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I’m running out of room
For plants in the yard. Ya’ll this is craziness! I have NEVER been a gardener but lately I can’t seem to get enough plants.
Saturday I ran to Lowe’s and picked up some cute Coral Reef Sedum ground cover to replace the old, yucky, spotty monkey grass. I had no idea what I wanted when I went to Lowe’s but this cute stuff caught my eye and for $10.00 a flat I couldn’t pass it up.
Yesterday I started working on digging up the current monkey grass. Thankfully it was a pretty small area but it still took about an hour for me to get it all pulled up. I planted my sedum and as I was finishing up Matt came out to check on my progress. By this time I knew I needed more garden border, potting soil, and mulch. He happily ran to Lowe’s while I worked on a few more things. Then he helped me get the border in place. Since the sedum is a trailing plant I figured it was probably a good idea to contain it the best I could. Plus the border makes the space look nice and finished.
Unfortunately my gardening didn’t just stop with the ground cover. As we were walking into the grocery store I saw some beautiful flowers called ranunculus. I immediately fell in love and ended up buying a pot when we left. 🙂 Now I have to plant it. I thought I might pot it but I have a little space in the corner of the front with nothing there. I was just thinking I needed something for that space so I have a feeling that’s where the ranunculus will go.
I have failed to mention just how sore I am. My hamstrings are killing me today. I knew it was going to be bad as soon as I headed up the stairs yesterday. I was right. Sore back, sore butt, sore hammies.
Here are a few pics of the yard.
This is last year before I did any yard work. I HATED these ugly bushes.
This is after we pulled the bushes out with the new Azaleas, Mums and Pansies. You can see the monkey grass by the porch.  I’m thinking I might put the ranunculus in between the mum on the left and the bush.  It’s pretty open and could use a filler.
My ranunculus
Close up of the Coral Reef Sedum
The Coral Reef Sedum where the monkey grass used to be. Â It should fill the bed in a few months, I hope.
~k
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A little this and that
This week is creeping by. Â Yesterday was sooo slow I thought I was going to die. Â This morning I wake up, get to work only to find out the power is out AGAIN! Â Ughh. Â I turned around and came home. Â It is so nice to have a laptop now. Â I have everything I need should I need to work from home.
I might have made a little time to do my nails. 🙂
You may remember this pic. Well this is what my begonias look like now. I think our little bunny friend did some snacking plus I think they took a pounding by all the rain. Oh yeah, I don’t think I’ve actually mentioned all the damn rain we’ve had lately. It’s crazy. It seems like almost everyday for the last few weeks we get rain. Like down pours. The rest of the country might be having a drought but people are going to start growing webbed feet around here it’s so wet.
I planted my begonias next to our porch. Our porch doesn’t have gutters so I think the rain runs off and right onto them. For a while they were doing pretty good but it looked like they were breaking at the roots. The rain is the only thing I could come up with. Then the bunny. But as you can see they are coming back. I’m pretty impressed since I haven’t done much with them. A few weekends ago I got out and put a little more soil around them and kind of pushed them back in the ground so I guess it worked.
Anyway back to work. I still have to paint my other hand. 😉
~k
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A rose by any other name
Would still be a rose. 😉  And currently there is a new knock-out rose bush sitting on my deck.  I decided to buy one over the weekend.  I talked to my mom and she assured me they are very hardy and love lots of sun.  Since our deck gets full sun most of the day I thought it would be a great for it to live.  Plus this way I will see it and I might actually remember to water it. 🙂
And pretty picture time. 🙂
P.S. I promise I am working on the NYC stuff. Â Just Sunday and night pics left.
~k
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The “Southern” is coming out!
What I mean by this is the “southern” love of gardening is starting to come out. My whole life I have been all bah humbug about gardening. Honestly I couldn’t really think of anything I really cared less for but now, now I have the bug. It started with a few random plants in the house. Since I’ve managed to actually keep a couple alive for a few years I’m starting to get more adventurous.
