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New plans for the front yard

Category: FRED - the garden | Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 5:25 am

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Now I am getting excited about creating a garden in the front yard. For a couple of years I have felt the pressing need for doing something out there since all my efforts have been put into the backyard and the front yard has been looking really neglected.

But nothing I have come up with has really sparked my desire....until this last week. Ideas have been boiling up in my mind, plans have been creating an overflowing froth like you get when the pot of potatoes is on a burner that is too high and the water and startchy foam flows over onto the stove top. Oh, geez, it's almost midnight and now I am getting hungry.

I have been going over all the plants in the backyard that need to be divided and the seedlings that need a place to call their own and have realized that I probably don't need to buy new plants this year. I have mentioned this to Randy too and like I told him, if you remind me I said that I will deny it.

The front of our house faces West, that means hot Texas summer sun from about 11a.m. until sundown. So my plans are.....

on the north side of the driveway I have already planted some free Canna Tropicana that I received last August, there are two Oak saplings I received free from the local squirrels hiding a winter meal and forgetting where they put it and a Rosemary plant that outgrew it's pot last fall.
In that area I will be transplanting, 3 Mexican Mint Marigolds, 3 Coreopsis, at least 3 of the Blue and Black Salvia that are trying to 'rule the world' from my backyard, some Lemon Balm that is the co-world ruler want to be, 2 Cardoon that are ready to leave their pots, a Maximillan Sunflower, the 2 Mystic Spires I bought at the grocery store and interspersed among them will be at least a dozen Gladiola bulbs.

The spot for the new mailbox I picked up for free will hold a red Morning Glory vine and loads of Zinnias.

In the main front yard,in addition to the shrub roses, two Hawthornes bushes, two squirrel planted Pecan tree saplings will also be ......
In front of the porch I want a 6 foot rectangular trellis with a potted Clematis (one named Celtic Skies that I ordered from Michigan Bulb) and loads of Zinnia to keep it's roots shaded. On the trellis hiding in the vine will be three birdhouse gourds that I made a couple of years ago.

I want to make a raised bed, size yet to be determined, that will hold a few rose bushes. In the fall I will scatter bunches of wildflower seeds in the raised bed, those will grow and bloom before the Roses next spring and look wonderful.

Have you ever seen the movie "Practical Magic"? It is one of my favorites, in fact the herb cabinet the Aunts have is what inspired the shelves Randy built me last month. Anyway, they have a fenced in herb garden that I love!!!! So, since I want to grow some herbs for teas and whatever, we are going to fence in, maybe an 8foot square area for the herbs using some picket fence panels and a gate.

I have a Texas Lilac Vitex that will be planted on the south side of the front yard. And I want at least one Snowball Viburnum too. I am planning on closing off the front yard from street view with the use of flowering shrubs.

Randy sprayed a soil sterilizer on the ground along the front foundation of the house to kill the old shrubs, St.Augustine grass and a patch of poison ivy. I will not be able to plant there until next year but I can put some planters along there for this year.

Tomorrow I start digging up, dividing and potting up the plants in the back yard that will be moved and
I will be taking pictures of the areas before and after the plantings. Oh, boy, I really hope this all turns out like the picture in my mind....otherwise I am going to be very ticked off. :)





Last edited: Mon Apr 14, 2008 5:32 am

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Repotting seedlings and finding lost seeds

Category: FRED - the garden | Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 3:35 pm

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Yes, the lost seeds have been found. They hadn't run away together, nor had Pixies been playing games. It was just a simple matter of my starting to do one thing, getting sidetracked and then forgetting to finish the thing I started. Please, someone tell me that they have done the same thing, I don't want to feel I am alone with this affliction.

I found the Cucumber and Moonflower Vine seeds along with the Roman Camomile and Alysum seeds that I had not yet noticed were missing, two jar lids to be used as watering trays under pots and a couple of styrofoam meat trays kept for the same purpose, all sitting on Randy's saw table in the back room. I was heading out to the bloom house with them last weekend when Randy was building my new shelves, he needed me to help and I just never got back to my original plan.

