Monday, September 27, 2010

She who hesitates...

I've been meaning to walk around the backyard taking pictures again. Two of the three beds in the previous post are from the front yard and I've been doing a ton of work in the back lately. I took pictures about a year ago, after first starting the makeover and it looks so much better now, so I could do one of those pretty before/after views. In particular, there are these amazing mexican sunflowers that attract butterflies, are well over 6 ft. tall, and have fostered some pretty amazing pictures for Josh. But... I might have waited too long. Those sunflowers aren't looking so hot after a crazy storm last night.



















The rain was even enough to take out the poor protective gargoyle....and to spread my new bed with lettuce and spinach seeds over into another bed. That might actually work out well for me. I was feeling lazy and just dumped a ton of seeds in one small area. Spread out, we might be having salads aplenty in 30-45 days.

I think we actually got pretty lucky. The rain will make most of the plants all happy and, hopefully, photogenic in a few days so that I can take that next round of pictures.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Yard progress

Josh and I have spent a ton of time in the yard lately, creating little garden beds all over. It's hard to imagine what these will look like next spring, when everything has grown in a bit.

We put a birdbath garden in the front, right by our living room window. So far, the birds are completely rejecting this bath for the much further away one that I got for $5 off of craigslist. Bastards. I've also been falling in love with succulents, which I've been using on the edge.








We created two beds around trees in the front where the jasmine used to hold court. We've almost killed it entirely.. only about 6 months after the massacre began. Once we're sure it's gone, we can add grass to the rest of the yard.























In the backyard, my herb garden is slowly filling in.






And, while walking around, I could help but take money shots of some of the prettiest things in bloom right now




purslane


















Mexican sunflower







Pentas










Raspberry hidden ginger









Canna Lily