20130730

Sometimes, neglect is exuberant


The roses are amazing - the 'carpet' rose is 4' tall, profusely flowering; Hot'Buttered Popcorn also flowering like crazy. The white parahebe is an amazing addition, and looks especially nice at night, lit up with a solar spotlight.

BUT.

Sometimes it's not...


And this is what I mean when I say I am starting over. Everything has to be cut back, blackberries are mixed in with the good stuff. The devastation is amazing. We're unearthing lots of what was once good, but it's not as easy and romantic as The Secret Garden makes it seem.

Nonetheless, there's hope. We'll see.

20130724

Summer Drinks

Blackberry-Chambord Royale ◼ via My Recipes Champagne Cocktails

Ingredients

2 tablespoons Chambord (raspberry-flavored liqueur)
2 cups fresh blackberries, frozen
1 (750-milliliter) bottle Champagne or sparkling wine, chilled
Preparation

Pour 1 teaspoon Chambord into each of 6 Champagne flutes. Place 3 berries in each glass. Pour about 2/3 cup Champagne into each glass. Serve immediately.

20130723

Summer treats


Arbor Mist Frozen Wine: Blackberry Merlot, Strawberry White Zinfandel, and White Pear Pinot Grigio. These are cheap, and easy. And, single serving, so you don't waste a bottle of wine when you just want one glass.

It's a great idea, but better to make your own, the sugar content in these is astronomically high.

Make your own, recipes on Pinterest. Frozenor unfrozen.

A better bet - ◼ X rated Fusion Liqueur - A sensuous fusion of ultra premium French vodka & Sicilian blood orange mingling with mango and passion fruits, freeze, and it's only 10g sugar (compared to 30-40 in the Arbor Mist), higher alcohol content though.

Inspiration Turquoise


20130722

We're having the best summer weather

The best in decades. Sun, not too much fog, and not too much wind. Downright warm. You can go outside on a sunny day without wearing a ski-suit!

We've got tons of goldfinches, lots of hummingbirds, some cedar waxwings nesting in the back tangle (saw the baby begging the mama to feed him). The Chilean Jasmine is blooming right now, roses are going strong.

Except for my long-neglected disaster, everything is good, and we're working on remedying that.

The deck now has two full coats of stain, it's drying as we speak. It's taken some weeks to scrub, dry and then stain it, but it's done, and water beads up.

The futon frame is almost all painted, and will make a nice summer daybed out there. We generally have our best time of year in Indian Summer, which is ahead of us yet.

It's encouraging. I love this time of year anyway, and this is the best year in memory.

Today, July 22, is the FULL BUCK MOON!

The Old Farmer's Almanac - Bucks begin to grow new antlers at this time. This full Moon was also known as the Thunder Moon, because thunderstorms are so frequent during this month.

20130718

Australian Bluebell Creeper: Sollya heterophylla

Put in a couple years ago, LOVE it, beautiful color, and it turned out to climb up adjacent plants, peeking out here and there. Highly recommend it, planning to put in a couple more.

Wildflowers of Western Australia - Australian Bluebell Creeper, spreading evergreen shrub, gets 2'-3' tall, and climbs vine-like to 8' tall w/support, blue, bell-shaped summer flowers, can grow under Eucalyptus trees, needs good drainage, drought tolerant.

That, and the white parahebe, which looks like a cute little alpine plant when you first bring it home - resist the temptation to plant it close to the edge of the path, tucked into the stones, move it back a few feet and you'll be rewarded with a spectacular shrub, tons of white flowers.

20130708

Refinishing the deck

Scrubbing, powerwashing, hoping the weather holds, the warm (and dry) days are rare here. One quarter of the deck is restained, another quarter prepped and ready, the whole thing should be ready by the weekend, and we'll stain the rest then.

Keeping the dogs off it is almost impossible, they have (and need) free-rein in the backyard. They're liking the new space, and we're finding lots of their little hidewaways.

20130707

The disaster


Ripping things out. Blackberries had overtaken everything, and choked it out, trees were growing almost prostrate, trying to reach out for the light. What isn't being ripped out is being pruned back drastically. What survives, survives.

It's starting over, albeit with some mature plantings that didn't exist before.

It's about restoring some of the charm and details, the little barrel pond under the Coral Bark Japanese Maple (the water seeped out just enough to keep the maple well watered), the pathways... everything is gone, obscured or disintegrated.

Some years of neglect have that effect. Now it's about the ruthless breaking of eggs to make the omelet. And that brush pile marks the beginning.

Update: A few years later, we finally got rid of that pile. Should have done it as we went, but didn't, and once the pile got so big and so entangled it became a massive undertaking to disassemble it. So many truckloads of greenwaste later (couldn't burn it, because there's been no rain and thus no permissive burn days), it is clear, and a nice lawn is in its rightful place. Yes, the pile did affect our ability to enjoy the space, but we were busy and working, and putting it off 'til later' just became a long time.

Inspiration Boards: White ideas

20130705

Zebra Hydrangea


Going in the back, against the house, in the 'Japanese garden' - very shady area, gets light but no direct sun, is under the eaves.

It's a white mophead, with contrasting black stems, very excited to see it grow. Pics to follow, this one is off the internet.

Comcept Plants: Image source

20130702

Broken umbrella?

The umbrella canvas makes a great outdoor tablecloth for round tables. Especially ones with the hole in the center for the umbrella pole. Stencilling makes it even better.

Succulent project


Class at Miller Farms. Mitered picture-frame box, a little wire mesh, with a small backed box on the back, filled with a bit of soil, tuck the stems through the mesh and into the soil, let set for a week before watering, a few more weeks to really dig the roots in before you hang it. Next step is a bigger one.

Clearing


It's deceptive. You can see some of the 'clearing in progress' tools in the background.

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