Yesterday I did get some seedlings repotted, some are still too small and some are more than I need. The excess seedlings will be repotted next month and once I determine I have no need for them I will contact a lady at the community garden in the next town to see if they can use them.

Cucumbers, Hyacinth Bean Vines, Red Bean vines, Grampa Ott Morning Glory. I decided that most of the Zinnias I had started would be put directly into a large planter out back when they are big enough.

I bought some Bleeding Heart and Astilbe roots a couple of weeks ago, got those in pots. I have been told that neither one will do well here but that bit of info came from the same Master Gardener who couldn't ID some of the plants in his own yard at the lecture he gave, so I think I will try them and find out for myself...thank you very much.

Also received two boxes of plants I ordered and got them potted. Maximillian Sunflowers, Red Valerian and 4 mini Roses - Green Ice, Lavender Lace, Hearts Afire and Stars and Stripes.....in other words, pale green, lavender, bright red and red/white stripe.
When they and the pot of mini Roses Randy gave me for Valentines are ready they will be planted in the rustic wood doll bed I bought at a thrift store a while back to make a 'bed of roses'.


I have a large galvanized tub that I filled with Crocosmia-Emily McKenzie bulbs, hopefully I will have a mass of red/yellow/orange blooms in a few weeks.

I found that my Spiderwort had two 'plantlets' growing next to it, so I got one transplanted to it's own pot. The other one will be moved today.





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Musings from todays gardening with a muttering thrown in

Category: FRED - the garden | Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 8:50 pm

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I got some Hollyhocks in the ground this morning, don't know how good the quality is they were a bag of 7 from Home Depot. The two Double Red's I planted last fall stayed green thru the winter, even during the light snowfall and ice we had earlier this month. Now they are starting to put some height on.

I got some Canna-Princess Di planted too. They are short ones about 30 inches tall and a peach cream color. I have them in the first bed with the big birdbath so I can see them from the door while doing laundry. I noticed that the White Coneflowers I planted last fall have broken the surface.
The Black Magic Lilies and the Monte Negro Lilies are both on their way skyward, really looking forward to seeing those bloom. Two of the 4 Black Iris are coming up and in that bed are some Glads coming up that I really don't remember planting there.
All of the Blue and Purple Bearded Iris are getting tall too. It shouldn't be too much longer until I can start my day by inhaling their 'popsicle' fragrance and remembering good times from my childhood.

I took all the Tulip bulbs out of their pots and even tho there were only 5 blooms out of 52 bulbs, the bulbs themselves have been busy multiplying like crazy. I have them in a bucket and plan on covering them with soil, labeling the bucket and sticking them in the really shaded area under the Hackberry tree for the summer. If they survive then I will replant them in late fall. In their stead I planted Bachelor Buttons (cornflower) in one pot, Marigolds in one, transplanted some purple and red Zinnias to one, planted Calendula seeds in another. The last of the pots is a decorative planter with no drainage and very shallow, so I am going get another Water Lily and add it to my water garden.

Put three Blanket Flowers in the ground.

Only three of the cucumber seeds I planted have come up, I need 5-7 to produce enough cukes for the pickles I need to make. Went looking for the packet of cucumber seeds to plant more and cannot find it anywhere. It should be in the box with all the other seeds packets but it isn't. Okay, I have to buy more cucumber seeds. Also was looking for the Moonflower Vine seeds, the weather is warming up nicely so it is time to get them started.....they are nowhere to be found.
Either I have pixies playing tricks on me like DevonPete or the Cukes and Moonflowers have run off together. Wanna bet that both packets will show up less than a week after I buy more??

Tomorrow will be 'repotting day' all the seedlings are ready for the next size pot. Some will have to stay potted while I work on the front yard.

Oh, yeah, the front yard. Guess I will start cleaning out some area for moving Lemon Balm, Mint Marigold and a couple of small Malva Zebrina that have come up in the wrong place and several Coreopsis that I dug up last fall.







