Yard Stuff

Disclaimer: I am in no way a gardening or plant expert. I tend to like planting things, yet am not always very good at keeping them watered. Many of the plants I choose to plant in our yard fail miserably for one reason or another. However, I am experiencing a strong Spring Fever and a few things in my yard are actually working out quite well. In fact, here are a few things about my yard that make me smile every day.

These three blackberry plants were transplanted as tiny shoots from my mother's yard. She had gotten a few tiny shoots from a friend that had taken off like wildfire. After a visit to her house last summer, and after eating some delicious blackberry cobbler, I asked if I could take some plants home. I didn't know if they would grow well for me or not, but they seemed hardy. I can't believe how much they have grown in a year! And this summer we will get some fruit. I am so excited!

See how some of the blackberries are starting to change color. My mouth is already watering.


A few weekends ago, Cody started this following project. He used limestone and brick to make a small raised bed by the side of our house. It is in a shady area, so I planted ferns and caladium there last weekend. I think Cody did a great job with this. It adds a lot of beauty to the front yard.

I can't remember if I first planted hollyhock one or two springs ago. I think I just threw a few seeds out along the fence hoping for a miracle. And they delivered. Last year the hollyhock was about a foot across, and this year it is much wider and fuller. I hope it spreads more and more every year. I love the enormous bursts of flowers at the top of a hollyhock plant. This one is starting to flower.

I decided to create a few potted masterpieces last weekend. I've always loved those containers I often see at the arboretum that have many different types of plants in them. Different colors and styles all placed together for a stunning effect. I wasn't sure if I could pull it off. But I think I did!

Finally, here is one of my favorite recent upgrades. We have a large, wide chimney. There was a huge nandina plant in front of it that I hated. So we hacked it away, mostly. Then, there were small hacked off nandina stalks and dead leaves...for a long time. Finally, last weekend, Cody used an axe and shovel to hack out all the remaining nandina stems. Those things are a headache. They are so deep and hard to remove. He worked so hard! After that awful nandina was completely gone, we planted a climbing rose bush and placed a lovely trellis. This has changed from one of the ugliest areas of our yard to one of my most favorite. I am looking forward to this plant taking off and covering a large area with gorgeous roses.

So there are a few peeks at the yard work we've been doing recently. I didn't even mention our garden which has tomato, bell pepper, and zucchini. I hope my Spring Fever continues into the summer so I can take good care of these plants even when the weather gets too hot to enjoy anymore.