of my solutions for shielding plants from deer....upside down tomato cages.

It actually works...sometime.

I had wanted a raised planter box along here.  But, the moaning that occurred whenever I mentioned the 300 landscape bricks and all the loads of soil to fill it, made me rethink what I wanted.

So, on to the new plan.  

We dug a bed, added some compost, and put bricks and rocks along the edge.

It's looking pretty good, so far.  All the plants are from other areas of the yard....

Autumn Sage, Prickly Pear, Candy Lily and Iris, Salvia Leucanthus...and some Mexican Feathergrass babies.

I moved what I hope is a Coral Vine to grow up this trellis.

It's all drought resistant.  This area gets LOTS of afternoon sun.  

Right now, we're enjoying the blooms on the Prickly Pear.

So, it looks a lot different.  I think I like it already.  And, when everything fills in, I'll like it even more.

Ah...the Last Frontier.

Well....maybe.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~