Good Morning.

I've got two days off. My plans include getting out of bed. Done, and magnificently so. I'm having coffee and will probably take a nap this afternoon. Who wouldn't prefer to stay in bed when this is your view?



The light this morning was perfect. It's overcast, but soon will be clearing.



I love the way this miscanthus glows.



In the morning shade, coreopsis keeps on blooming.



Don't wake the spiders.



It's 72 degrees. A heavy dew coats everything. Still no rain.

Early Morning Edits.

The alarm went off at 6am. I made a full strength cup of coffee to gather my thoughts with. By 7, I was in the yard. For an hour and a half, I pulled plants (Dusty Miller, bee balm, cosmos, Rudbeckia hirta, Veronica spicata, cosmos, Mystic Spires salvia, cosmos, asters, cosmos, and shasta daisies). The remnants went into the gully. I can't even see the compost bin due to the pokeweed in the gully.

Simplifying the plantings and redesigning the beds is necessary. Intentions did not survive the summer. The Crape Myrtle Bed will be replanted this fall with butterfly bushes from the shrub island. When they were only 4" tall, I planted them 2' apart. Oops. In the Crape Myrtle Bed, they'll have room to expand.



The "meadow" is just a patch of weeds with a few cosmos and coreopsis blooms. The weedwhacker will flatten this area soon.



The succulent bed can stay. For now.



Between the potager beds, ornamental grasses will transition into Knockout Roses and Coreopsis Full Moon. The roses will need to be moved. Hybrid Teas and I do not get along. They're being donated to a customer who brings me things each week from her yard. Other perennials like Joe Pye Weed and agastache will be repurposed for the perennial bed.



It's not much, but it is a start. Three years in the making, I'm giving myself until April to "clean it up a bit". It's 79 degrees and sunny.

Paths

The backyard is filling in. To see what's around the next corner, you have to travel there. While not completely happy with the plant choices, I do like the effect. Especially on cool summer mornings. It's 64 degrees. Brrrr.

Looking down the hill towards the Crape Myrtle bed. The gully is beyond.



Closer.



To the left, the lower potager beds with my flopping tomatoes that never got staked. The cool temperatures have allowed them to finally set fruit. I am disappointed so far.



The shrub island is on the left. The crape myrtle bed is front right. The meadow lies beyond.



Parallel to the house, looking up the hill, there are butterfly bushes in the shrub island. The driveway border is on the left.



My favorite path in the perennial bed. I opened this one up last winter. The grass is soft. The plantings are tall. It's a great escape even in the heat of the day.



The high today should reach the mid 80s. I plan to spend some time working on the last coat of paint in the hall and the toekicks in the kitchen. A trip to the lake is also on the agenda.

Around the Corner

One of the goals in the backyard has been to create paths and beds that invite a person to explore. It's getting to the point where you can no longer see the entire backyard at a glance. I like seeing what's around the corner, but only when I'm there.

Standing at the entrance to the backyard.



Looking uphill towards the house.



The opposite view looking downhill.



From the gully into the backyard, the meadow is just ahead.



As things fill in and grow, the small paths and larger expanses of grass should make for a nice stroll. It's like having my own backyard park.

It's 64 degrees and sunny. Cool this morning at 5am when I arrived at work. I'll work on planting more containers this afternoon.

The Tradition Continues.

When it's warm enough, I like to take my coffee outside in the mornings. It's 60 degrees and the coffee is warm.

Red clover in the meadow is starting to show blooms. A little rain on Thursday will send it over the edge.



A better shot of my baby peaches. It's going to hurt thinning these, but I know the tree isn't strong enough to hold all the peaches that are growing. I'll probably start thinning them in a week. 35 leaves per peach is the recommended amount of fruit a tree can support.



Baby figs on last year's plant. This is the breba crop. I'm going to leave them to see how they taste. I already know what the main fall crop is like, sweet and golden.



Mr. Lincoln.



Golden Showers. I have this free blooming rose planted on the arbor at the perennial bed. From what I've read, it should grow 12' - 15' at maturity. I've paired it on the other side with Carolina Jasmine for yellow blooms during a good portion of the year. A clematis vine on each side should intertwine and make for a stunning display in a couple of years. I can't remember which is which, but both should bloom this year.



A gerber daisy made it through the winter. I'm surprised given the cold and wet weather we had.



The backyard is filling in quickly. The neighbors' houses are disappearing. Brown Avenue is becoming a distant memory.



The high today should reach 91. Tomorrow, the chance of rain has been downgraded from 80% to 50%. Everything is yellow, including the cat.

Spring Cleaning.

I spent this morning cleaning up the hoophouse and storing all the pieces in the basement. The cardboard under the concrete pavers has nearly disintegrated. The pavers were used to create a makeshift path through the upper meadow around the fruit trees and down to the lower area of the back yard. I also used a few to provide a walkable surface between my three lower beds. In a couple of weeks, I'll be getting a truck load of compost for the two beds that still need more soil. It's good stuff, made by the neighbor of a coworker.