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The Seige of the Alamo - a little Texas history

Category: Life happenings | Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 6:08 pm

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Day 1 - Tuesday, February 23, 1836, General Santa Anna's army of over 4000 men arrive in San Antonio to quell another uprising of settlers who want freedom from the oppression of the Mexican government. By the time they arrived, many families had left the town, Colonel William B Travis and his garrison of men had moved into the Alamo.
Santa Anna's moved into the plaza of San Antonio and hoisted a blood-red flag of no-quarter from the church tower.

Day 2 - Co-commander James Bowie, who had been ill for weeks with pneumonia and TB, turned over his responsibilities to Colonel Travis. The bombardment of the Alamo begins.

Day 3 - Two more batteries of General Santa Anna's army are in place and join the bombardment of the fortress. Colonel Travis sends out another plea to Sam Houston for help. A cold norther moves thru that night.

Day 4 - Mexican gunners are firing steadily. To conserve ammunition the defenders have not begun firing back altho Davey Crockett and some men are busy with their rifles and they rarely miss what they aim at.

Day 5 - Mexican troops attempt to cut off the water supply to the Alamo. Travis sends Lt James Bonham to Colonel Fannin in Gonzales with another plea for help.

Day 6 - The cold norther has abated but replaced by cold drizzle. Cannonading continues and the constant harassment tactics are having their intended affect on the Texans. Another attempt to cut off the water supply to the Alamo is made. Davy Crockett with his fiddle and Scotsman John McGregor with his bagpipes stage musical duels to cheer up the men.

Day 7 - The mexican troops are digging trenches and throwing up earthworks closer to the Alamo.

Day 8 - 32 volunteers arrive at the Alamo from Gonzales. There are rumors among the men that Fannin is on his way with hundreds of men but those are just rumors.

Day 9 - Wednesday, March 2, the weary men in the Alamo are unaware that Texas Independence has been declared at the temporary capital of Washington-on-the-Brazos.

Day 10 - Mexican battalions arrive to reinforce the army. Bonham returns with news that Fannin is not coming. Travis sends a rider to Washington-on-the-Brazos with another plea for help and also several personal messages from the men to their families.

Day 11 - Enemy entrenchments now completely circle the Alamo and the Mexican battery begins firing shots into the walls. Plans for storming the Alamo are being made.

Day 12 - Mexican battery to north moves closer, defenders are dodging cannon balls that come crashing thru the wall. Travis assembles the men, tells them there is no hope of help and their choices are surrender, try to escape or stay and fight.
Only one man chooses to escape and no one considers surrender. Santa Anna makes plans to attack the next morning.

Day 13 - Sunday, March 6, 1836.
Between 1 and 4 a.m. the Mexican troops move into position, surrounding the Alamo.
At 5 a.m. Santa Anna gives the signal to attack.
Four columns advance on the Alamo, twice repulsed by the Texans.
The north wall is breeched and the Mexicans pour into the plaza of the Alamo - desperate, intense fighting with heavy Mexican casualties.
At 6:30 a.m. the fighting is over......The Alamo has fallen.

All 189 defenders were killed but they took out an estimated 600 Mexican soldiers before they died.

The defenders came from all over the world. Some had come to settle this wilderness from other states or foreign countries, some had heard of the uprising and left their families back home, just to get in on the fighting.

Randy's 4th-great Uncle, Eliel Melton, had come to settle in Texas from Georgia, when the uprising began he signed over all his properties to his brother, Ethan, went to the Alamo and died there.


Texas trivia

Beginning in 1519 Texas has been under the flag of 6 nations.
Spain 1519-1685 and again 1690-1821
France 1685 - 1690
Mexico 1821-1836
The Republic of Texas 1836-1845
The Confederacy 1861-1865
The USA 1845-1861 and again 1865 to Present

Texas is the only state that was an independent nation before joining the U.S.
Our state flag is the only state flag that can fly at the same height as the US flag when they are flown on serarate poles.



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Now if even half of them sprout I will be happy

Category: FRED - the garden | Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 4:12 pm

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Yesterday was a warm one, 81 degrees for a high. But that wasn't reached until around 4pm and by then I was exhausted, happy and back in the house relaxing.

