We started Sunday out by driving out to the garden center. Gertens opens at 7:00 am every day during this time of the year, so I sacrificed sleep and meditation time for the sake of green plants and flowers (and a happy Hubby). I'll be dragging by the end of the week, though. Still, Gertens was fabulous and very busy. I didn't take any photos of the several large interior buildings where we found our Lantanas and other annuals. But here are a couple of exterior shots.
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Gertens is huge. It's located in the southern suburbs, closer to where Chickie lives than anywhere I'm usually at, so we usually only get here once a year. |
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I only took photos of the outside of Gertens, not the several buildings that housed thousands more plants. I love going there, but I'm glad we don't go too often. We only bought a single impulse item, and actually ended up within $10 of budget. Score! LOL |
DH had a plan. He had scoured their website earlier and had a list (which he forgot at home, of course). He remembered what he had been wanting, though. Usually we purchase a lot of annuals here, but
occasionally he'll also decide on a perennial or two. The garden is his thing. Except for insisting on some Lantana flowers, I really don't say anything one way or the other unless he asks my opinion.
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One thing we both wanted was a new hummingbird feeder. DH had seen a hummer in the garden earlier in the week, and our old feeder was broken. So we bought a new one and I made some nectar (1/4 cup of water dissolved in 1 cup of boiling water, then chilled in the refrigerator). It's a nice feeder, so I hope we get a chance to have a hummer or two drop by every now and then. I'll change to new nectar every Sunday unless it needs more sooner. |
When we got home and pulled the plants out of the car, we settled in to work. DH and I each grabbed a dandelion removal tool and started pulling dandelions out of the front yard. It really needed a thorough scrub. After an hour or so, we had a full five-gallon bucket packed full. The photo shows us about half-way through. I hope we caught most of them. It's almost impossible to catch them all, but we definitely won the battle for this day. LOL
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By the time we were finished, the bucket was filled to the brim with pulled dandelions. I love that they are green, and their flowers are delightfully cheery, but I don't particularly like them taking over my grass. |
After the "Great Dandelion Pull", DH got down to work while I made hummingbird nectar. He figured out where he wanted each of the plants we bought, and started putting them into the ground. I think it was probably around 10:30 am or so when he started digging. He was working on getting plants into the ground or transplanting ones that needed a new location until almost 4:00 pm non-stop. A lot of work. Here are four photos of the garden as it was when we quit, yesterday. We'll have lots of flowers and some beautiful multi-colored bushes to keep us happy over the summer.
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Moving from right to left, the first section now looks like this. Columbines are the bushy plant at the front. They are perennial. The small pink plants and a lot of the edge plants are new. |
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Across the back wall, he put two different colors of Coral Bells along with more of the small pink plants. They'll break up the constant green we normally get from our ferns and other plants' leaves. |
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Continuing to the left, there were quite a few plants that he spaced into this area, and again a few of the pink bushy things that will grow along the edging. |
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Finally, in the final section, he planted my three Lantana plants and some trailing plants that we're hoping will trail nicely over the stonework. He still has two day lillies and a couple of other plants to get into the ground, but almost all of what we purchased got their new homes yesterday. |
We then settled down for a beer each, and then I started work on dinner while he got the coals going in the grill for the steaks. I stayed upstairs to cook while he took the steaks down to grill. Then I had a minor/major kitchen accident. I had three pans working - two with mushrooms and onions (my mushrooms were fresh, his were canned - personal choice), and a third with boiling water with butter and noodles for a pasta side dish DH wanted with his dinner. While reaching over to give one pan a quick stir, I caught the handle of the pasta pan and upended it all over the kitchen, the stovetop, and even into the hallway. What a mess!. I cut off all the heat, moved pans, and started a serious clean. DH didn't get pasta, but he microwaved some veggies instead. After dinner, I spent another 90 minutes thoroughly cleaning EVERYTHING. The pasta sauce had gotten everywhere, even dripping under counter tops and down cabinet fronts. I don't think the kitchen has been cleaned as thoroughly in years - LOL. It's nice and clean now!
Here's hoping you have a wonderful Monday. I'm looking forward to a productive week - hey! I can dream! LOL ... I'll be back tomorrow.
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