May 2013 - Front Yard Makeover

For a long time, I have been wanting to get the garden bed at the front of the house in shape.   Lots of weeds, heat, and dry dirt has determined what would go here.  The faucet on the garage was finally fixed and now the garden can get some much needed water for the hotter days to come. 

Evan and I got this done for around $100.  The cost of the rocks was more than I expected, but needed them for when the gutter overflows on heavy rain days.  This helps with erosion.  We dug up the weeds and planted a few things after moving the forsythia and holly bush that are now in better locations. 

Evan and I picked out three dwarf evergreens that are not suppose to get very tall, eight feet maximum, some pretty purple flowers that didn't last even a week, and a variegated holly bush.  We kept the lilies, pretty orange flowers and the St. John's Wart from my mom's yard.  Then, we laid down a soaker hose and covered everything up with a weed liner, mulch and rocks.

April 25, 2013 - New Blooms and Growth

 Peach Tree ( Did not know we had one!)

Sugar Snap Pea Shoots

Day Lilies in the Butterfly Garden

Magnolia Bush in Full Bloom

Tulips in the Front Yard

Forsythia Bush that was moved from the front of the house to the side yard.

Red Bud Tree that Survived the Winter

Dec. 29, 2012 - Mr. Gnome

Say hello to our newest resident, Malo Morchella Logsaw, the Comatose Sentry of (our neighborhood), but you can just call him "Mr. Gnome" for short.

My Dad painted this a while back for my grandmother to place in her backyard.  He is heavy, weighing in around 80 pounds of solid concrete.  Pretty cool though.  The eye lashes are a great touch.  Evan asked me what was in the satchel and I responded, "whatever you want it to be".  His rebuttal was "it's probably mushrooms. heh heh heh."  I rolled my eyes.

Dec. 20, 2012 - LET IT SNOW!!!

Our first official snow in almost two years!  It was so pretty!  And I was not there to see it.  Sad face.  I was visiting my grandmother in Nashville and having a good time visiting while eating Witts BBQ and Krispy Kreme Donuts. 

Here is what is left of the Raised Garden.  It is pretty much done, but feel I should leave it be.  I will pull out the Brussel Sprouts and be done with them as they will never get past the worms that devoured it all summer and fall.  The Kale was good until the worms attacked it too.

2012 - July 31 - The Stuff that Makes it All Worth it.

There have been some really amazing things that have been going on amidst this crazy drought.  I was watering the Butterfly Bush and about freaked out as I saw this yellow buzzing bug almost beam me with it's presence.  I thought it was a huge bubble bee or yellow jacket.  As I calmed down, I took a more cautious look at it and didn't quite recognize what it was.  At first I thought it was a hummingbird, but it was far too small.  As I looked closer, I noticed it had a proboscis.  Wow!  A Hummingbird Moth!  Holy Cow!

 As I was leaving for work, I noticed this cool little, bug eating machine, Mr. Tree Frog.

The faucet does not shut off properly in the front yard.  As it slowly drips, a few plants get some relief from the heat.  I wound the hose around the pots so that they could keep the trees and bushes in the pot alive. 

I finally pulled the last four Beets from the Raised Garden.  I also pulled up some Parsley to make room for new seeds.  I learned something new from this herb.  The root of the Parsley is also a root vegetable that you can put in stews and other root vegetable recipes.  It looks very similar to a Parsnip.  I tried to dry the Parsley, but on day two in the oven, Evan preheated the oven for some pizza and burned up the leaves.  Oh well.  I also cleaned out the Mesclun on the backside of the Garden.  The Kale, pictured on the far right, was really pretty, but very bitter, so Evan and I did not eat it.  The last thing that I pulled out was the Carrot.  I wanted to see how they were growing and they needed thinning anyways. 

This short, stubby orange bit of a carrot was very flavorful!  I know now, that they need lots of water to get bigger.  I am excited about getting them to do better on the next batch.

2012 - A Month Later!

So much growth since a month ago!  The Butterfly Garden is getting so full!  I am going to have to split these Lilies up to free up some room.  Evan's new flower is looking really pretty with it's red and yellow blooms.