You may remember the herbal disaster of last summer but let’s get real, our deck gets SOOO much mid-day sun I think I would be hard pressed to find anything that would grow there. But this hasn’t discouraged me. The orchid I got for Valentine’s day last year is still alive. Granted I don’t think I will ever bloom again but it’s still growing. Then there are the hostas from last year. One of which made it though the winter in the garage with minimal sun and no water. Let’s not forget the begonia’s I planted a few weeks ago and now, now I have gone and done it.
For a while now I’ve really really wanted a hydrangea. There is a townhouse on the other street that has a few hydrangeas on the side of their house. I thought about doing the same thing but after talking to my mom she said our side would probably get too much sun. Well crap. But then she told me she’d had really good luck growing them in planters while she was in NC. Aaaaaahhh!
With this new found knowledge I told Matt we were going to Lowe’s to buy one Friday after work. After searching through the lot I finally found the one I wanted. It is right on the edge of blooming and the flowers should be pink. It was a bit more then I really wanted to spend but with Lowe’s guarantee, I thought what the hell. If it dies in the first year I can take it back and get a refund. So my 20 bucks won’t be a waste. Once I found the right plant I found a cute {okay let’s be real it’s decent at best} pot but it works and it wasn’t super expensive. If it does well this year I might invest in a better pot next year but for it’s fine.
And here it is, my new awesome hydrangea bush. EEKKK!
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It’s alive!
Do you guys see this? It’s a new leaf on my orchid. I really wasn’t sure how this thing was doing. Last night I pulled it down to water it and there it was, this tiny new leaf. Yay! I am really proud of myself. I’ve managed to keep it alive since February. Hopefully it will bloom again.
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Foto Friday – Week 1
It’s finally here people Foto Friday!  WOO HOO!  I know you have been anxiously waiting all week!  😉  I’m been anxiously waiting for this week to end!
As you can see Basil and Sweet Mint don’t look so hot. Â Thankfully the deli we went to for lunch had basil out front and it kind of looked the same as mine so I’ll run with it for now. Â Lots of water daily!
Close up.
Our deck light. Â A little editing to make it look prettier.
Last but not least, Mr Julio. Â I really like how this pic came out.
So folks that is your first Foto Friday. Â I promise to try and get better.
Happy weekend!
~k
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Hello Wine Wednesday!
Hello wine Wednesday! Â Regular Wednesday you suck! Â Ughh! Â Today has definitely been “one of those days”! Â It’s mostly all boring work stuff that no one cares to read about so I won’t bore you with the details. Â Let’s just say I was pretty happy to have a
nicecheap bottle of wine in the fridge. Â I definitely needed a glass when I got home. Â Now I’m sitting outside with the kiddos enjoying another glass while Matt grills some yummy delicious hamburgers. Â MMMM!For some random reason Julio has decided he should jump up on the dresser and eat my plant. Â I’m not sure where this is coming from but it doesn’t make me at all happy. Â I noticed this afternoon he’s broken the long stem off now. Â GRRR. Â He got into trouble for that! Â I mean these plants are not that old and to date they have been doing really well. Â Honestly I’ve been pretty proud of myself since all of the plants I’ve bought lately are still alive. Â (Trust me I suck at growing plants). Â I don’t know why he is trying to kill it now.
Normally I have a black thumb so the fact that all of my plants are currently alive makes me pretty happy.  A few weeks ago Matt and I bought some plants for the front porch and I also got some Basil and Sweet Mint.  The plants on the porch look great but everyday my basil looks like it is on the edge of life.  Last night I decided to google basil and see what I was doing wrong, I mean it said it likes full sun.  Apparently basil is not like most herbs and loves water.  Thankfully I’ve been watering it pretty much daily so it’s hanging on.  I hope it makes it through the summer but with temps already reaching 100+ who knows.  At least, in my mind, it will be the heat and not my inability to keep something alive.  Cross your fingers people, I need all the help I can get. 🙂
~k
PS. it is super hard to blog outside.  I can barely see my screen.  Thankfully I can see what I’m typing. 😉
