Nest Building Time

My son is only two years old, but he is already fascinated with nature and the Great Outdoors.  He notices flowers and bugs and birds and trees and all the little things that I tend to walk by without noticing.  Trying to see the world through his eyes has made me a better observer, too.  I love to watch him play in the yard, as I can see the wonder on his face as he attempt to "take it all in."  This time outdoors has become very special to us both.  So, I never want to miss an opportunity to turn our time outdoors into a fun project or lesson that I hope he enjoys. 

A couple of weeks ago, he was awe stricken by some of the birds who have taken up residence in our yard.  We talked about birds and how some birds live in trees and others in special houses.  As we discussed them, I decided to have him put together a "Nest Building Basket" for the birds.  We put all types of things we thought a bird might be able to use to build a nest:  pieces of twine, twigs, fabrics and fibers, straw, etc.  We put it in a wire basket and suspended it from one of the trees in our back yard.  Imagine our delight the first time we saw a bird checking out the supplies!

Today, I was reminded of our project as I sat in my office, glanced out the window, and saw two small finches building a nest on the side of a tree amongst the ivy.  I am anxious to watch them over the course of the season, and I like to think that our Nest Building Basket helped out an equally productive bird or two in our own back yard.

Happy Spring!

Photo Courtesy of:  Squidoo

Getting Ready for Spring

I love spring!  I get so antsy as the weather turns a bit warmer and the daffodils start to peak up through the ground.  I usually can't wait to dig around in the yard and the flower beds.  And, according tomost gardening experts, now is the time to get out there!  A common mistake many people make is waiting until the weather turns much warmer and flowers are beginning to bloom to pay attention to their yards.  Unfortunately, by then, it is too late to really prepare for your yard to show at its best.  At the end of February and early March, I begin the season by doing the following task list before I do anything else:

I'm in Zone 7, so this may not fit everyone's March to-do-list.  Those of you a little further north will want to wait a month or so...

• Remove all the leaves, twigs and fallen branches that have accumulated in the yard over the winter months.  Even though I removed all the leaves in the fall, there will still be some in the spring that have blown in over the winter.
• Trim up the foliage on the summer blooming perennials that are above the ground.  I normally trim up my evergreen herbs like rosemary, etc. during this time.  I also prune most of my roses in March.  Keep in mind that it is too late to prune your spring blooming perennials and shrubs (forsythia, quince, etc.)  - prune these later after the blooms have gone.
• Dig out all the weeds that have started to spring up in the flower beds.  As hard as it is to believe that those suckers can grow in February...they do.  Weeding now will reduce your job in this regard later in the year!
• Cut back vines and ivy that has grown out of its territory.
• Cut back ornamental grasses, including liriope, and the dead stems of perennials (I always leave these during the winter for the birds and other wildlife) to a few inches high.
• Loosen the old mulch with a cultivator (or in my case, a gloved hand) acorns and other dried plant matter that has accumulated around my shrubs and perennials.  Air needs to be able to better penetrate those roots!
• Reseed and fertilize the lawn.
• Fertilize my spring bulbs.

Here are some photos of our yard in spring and summer.  We are still in the planning and planting phases of our landscaping, and there is so much more to do, but we are quite proud of what we have accomplished.

Happy Gardening!

Gone to Seed

A lot of things have changed here in the last three months. We started the spring by planting a few annuals, hanging Boston ferns across our back porch, carefully weeding the gardens each week, and setting out herbs and a variety of vegetable plants. Everything was flourishing until May 15th. Since we brought our Baby Boy home, every moment has been dedicated to him and his care. Watering the flowers became something we thought about doing about once a week (on a good week), and I still haven't staked the tomato plants. As the old saying goes, everything has "gone to seed" -- quite literally when it comes to our property.

As the baby's schedule becomes more regulated and DH and I have caught up on some sleep, we realize that we are going to have to learn how to juggle household responsibilities with caring for our new baby. Is there a course we can take? A book we can read? A consultant we can hire? Surely other parents have experienced this same feeling of overwhelming responsibility and feeling as though they'll never get caught up on household chores again! If anyone has the answer to this dilemma, please let us know!  I'll be trying to get in a load of laundry in between the diaper changes and feedings.  :-)

Loving every moment of motherhood (even the crazy ones),

Victory Gardens

As I plant my own vegetables and herbs this year, I am reminded of the old posters of the Victory Gardens that citizens were encouraged to grow during WWII. The images are some of my favorite vintage art even though they portray a time of unrest in the world; they also recall a time of great patriotism. The US School Garden Program also had amazing images of children in the garden. I have many vintage photographs of my grandmother in overalls with a scarf tied around her hair, so the first image reminds me so much of her. She was in her early to mid twenties during WWII and is a wealth of information regarding that era.

And thanks to people like my grandparents, we live in a time when we may garden simply for pure pleasure. I am grateful.

 

The year's at the spring

And day's at the morn;

Morning's at seven;

The hillside's dew-pearled;

The lark's on the wing;

The snail's on the thorn;

God's in His heaven -

All's right with the world!