The red is prominent in this picture, while the yellow is on the back side of the plant.  Next time I will get an angle that has the two plants to show the different colors.  Behind it, the Russian Sage is looking very full and beautiful!

The Raised Garden is looking wonderful too!  The Kale chips really helped thin it out as you can see that it was over growing with lots of leaves!  I will have to thin it down to two plants I believe.  As well as the Beets.  They will be thinned to maybe four.

 Here's a nice overlook of the whole garden.  The Parsley has finally popped up as well as the Carrots!

There's those yummy Pea shoots.  I am never going to let them get tall if I keep eating the sprouts.

The Sunflowers are getting tall too!  I may have to thin them as they keep getting tangled into one another in the strong winds.  Their size contrasts so much comparably to the ones in the terracotta pot.  Another surprise is the Kentucky Pole beans, they seem to have taken off a bit since I last documented them.  I have a Soybean sprout in there as well, and thank God, because the deer have eaten the one out by the fence.  I may have to start some more to get them going again.

There is the Parsley next to the beet greens.  Not much out of the ground, but they are a slow grower.  The Cilantro is looking good and there are some new Radish Sprouts popping up next to them on the right.

The Dill is looking so lush with it's feathery foliage. 

The Daffodils are looking like they might just bloom.  I have read that I should cut them off and let the bulb build up energy for next year.  I really don't want to do that.  The sunflowers are looking good, but seem over crowded.

The Mesclun is looking really good in the fenced in garden.  Look a little closer at the top and those pesky Sunchokes are poking their ugly heads up out of the ground.  I do believe there are tubers under the concrete block that are impossible to get to.  Like I said before, EVERY bit of the tuber, root and plant must go.  What an invasive species.

Oh Deer.  Quit eating my stuff.  I know.  It's my fault for not covering these tasty little guys, but it still urks me that they would come into my yard and eat my food.  The nerve.  You foraging monsters.

Whatever.  I am not upset.  Just really glad they didn't eat the Spaghetti Squash.  The Peppers may come back.  I won't hold my breath, especially the Soybean plant that was completely demolished.

 
Here are the same flowers that are featured in the Front Yard right now.  They are packed in with these Pineapple Mint or Orange Mint.  I think they cross pollinated with the Spearmint, so they don't smell as good as they did last year.  They will soon take over the yard and when I mow it will smell so delicious when I chop them down.

The Butterfly Bush is looking good.  I hope the deer doesn't eat it like the peppers and soybeans.

The Crabapple is getting munched on as well.  So frustrating.  Why don't you get tall already mister tree so the deer can't reach your tall branches.  I think a fence to go around it will have to help it get back on the road to recovery so it can reach for the sky.

 The Lilly of the Valley is not doing much, but staying alive.  I'll take that.

The beautiful Mesclun is surrounded by some really pretty flowers that I have yet to plant, a whole month later.

 It's like a salad bowl.  It just needs some dressing.

The Johnny-ups in the top corner are coming along so slowly.  The seeds were from 2009, so I don't know if they are stunted by that fact.

The resilient flowers that need to be planted.  So pretty.  Pink is not my favorite color, but it looks good with yellow and green.

2012 - A Little Front Yard Blooming Action

So much focus has been on the Raised Garden, that the Front Yard has been neglected to be pruned in a more welcoming manner.  Despite this, I have some pretty blooms that have survived last year's heat wave and this winter's drought.  My grocery store Iris bulbs from Reasor's in Tulsa have made survived for a third season.  The Iris on the north side seem to always bloom later than the south side.

I'm completely fine with that.  Now I have an extended bloom time with these flowers since they really don't last very long.  Two weeks tops.

All except for the Tulips and the Yucca, I believe everything is from Tulsa.  My Mom has given me a lot of plants from her garden.

It's very refreshing to see something come up in my Front Yard besides dandelions and clover flowers.  I really don't know what to do with the landscape.  Evan and I have ideas and visions of what it should look like.  However, our pocket book lacks the funds to make this happen.  We really have put the whole of our budget into our Raised Garden.  The fear of heat and drought of the house's western exposure keeps us from investing anything into it.  We keep thinking about putting a evergreen tree and some juniper ground cover to make it interesting.