oneloopymom's Blog

Some days are more productive than others...
Jun 6, 2007 | 5:24 PM PST
Tags: clematis , trellis , wave petunia , alyssum , dahlia , japanese maple , violet , iris , weeds , boiling water , transplanting , burning bush , perennial , hummingbird feeders , vine , maple , obelisk

...especially when it's a nice, 65 degree day like we had today!!!  How lovely!  I took advantage by getting tons of things done that I have been meaning to for a while, but felt like 90 degrees was just too hot!  

So today was the first day of summer vacation for my daughter, and being the wonderful mom I am, I got her up bright and early to head to the store to find a trellis (or two!!!) for my clematis!!!  (She loves me!)  We found some great obelisk ones and I got two, and she picked a rain gauge with a sun.  Then I told her she could plant a "summer plant" of her own, which earned me a hot pink wave petunia!  Very pretty!!  We came home, cleaned up the inside a little, and then went outside and went to work. 

I got several annuals planted (alyssum and dahlias, and a couple of others I'll be posting for identification since I've long ago lost their tags...as they waited patiently in their cellpacks for a home), along with the transplanting of my clematis, putting in the Japanese Maple and taking out the baby burning bush and shipping him to his new home at my neighbors!  I also planted 2 more butterfly bushes on the west side of the house and some pretty little violets, too.  I'm excited about these, they are perennial and so cute!  I can't wait to see how they grow up to look!  Then we put up a couple of mini hummingbird feeders the neighbor brought me earlier. 

OH!!  I also tried some boiling water on the weeds by my front step.  I have a nightmare vine from hell that just won't go away.  I pull it, I dig it, and the thing is like gray hair... for every one I get rid of, 5 more take its place!!!  I'm going to suffocate under this stuff!!

I wish I had managed to get the overgrown irises out so that I can decide what should be in my bed.  I know it's the wayyyy wrong time to mess with the irises, but the bed is horrid and the mom that gardens at my daughter's school will take them so I don't have to feel bad about getting rid of some!  I'm sure they're original to the house (1952) and its first owners, so I don't want to completely eradicate them.  I just want to keep a few and have the rest of the space to do my own thing.

A while ago at sunset when we rested on the porch (with our ice cream bars, of course!) I was just really enjoying how far my yard has come.  My maple is getting bigger and I really love looking at its branches with the new, bronze leaves pointing up to the sky.  Almost like it's jumping for joy over all the work I accomplished today!!!

Maybe I can get up early again tomorrow....