The day began here of course, I always peruse the Stew when I first get up...that and a cup of coffee wake me up and start my day right.
Randy and I went to breakfast and then to Home Depot. He was looking for something to seal the back window of his pickup truck, a minor item compared to what my mission there involved.....seeds and bulbs. Those are the nectar of life, the things for which gardeners live, the gold at the end of the rainbow...okay, I might be pushing the envelope with that last metaphor but I think you get my point.

I came home with Zinnia's in three different shades of purple, MoonFlower, Poppy-Lady Bird, Cosmos in shades of pink and white. I might have mentioned at some point that I do not like pink in any form but I think the garden needs it for variety.
And cucumber seeds for pickle making of course.
I also bought two packages of 'roots' ... 7 assorted Hollyhocks and 5 assorted Astilbe.

When we got home I changed into gardening clothes, picked thru the assorted packages of seeds that I have from last year and end of year sales last fall and started planting. The bloom house is now home to a couple of hundred potential plants.
Added to the seeds I bought yesterday, I also planted...
Red and Apricot colored Zinnia
Two other color combos of Cosmos
Scarlet Flame Zinnia
Grampa Ott and Scarlett O'Hara Morning Glory
Black Gem Cornflower
Black Knight Sweet Scabious
Butterfly Asclepias-Bright Wings
Sublime Dark Blue Larkspur
White Sage
Calendula Marigolds
Pear Tomatoes in yellow and red

Last summer I had such fun watching the caterpillars of the Black Swallowtail Butterfly chow down on the two Fennel plants and then watching all those butterflies flitting around the yard that I decided more Fennel plants were in order this year so last fall I bought three Sweet Fennel and two Bronze Fennel plants and kept them in the warm bloom house.
I transplanted them to larger pots and now have 6 of the Sweet Fennel and 4 Bronze Fennel, those things multiply like rabbits! Not a problem tho, I will plant some out back and some out front and really have butterflies all over the place.

The Spring Snowflakes (Leucojum vernum) are blooming, at least some of them are, the others have been blooming in early summer. As sometimes happens I don't 'put two and two together' as quickly as some people and it just dawned on me that maybe I have two different kinds, Spring Snowflakes and Summer Snowflakes (Leucojum aestivum)...well that's cool. I have wondered why they bloomed at different times, they weren't labeled differently when I bought them.

The tulips are coming up nicely, squirrels are eating some of the leaves so a few of them will look a little weird when the get larger. At least they aren't digging up the bulbs.

Some of the Daffs are coming up, but way fewer than half of what I had last year. And the newest additions I planted last fall have not shown themselves yet. Durn, I planted 36 bulbs last fall, I would like to see at least a couple of them show up this spring.








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Cinnamon-- A Christmas story of two loaves

Category: Life happenings | Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 4:48 pm

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Many years ago I became an avid homemade bread maker and took over the cinnamon bread for Christmas morning breakfast tradition that my Mom had started when I was a child....slaving over the dozen or so loaves from proofing the yeast to baking. And a new generation of family members began to expect this tradition every year. Two and a half years ago my oven died and as of yet I have found no really compelling reason to replace it, besides it makes great storage space in my small kitchen.

This year I finally remembered that when Mom had found frozen loaves of unbaked bread in the grocery store freezer section, she had started using those instead of making the dough from scratch....if it was good enough for Mom it was good enough for me.

I put the loaves in the fridge to thaw....didn't take as long as I expected. When we returned home from the movie on Monday the rising dough had filled the bag and had to be cut out. Got two loaves all done and on to rise. They were small loaves so I thought I would try baking them in my toaster oven instead of taking them to Lisa's unbaked the next morning.
Did you know that bread dough will burst into flames when it touches the heating element in an oven??? Well, I didn't.

After they cooled, I cut off the burned sections and covered them with aluminum foil ....then forgot to refrigerate them to prevent further rising.
Christmas morning I found......do you remember the episode of the I Love Lucy show where she takes this 6 foot long, 2 foot high loaf of bread out of the oven?.... that is what I thought of when I turned on the kitchen light yesterday morning.
They were huge and flopping over the sides of the small loaf pans....a picture of Jabba the Hut flashed before my minds eye, not a pretty sight.
I pulled the loaves from the small pans, but them in larger ones....we baked them when we got to Lisa's.
They had collapsed into the pans and looked terrible and I explained why that was.