     ~Robert Browning

 

It has been a while since I posted, and I have missed it dearly.  We have been busy with yard sales and baby preparations and reclaiming our house after the remodel.  We have also been busy in our yard and garden.  Time certainly flies when one has one thousand things to do!

 

This year, instead of planting herbs and vegetables in a separate space, I have mixed them in among my flowers.  They are alongside the house in the flowerbeds and in the large ornamental spaces in front of the house.  That area receives the best sunlight, and all other places have failed to produce...so I decided to give this a try. Of course, I only grow peppers and tomatoes, along with the basic herbs: onion chives, basil, oregano, fern leaf dill, sage, rosemary, thyme, and parsley.  I am seeing this more and more in landscapes.  I would love to hear from others who mix their herbs and veggies in with their ornamental flowers.  We are thoroughly enjoying the warmer weather and our time out of doors.  Soon, the weather will turn so hot that we will avoid the midday in the garden, so we are enjoying it now while we may.  We currently have irises blooming, as well as our beautiful clematis vines...so full of blooms that you couldn't count them all!  One of the prettiest irises I have this year is a gorgeous peach color.  We are anxiously awaiting our new blooms courtesy of the landscaping project we completed back in the fall:  cone flowers, dianthus, black-eyed susans, and more showy blooms.

 

 

April is a promise that May is bound to keep. ~Hal Borland

Happy gardening and flowering!

All of a sudden...

Open the windows and open the door

And let the fresh breezes blow in, blow in.

Jack Frost has gone to his home in the north

And all of a sudden it's Spring!

~Author Unknown~

First Signs of Spring

The first signs of spring always bring a smile to my face. After a long winter's sleep, it is always so promising to see those first signs of life - the crocus and the daffodils beginning their journey toward the sun, rising up through the soil to greet the warmer weather and the new spring light.

I love taking drives in the country during the early spring and seeing the newly born calves beginning to walk under the close supervision of their mothers. With an early spring chill still in the air, I love to take my camera to the edge of the fields, stand by the fence posts and watch the activities of these youngsters as they become more self assured and frolic in the warming of the season.

I can say goodbye to the winter with little remorse as the new season offers so many delights of colors and scents and sounds. As I draw up the blinds that have for the last few months helped to keep the artificial warmth inside my home, I welcome the sun through the window panes and feel a sense of renewal as it dances around the rooms.

It is time to begin again.

A Moment's Perfection

PeoniesThis morning the green fists of the peonies are getting ready
to break my heart
as the sun rises,
as the sun strokes them with his old, buttery fingers

and they open ---
pools of lace,
white and pink ---
and all day the black ants climb over them,

boring their deep and mysterious holes
into curls,
craving the sweet sap,
taking it away

to their dark, underground cities ---
and all day
under the shifty wind,
as in a dance to the great wedding,

the flowers bend their bright bodies,
and tip their fragrance to the air,
and rise,
their red stems holding

all that dampness and recklessness
gladly and lightly,
and there it is again ---
beauty the brave, the exemplary,

blazing open.
Do you love this world?
Do you cherish your humble and silky life?
Do you adore the green grass, with its terror beneath?

Do you also hurry, half-dressed and barefoot, into the garden,
and softly, and exclaiming of their dearness,
fill your arms with the white and pink flowers,

with their honeyed heaviness, their lush trembling,
their eagerness
to be wild and perfect for a moment, before they are
nothing, forever?

from New and Selected Poems by Mary Oliver

My love for flowers has been with me since I was a child. I distinctly remember visiting my great-grandmother who, at the time, had what seemed to be a huge green yard snuggled between the mountains of Southeastern Kentucky. What I remember most about the yard was the abundance of flowers, daisies, roses and tiger lilies, one of my personal favorites. I remember one of my older cousins telling me, "Did you KNOW that if you put flowers in the freezer, they last FOREVER?" I was amazed at this valuable information, so when my great grandmother wasn't looking, I slipped out to the yard and cut all the blooms off of every flower. I went outside with a pair of scissors and a basket and filled the basket to the brim with colorful blooms. Then, I quietly climbed the steps to the back porch, opened the lid to the huge deep-freezer, and poured all the blooms inside on top of frozen foods. Once they were inside the freezer, I remember arranging them in just a way that would allow me to see each and every type of bloom.

It must have been some time the next day before my great-grandmother noticed the blooms in the freezer, but I remember vividly her calling my name and asking me "why in the world" I had cut all her flowers! I am sure I explained to her my desire to save all the blooms forever. I think she probably showed a great deal of patience with me that day, for what I remember is that she explained that if I wanted to save flowers, I should wrap them in a piece of plastic before putting them into the freezer...but most importantly, I should only cut ONE of each type of flower.

