April Garden

April Garden, a set on Flickr.

What's been going down in my garden, you ask? Well take a look...

GIft of Summer

Elephant Ear, originally uploaded by bossamama.

This weekend found us in the yard actually gardening. It has been insufferably hot this summer and we rarely went out there. As a result our yard had become completely overgrown. It's going to take a few weeks to get it all back in shape. In the meantime, I found this pot with this lovely plant growing in it, hiding in the brush. I had something to do with it, but not much. Last year, I found the tiniest elephant ear growing wild in the yard. I didn't want it to grow where it was (can you imagine- I have elephant ears as weeds?) so, I put it in this pot and forgot about it. It was such a nice surprise to find it had gotten so big! I decided to bring it indoors to see how it does. I have recently added houseplants to the house and the cats have graciously left them alone. For such a garden freak, I had an embarrassing lack of plants inside the house. That is remedied now! I did have a fear that first night, that something (snake?) might crawl out of the pot and surprise us. Thankfully, that did not happen.

Mexican Sage Time

Mexican Sage, originally uploaded by bossamama.

It's in full bloom and gorgeous. My yard resembles a lavender field- sort of. I think I may split this up and fill a whole bed in the front- I have some ideas and it is starting to cool down.

Arbor fun

Before

I ran across this crazy picture of the arbor from last year. I can't believe I let it get that out of control! It was taller than the house! I believe this was in the fall after a long summer of rain.

After
The arbor is looking good these days, it's finally starting to get some leaves on it after this major haircut in the spring. Now the trick is to keep it trimmed and neat. We've had so much rain, it is sure to have a major growth spurt soon.

My yard, not so pretty

I think this about a third of the giant oak tree that was cut down today, it was very tall.

Half a grapefruit tree anyone?  I don't know why they just cut half and moved on to the other.

This is your cue to start humming the theme song to "Sanford and Son."

Ah, it's been a trying day. Hearing massive limbs hit the ground and the constant whir of chain saws does tend to wear on you. The guys left for the day and what a mess they left behind. Two massacred trees and the junk that was in our fallen shed. We get to spend the weekend with it. Thought about taking that little claw fellow for a joyride around the yard, but I would probably end up clawing the side of the house and getting trapped. 

The oak went down with a huge thud- the diameter of the trunk was 4 feet. There were a few sacrifices as it fell, some flowers, some hedges, a possibly maimed bird and some eggs. (The tree guy felt bad.)  But it was a dangerous tree. Any minute it could have come to life and rampaged the neighborhood. Sorry, that just came to mind when I said it was dangerous. One of its huge limbs fell a few weeks ago and broke the roof on our nice neighbor's shed.  And it certainly wasn't a beautiful thing- it had been chopped in half years ago by us in an attempt to rejuvenate it, which didn't work. There are so many trees around that area, that you can't even tell it's gone. Except for the giant carcass laying in our yard. 

The not-so-nice other neighbor had requested that his fence be rebuilt over the tree stump (which they already did) and he left town this week, so when he gets back he'll see nothing. It will be like it never happened for him. Meanwhile, our yard looks like a bomb hit it. He's right about us having a sh*t yard now. (Yes, that's one of the nice things he said in one of his rants.) But we shall persevere and get things back into shape. We have so much space now! Plus a little justice was served when the rats living in the shed (the whole reason we were getting rid of it and the grapefruit tree- their food source) probably scattered into his yard away from all the ruckus in ours. 

We, however, were mightily prepared for a possible invasion with a pest control service who put our house on rat-lockdown and set out traps along the perimeter of our yard. Unfortunately urban Florida is a haven for them, they love the citrus and warm weather- I guess.  We've never taken a stand with them in the past, live and let live we'd say.  But they were out of control and living in our shed like it was their own personal condo.  I was afraid to go back there.  They were not my friends.  I'm very thankful for our cats right now.  In fact, just to prove her prowess (and perhaps calm my fears of an indoor unwanted visitor) Minnie caught a black snake in the garage for me! Which I had to sweep up and carry outside, lest it get loose in the house. Joy!

I've had enough of snakes, rats, and noisy tree men for the day.  I need to visit a very pristine, quiet place with no nature for a few hours.

Tree Removal Drama

Going to have a huge oak removed from the back next week. I would be sad about it, but it's got to go.  It's dangerously tall and half rotten.  It could fall on one of three houses in a storm, one of them being ours.  Had some neighborly disputes over where exactly the workmen were going to do the chopping.  For some reason our back neighbor really thinks he and his yard are superior to us and our yards.  He's extremely rude and outlandishly aggressive about the whole thing.  He had a yelling match with our other neighbor. My husband played peacemaker, sweetheart that he is.  I am so anti-confrontational.  It all makes me nervous.  I'm glad I wasn't there, I would have burst into tears like a baby and run away.  But hopefully it will all go smoothly and we'll get a few benefits, mostly freedom from fear of a big tree crashing on our house!

More From the Garden

Mushroom Cup, originally uploaded by bossamama.

Here's a little gift left by the fairies. I've never seen a mushroom like this! It's top sloped in like a dish and it held water. It was rather large too. A small bird could take a bath in it, well, a really small bird. I'm fascinated and also somewhat repelled by mushrooms. They seem to hold secrets in all their little folds. Secrets, or scary things that will pop out and bite you!

I was just thinking...

Gnome Thinker, originally uploaded by bossamama.

If you come to my house, this guy is waiting right by the door. But you might miss him, he's quite small, parked in the ficus tree pot.  He kinda reminds me of David Sedaris.

What's Growing in the Garden

Here are some things growing in the yard around my house.  Some of them were here before, most were planted by me...

Crepe Myrtle, I would have picked a lilac variety, but this will do.  The new buds are lovely...

Mexican Sage.  A prolific perennial, I have it in several spots. I love the lavender flowers.

Bleeding Heart-via the south.  This is different than the Bleeding Heart that grows most other places.  This vines up my front porch and receives constant comments.

Lovely tomatoes.  I believe these are the Roma grapes.  Grow like the grapes, but bigger than the tiny ones.  Good thing I planted these, huh?

Gee, can't remember the name, but believe it is a butterfly bush of some sort.  Moved it around and found the perfect spot, it has shot up to almost 5 feet tall this year! Update: It's called Fire Bush- thanks Jen!  Fire Bush, ha ha ha.  A little late for that.

Our backyard

Our backyard, originally uploaded by bossamama.

With the newly excavated shady area and the super sonic sandbox, our yard is a must see destination!