But they were both gushing over how good it tasted and how nice it was to have my homemade cinnamon bread again, I just didn't have the heart to tell them the rest of the story.

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To Sew or Not To Sew

Category: My Crafty Side | Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 3:27 pm

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That is no longer the question. I started sewing when I was 10, Mom showed me how to thread the old White brand sewing machine that had been her Mother's and off I went. She sewed clothes for herself and me and I had watched her often enough to know what else to do. The machine had a knee lever instead of a foot pedal so I didn't have to be able to reach the floor.
I laid my doll down on a piece of grey pre-pleated fabric that she had left over from making me a shirt, with a pencil drew around the doll to make a pattern for a skirt and blouse and soon my doll and I had matching outfits of grey pleated skirts with white blouses. And I was hooked on sewing, my doll had more clothes than I did before long.

From the 7th grade thru 12th grade I took Home Ec classes each year...half a year learning to sew and half the year learning furniture styles and cooking. Don't ask why we had to learn furniture styles, it was the late 1950's that is just what girls were supposed to learn. I only remember learning to make two things in 6 years of cooking classes .....mayonnaise and chicken aspic. Now ask me how many times I have made either item in the 43 years since I graduated from high school, besides the aspic was vile.
But during the sewing half of the year I not only made the required class project, usually a skirt and blouse or a dress, I also made 4 or 5 home projects. When each was complete I would wear it to school for the teacher to grade.

I also sewed my finger...not once but twice!! Once in the first year of sewing class, I pushed too hard while guiding the fabric under the presser foot, it slipped on top of the foot and the needle went in and out of my finger right next to the fingernail and literally stitched me to my project. Teacher cut the thread and sent me to the school nurse who called my Mom who took me to get a tetnus shot.

Second time I was sewing at home, got distracted for a split second and this time the needle went thru my fingernail, thru the bone and curved like a fish hook on the other side when it came out and hit the feed dogs. Daddy had to dismantle the machine and take me to the hospital emergency room where the doctor pulled it out. THAT one really hurt.

Over the last 51 years I have made clothes for me and my daughters, vests and shirts for Randy, various curtains, throw pillow covers, Halloween costumes, three formal Prom dresses for Lisa and the wedding dress for her first wedding. In 1986 I started making quilts.
I have had various sewing machines over the years, usually second hand ones but I was never without a sewing machine more than a couple of weeks since I had so much sewing to do. My latest and last sewing machine was a really nice, brand new Elna 6003 bought about 10 years, I spent thousands of hours sewing with it until I lost all interest in sewing about 5 years ago at which point it was packed away in it's carrying case to sit under my craft table until a couple of days ago when I put an ad for it on Craigslist.
Last night a lady and her husband came by to check it out, she fell in love with it and it became her Christmas present from her husband.

It was sort of a bittersweet moment when they carried Elna to their car. I knew she would have a good and useful life once again, the kind of life she was made for but at the same time I was kind of sad to see her go. Elna and I had some great times together and made some beautiful items.
So today starts the first time in my life, especially since I started sewing 51 years ago, that I am without a sewing machine on purpose and have no desire to have another one and boy does that feel strange.



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I know FRED is under there somewhere

Category: FRED - the garden | Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 6:54 pm

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The cold spell we had starting Friday night brought three nights of below freezing temps and winds gusting up to 35 miles per hour.
The freeze took down most of the perennials and all of the annuals. Time to do the cutting back so they don't look quite so sad and pull up the annuals.
The Snapdragons are still blooming, there is one lonely Blackeyed Susan struggling to hang on and the Sedum Autumn Joy is really beginning to bloom.
Surprisingly the Common Sage, the Curry plants and the third generation this year of some annuals that reseeded in the large planter came thru just fine.
One of the Lavenders is mostly dead but there is new growth down at ground level.

The Cyclamen, Fennel plants and two as yet unidentified plants spent the cold weekend in my newly lighted and warm bloom house.


