Sunday, March 8, 2009

Sunday Ritual

I'm not a religious person by nature. I commune with the Earth and all she gives us in the form of food and beauty. As such, I try each Sunday to take a photo of the perennial bed regardless of the weather. I'll admit, it's not something I do religiously. Sometimes I take the photos on Saturday. Sometimes I take them on Monday. And other times I take them when I happen to have the camera in my hand. But one thing never changes. That's the location I take my photos from.

In the street in front of the house, there is a manhole cover that I guess leads to the sewer or storm drains. I can sometimes hear water running, and in winter there will often be steam rising from the cover. But that's my spot for taking my photo. I also use the birdbath to center the photo. So far, the consistency I'd like to have is spotty at best.

When I purchased the house, I took a lot of photos both inside and out. I wish I had done more and from other angles. But it's too late to worry about that now. Let's start with a little history of the perennial bed.

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After removing all the ill placed shrubs and trees, I had a blank slate.

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The pool came out in the summer of 2008. It served no purpose except to breed mosquitos. I began laying out the beds using the lasagna bed method.

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By late September, the design was complete. Over the winter, I added stones around the edge of the beds and built an arbor.

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The remaining photos are taken about a week apart. Now that spring is coming, bigger changes should be noticeable from week to week. The first photo was taken in early December 2008.

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And finally, today's picture. Big difference from Monday when the picture above was taken.

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I'll continue to add to this post each Sunday. I have placed a link on the sidebar as well. I can't wait to see the progression this December when I will have a whole year of photos.

March 15, 2009 - rain, 41 degrees.

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March 22, 2009 - sunny, 61 degrees.



March 29, 2009 - sunny, 63 degrees.



April 5, 2009 - sunny 70 degrees.



April 12, 2009 - Easter Sunday - sunny and 63 degrees.



April 19, 2009 - cloudy and 66 degrees. Rain in the forecast for this afternoon.



April 26, 2009 - sunny and 75 degrees. High of 90 in the forecast.



May 3, 2009 - See the Perennial Bed



May 10, 2009 - Sunny and 75 degrees. 84 just a couple hours south near Cheraw.



May 18, 2009 - Sunny, cool. 60 degrees.



May 24, 2009 - Rainy and 75 degrees.

6 comments:

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

What a cool idea! I should do that, now that I've been working on different garden areas. It's always nice to see the progression.

I'll be watching your gardens as they grow and thank you for sharing your experiences.

FlowerLady

Heather said...

I like this! What a great way to watch the progression of change in your yard. I may have to copy this idea as one of my own methods soon.
Thanks for sharing~ Heather

Tom - 7th Street Cottage said...

At the end of the year, I plan to put all the images into Windows Movie Maker. It'll be like watching my life pass by, right? That doesn't sound as good as I had hoped.

Please, do copy this. I got the idea from another source. His pictures were a lot cleaner than mine. Of course, I can't find the site now. I should have bookmarked it. CTRL + D. It's too easy and yet I never do it.

lynn'sgarden said...

Tom, we had the snow on Monday and clearing by Saturday, too! But my grass has not a tinge of green like yours. Your arbor is nice and I notice the cross wires on it..what pretty vine will you have for it? I'm truly amazed at your seedling collection and looking forward to seeing your clean slate fill up and out :)
Lynn

Tom - 7th Street Cottage said...

I still haven't decided on what vine to grow. I would love to get a climbing rose, but I can't decide a color. This year, I have morning glories (purple, blue) and I have moonvine. I've got red cardinal climber and I hope to have Sweet Autumn Clematis. Not to mention the gourds I need to grow somewhere. Too many choices. I need more arbors. LOL.

The green you see in the grass is clover and a cool weather fescue. I don't use chemicals so whatever comes up, stays. The back yard is mostly bermuda grass so it starts greening up in late spring.

Dirt Princess said...

Wow...it is amazing to see it in that order. It really lets you see how much it has progressed. Just think in 2 months you will not even be able to see the ground...it will all be covered by beautiful flowers.

I just added a climbing rose on an arbor, but I have a clematis on another...and while I love clematis...I hate to wait for them to get big and bushy...it takes years! Maybe I should plant 5 or more at a time LOL!