In one bed, the wintersown cabbage are doing great. I hope they have time to head before it gets really hot. I never have much luck with spring cabbages. I need to remember to do them again in the fall.



Ahh...feels good not to see all that "trash" in the backyard.



Now it all resides in the driveway. It'll be gone in another month or less. The high temperatures in the 80s this week should cause some rapid growth with my seedlings.



More "trash" will soon become lattice and trellises for pole beans and cucumbers. These came from a grove behind a coworker's house. She told me to take all I want and come back for more if I need it.



The figs have been repotted.



Lots of planting out this morning. I'm taking a chance on no more frosts, I know.



It's 57 degrees, up from a low of 52. The high should reach 70 shortly after lunchtime.

I couldn't wait.

It's dark now. The sunset was gorgeous, as usual. I said I would post these tomorrow, but I took the photos today. And I do have a full list of things I'd like to get done in the morning, before lunch.

The backyard felt very warm today, even at 45 degrees. The robins were all over, scratching, digging, and aerating the soil.



Some of their work.





In the perennial bed, daffodils and hyacinths are marching on.





It was very cold the past two nights, but the camellia didn't care.



And check out who survived the freezes.







Wallflowers seem to be immune to cold. Ox eye daisy has germinated. And the large, round seeds appear to be a type of hibiscus, but I can't say for sure since I didn't read the tag in the container. One day this week, I want to get out and sort the sprouts from the non sprouts. It'll make it easier to find them when it's time to plant out. I should have alphabetized them.

Progress in the Backyard

Last December, the backyard was a blank slate.



Yesterday, I took this series of images and used an autostitch program to create the panorama. The fence isn't actually curved, the software did that.



Things are very different back there now. Three raised beds for the vegetable garden next year, paths and a meadow garden, and of course, the dead oak tree have all helped shape the back yard into something I'm very happy with so far. A few "constructive staring" episodes this summer and fall have given me more ideas. Once the wintersown plants start germinating, they'll be used to fill in beds that were created this summer.

Between my yard and the neighbor's property, there is a stand of trees I like to call "The Wild". There are a few huge oaks, some smaller maples, a few Magnolias, and what I believe are sour gums. These last ones turn bright red in the fall. They're very slow growing and could take decades to reach a noticeable size. Another panoramic was taken from where I spent most of my day cutting wood.



In the gully, I finished moving most of the brush to the other side of the stream. You can almost see the depression where water collects during heavy rainstorms. This is where I will be planting my bog plants this spring. I've got three trades of Hibiscus coccineus 'alba' underway now. Those should go nicely with my Red Texas Stars that will be moved from the perennial bed once the threat of frost has passed. There will be some effort required to kill off the existing English ivy and vinca major that has taken over. It will be a never ending battle.



Water collects in any depression. I moved a large log which left a hole. It filled with water quickly.



I'm considering heading out there today to do a little more firewood splitting. But it's only 18 degrees. The batteries in the hoophouse thermometer must be frozen. It's not registering on the indoor receiver this morning.

In the basement, the yellow/orange brug cuttings are sporting flower pods. This is the largest.



Now that I've noticed them, they'll surely fall off before opening. There are several others just starting to appear on other cuttings.



Off from work today, I'm not sure what I intend to do. I'll have another cup of coffee before I make any decisions.

12:34pm - I've split another pallet of firewood. Both pallets in the basement are full. Mom called this morning to discuss Saturday and people I don't know that have died in the past two weeks. My sister got the cotton from a Q-tip stuck in her ear and had to have it removed by a doctor. So nothing has really happened in their world lately. I'm going to have some lunch, run to Lowe's and pick up a new damper for the little wood stove I'm hoping to sell tonight, and then I'll be cleaning the house for the rest of the day. It's 39 degrees outside, 66 inside the hoophouse.

Blurry Sunday.

I make no apologies.

The perennial bed.



The backyard is full of green and brown. I need more winter interest in the form of color.



The birdbath still has ice in it. The one I made a couple weeks ago cracked when I removed it from the "form". I'll try again this spring, casting it in place in a bed in the backyard. I might scatter a few around the meadow garden.



Mr. Lincoln, after several nights in the low 20s and many heavy frosts.



Nandinas along the back of the house. The dead ivy is dead.



It's 34 degrees, drizzly and foggy. Last night I saw the first snowflakes of the year. I was on the way home from the family gathering just over an hour south of here. When I arrived home, it was just beginning to rain here. My mom gave me her electric blanket. The cat is very appreciative.

Today, I've already swept and mopped the floors twice. Dust from sanding the kitchen has permeated every room and surface in the house. I'll be mopping dusty floors for weeks. The seed swap will be finished as more rain moves in this afternoon. It's supposed to warm up a bit to the mid-40s. We'll see.