The high winds laid bare the pecan and hackberry trees, so FRED is under a good layer of leaves. Some are now in the compost barrel, I can rake up more as needed.

It seems wintery weather is over for now, the days will be warming up into the 50's and 60's for at least the next two weeks. After christmas I think I will work off the stress of holiday shopping and preparations by cutting things down and digging some things up. I have two suffering Hawthorne bushes to move to a sunnier location too.

I haven't been out in the garden much for the last two weeks, now after puttering around out there this morning I have this stressed out feeling of already being two months behind. Arrrrggghhhh, isn't gardening supposed to be relaxing, rejuvenating, invigorating. I really liked living under the delusion that everything was as it should be out there and it could get along without me for a few weeks.
I need snow, about a foot of snow all over everything....a foot of snow that will hang around at least a month and a few hot toddies, I liked my delusion and wish to visit it again. The snow is difinitely right out, but I have the ingredients needed for a nice hot toddy or two or three :)

Oh, have mercy, I haven't even started on plans for the front yard yet. So now I am 3 months behind already.....I have got to get those toddies made.


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What I like about FALL

Category: Random bulletins from my brain | Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 3:16 pm

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Generally I like everything about FALL. I mean, what's not to like!!
The summer heat (90-100 degrees) is over for another year and even tho some days it will be in the mid to upper 80's that is not summer weather and can be dealt with.

The morning temps are in the 60's which is absolutely wonderful gardening weather, especially when your backyard garden is on the east side of the house. Sunrise is a beautiful thing, but by 8:30, 9:00 am the heat from the evil daystar is intense so gardening comes to a halt.

There has been a shift in the wind direction, it is now coming from a north/northwest and has blown the highly humid air back down to Mexico with my blessings. Lower humidity means you can walk outside and you are not glistening with sweat before you reach the car.

I can go stroll thru garden centers, taking my time to find all the good plants I want. I don't have to make it a 'hit and run' type of trip, grabbing the first plant I see or giving up and leaving with nothing because it is too hot to enjoy shopping.

And this year we are having a nice pecan crop, nothing for the last two years because of the drought but I have been finding a lot of good ones this year.

I have a list of gardening chores I can finally get started on...to a certain degree. Kenny, our son-in-law, has been replacing the eaves all around the house, he still has the trim to replace, put the gutters back up and paint. So a lot of the available walking space in the backyard is filled with ladders, sawhorses and old wood not yet taken to the curb for trash pickup and just the general flotsam and jetsam found where men are working.

But at least now I have hope of playing in the dirt again soon.

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New Junque = Better Mood

Category: FRED - the garden | Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 6:53 pm

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Because my oldest daughter and her hubby recently chose to make their lives easier by selling their house and moving into a townhome and let someone else be responsible for lawncare and maintenence, she had some yard things for me.

The month of August is usually hard on me, what with the heat making it impossible for me to work in the garden I have to leave it to fend for itself. Other than watering there is just nothing else I can do out there and that makes me very moody.

Having new garden decor items to make plans for will help me make it thru until the weather cools.

I have this nice deep wheelbarrow to plant in. I will need to line it with plastic since it has been used to mix cement and I don't want anything leeching into the soil. Haven't decided what yet, but being so deep I can put something good sized in it.


These two tubs they had used to hold water for the dogs and bathing the dogs. I figure a few drainage holes along the lower part, fill with soil and plant away.


The fire pit ring was in their shed when they bought the house, the rest of the fire pit was gone. Recently the Dallas news paper had a large article on planting fairy gardens in the large Bonsai planters. Instead of that I am going to place this on the ground on top of some black plastic for weed block and plant my fairy garden in it.


This pile of bricks is only half of what was behind their shed, I have until the 31st to talk Randy into getting the rest of them. I want to make a nice sized wishing well planter. If I can't get the others then the wishing well will be as large as these bricks make.


Randy's dad gave me this box, I need to put some sealer on it before the weather eats it up then figure out what to plant in it too.


This birdbath isn't junque, it is new. We found it in the half price section of a farm supply store last week. It is die cast metal with green highlights.




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