My other grandmother had peonies in her yard, and I thought those were the most amazing flowers I had ever seen. I marveled at the full and perfect blooms in pinks and whites, and grieved for them when, after such a short time, those perfect blooms died away. When I bought my first home, I was fortunate enough to inherit a 60 year old garden filled with peonies! Truth be told, I think it was those flowers that made me realize that house was meant to be mine.

This past weekend, I visited my now 93 year old grandmother, and her yard still is full of peonies. During one of our conversations, she reminded me now was the time to transplant them, and if I wanted to take some to my home in Tennessee, I was welcome to dig up a couple of hers. Out I went in the pouring rain with a shovel and my poor husband to dig up those precious treasures. Dear Husband kept reminding me how little room we had in the car for the ride home, but I had to find a way to fit them inside. I explained to him how I have loved these flowers since I was old enough to walk, and he somehow found enough room for them.

Today, I transplanted the peonies, and I can hardly wait to see the first blooms! I know that after transplanting, the plants may not flower for a couple of years...but I am hopeful. Something transplanted with so much love will surely put on a great show.

New Landscape! Phase One...

We love our house and the beautiful acre yard that surrounds it. I love to plant flowers in the spring and see things grow, and I very much enjoy sitting on our old front porch and looking out at the flowers in the front yard. Lately, however, we seem to have been growing more weeds than flowers, and we've discovered that we have a special knack for growing Bermuda Grass in our flower beds. My sweet husband and I have fought and fought with the Bermuda attempting to get in under control, and after four years, we have come to the conclusion that we have completely lost that battle. So, a couple of weeks ago, I contacted Todd Groce with Five Star Landscaping, and he will be the one to tame the weeds and grass and make our yard gorgeous. He started today by taking out all the old plantings (what little were left after our drought a couple of years ago) and bringing in new, beautiful plants that just fit with the style of our house. Below are a few photos of Day One. Already the transformation is amazing, and I can't wait to see all the plants in the ground!

Todd said they removed about six inches of old mulch from the beds. Here they have got rid of all the old plantings and mulch and are laying out the flowers in preparation for planting.

Of course, we are saving as much as possible of the older plants. This Rosemary Bush will be planted along the sidewalk so that visitors to the front of the house will catch its wonderful scent.

Max supervises as the new layer of dirt goes down and fertilizer is added to the beds.

These old borders served their purpose at the time, but they will soon be replaced with a new stone border.

The layout is looking good!

...so the plants begin to go into the ground.

...and the weed barrier goes down (no more bermuda grass!)!

It takes a lot of patience to cut out the holes in the weed barrier for each and every flower!

...and Todd puts down the mulch.

It's starting to come together! Already I love it! Coneflowers, black-eyed susans, coreopsis, and more. I adore the colors!

I love the purple and yellow...opposites on the color wheel, so you know it's going to look great!

We are moving the urns closer to the front steps. They'll need a makeover, too, after all the flowers are in the beds.

The one thing I had to have were these gorgeous yellow flowers! I love the color that really shows up from the street.

And just look at how happy Max is! He is loving the yard transformation as much as his parents! What a smile!

Our Town's Fences and Flowers

We will soon be putting up a fence around our circa 1869 home, so we went out into the neighborhood to look for inspiration. There was no shortage of beautiful fences, flowers and landscaping to set our minds going on what we would like to see on our own property. We have not yet decided if we will do a wooden privacy, white picket or iron fence, but our neighbors have certainly given us many styles to consider. Here are a few of those we saw...

This cute picket fence with arbor had a screen door as a gate. Such an adorable idea!

This rustic privacy fence has an alcove built in in which a cross is displayed. I loved the look of the rustic "God Bless America" sign against the unpainted wood.

I love old weather vanes, and I adore how this one sits atop an old fence post among sunflowers and other summer blooms. The patina on the old vane is amazing. This one is a true favorite of mine, as it reminds me of my home state of Kentucky. It is a harness horse. Lincoln County's fair is one of the few county fairs in the state that still has harness racing.

These majestic columns set off a beautiful old stone fence leading to a local bed and breakfast. The winding drive is made of pea gravel that makes a neat crunching sound under the tires of our car.

A grand old tree on the property of the B&B. I love the flowers encircling its base.

I am leaning toward a picket type fence, and I love the "scalloped" design of this one. I think this would truly set off our old home. The white really stands out against the brick of this home.

Our town has an abundance of old stacked stone fences. We had to explore this inviting back road on the edge of town. Can you see the ancient looking stacked stone fence in the line of trees to the left of the road?

I adore Black-Eyed Susans, and the old dirt road was lined on both sides with these beautiful flowers. Our new landscaping will have a lot of these flowers!

...and back to our own yard that is in dire need of attention. This is the part of the yard that we refer to as our "Back Forty." It's set apart from the rest of our property with a line of trees. We have uncovered many old, cut stones in the yard that seem to hint that there were stone walk ways throughout the yard at one time. We would love to uncover those and restore them. As you can see, the area now is mostly trees and grass. We are looking forward to adding our fencing, landscaping and special design that will allow us to enjoy our yard even more.