Iris are in Bloom

 

A mishmash of “found” iris are blooming in the yard.  Some were found at the back of the property.  We moved them up to a sunnier location so they could bloom; some were gifts and some were borrowed.

I am amazed at the number of large, bearded flowers blooming.  I fully expected smaller, more common flowers.  And while I love those old time, hearty stand-bys, it’s been great fun to be surprised by these big, handsome blooms.

Lifting Elephants

…Ears, Cannas and Gladiolas.

That time of year.

Remember my Black Magic Elephants Ears?  They did GREAT this year. I bought 2 bulbs from Lowe’s at $20 a bulb! Not a typical purchase for me, but I wanted them REALLY bad.  Ryan was with me and I pretended shock when we got to the check out. But really, what’s he going to do then? Not get them?! 

Plus I told him that I could lift them in the Fall, so next year, they really only cost $20, then the next year $10, then $5…and so on and so on.  If you think about it, those things are an INVESTMENT!



I also had two fabulous Cannas in a pot with some bamboo my neighbor gave me.  I think I paid $5 for the Cannas. The did great and bloomed all summer.






And I’d gotten about 50 gladiolas for $5 in mid-summer, which is late.  I got them in the ground, but only about 5 bloomed.  I’ll get them in the ground earlier next year, and they should do better.

Starting to get some early morning light frost, so, last weekend I dug them all up, separated what I could and have spread them out in the basement to dry. I’ve got all my originals, plus about 18 baby Elephant Ears! about 10 more cannas, and about 80 glad bulbs.  YAY!  If I can keep them from rotting, it’ll all be good.

I typically have good luck with saving bulbs (or corms or whatever). However, last year I had a bunch of caladiums, but failed to dry them properly before storage.  ugh….they were a soft, mushy mess when I pulled them out in the Spring.  I learned my lesson.



Here’s to having a plan and sticking to it. And really, it’s like growing money…right!?!?

Were we really crazy?

Wow!  Things have been crazy around here.  We had WONDERFUL house guests last weekend: Ry's bro, Dave, his wife, Renee, and their son, Cayman.  And Ry's sis, Terri and her H, Scott, got to come by Saturday night, too. 

So much fun: talking, laughing, eating, drinking and making merry! And then the Chief's game! oh, yes. (sorry, Renee, but, at least this year someone went home happy!)

As it always seems to happen with house guests, you rush-rush to finish up all those tiny details, which is great, but can be tiresome.  One of mine was to finish up the office (not there yet...but almost!), and in the midst of my getting organized, I ran across a couple of pics from the home inspection report that was done before we bought the house.   Here's the before and afters of the deck and under the deck. I think this gives you a really good taste of where this entire project began.

Here's the upper deck.  The broken railings are obvious, but it's really hard to appreciate the sad state of the wood.  I don't believe the cedar had ever been retreated.  And there was that weird greasy/oil stained area in the lower right of the photo. Oh, and some rotting boards, too.

We repaired the railing, replaced the rotting boards, powerwashed, sanded and stained the deck.

Here she is now.

She'll need another stain job soon!

Here's below the deck. This was great!  That's all gravel and tree-like weeds growing there.  The rotting hot tub was filled with grody water and tadpoles. yummy.

The gravel was contained by the Pavestone blocks.  And the gravel wasn't really thick enough to cover all the mud and dirt, that's why we had so many of those tree-like weeds growing in there.  We cleaned, rebuilt and moved the hot tub, poured some patios, put in a stone path and landscaped under here.

And here's the after.

Man, looking at these before photos make me question our sanity.  I think I have forgotten the level of disrepair this poor house had been left to.  But it also makes me thankful that we have the opportunity to bring her back and really make her ours.

And while we're at it, we are having some windows replaced in our bedroom. I was taking pictures of the workings of the casements for window guy, and got this pic by leaning out the window from our bedroom.

It sure looks pretty from up here! Makes me want to add a door and a deck off the bedroom.  Think Ryan will go for that?

Linked to FIF at Chic on a Shoestring Budget and RemodelAholics!

Outdoor Decor - Potted Trees and Shrubs

I was reading Crystal Coast Gardener yesterday, and Kyna mentioned she had gotten a Japanese Maple on the cheap and was trying to decide where to plant it.  I suggested keeping it in a pot for a few years.  We've done this with several trees and shrubs. Not only have we had success, but it's also a great (and Cheap!) way to dress up your outdoor spaces.

This is a Contorted Willow on the upper deck.  This was FREE! It started out as a clipping from Ryan's uncle, which was rooted in water and grown by my mom to a good size.  It's been repotted a few times and is close to 20 feet tall. Two good things about raising this one in a pot: 1. we were able to move it when it was in a spot that got too much sun and 2. it requires a lot of water and having it on the deck helps me remember to keep it watered well.

This one is a Maple.  It started out as a stick from the Arbor Day Foundation and was a gift(?) from my MIL. Sadly, out of that bunch, this is the only one that made it.

We have several of these guys.  It's an Emerald Green Arborvitae. Got it at Lowe's two years ago. Regular price $6.98. End of season clearance 50 cents. These grow to be 15 feet tall and 4 feet wide. The plan is to replant into larger pots every 2-3 years.

These are some small "starters". Another Arborvitae, some kind of Cedar and in the third pot, there are three trees--all volunteers--the large maple, a much smaller redbud, and one more, even smaller, maple.  Next spring, I'll move the redbud and tiny maple to their own pots.  

We leave the plants out all winter, and I try to water about every 6 weeks. We are in the Midwest, Hardiness zone 5/6 and will get some temps below 0 degrees Fahrenheit with an annual average snowfall of 20 inches.  If we are having a particularly good cold spell, I'll move the pots so they are right next to the house, but have never brought them in.
So, for very little cash, we have plants for our outdoor spaces.  Plus, it's fun to nurture these little guys.

And while I was out taking pictures, I had to throw in these. 

My Black Magic Elephant Ears! Aren't they doing great?

And my coleus. It was so slow to start, but once it took off, it's been doing great!

Rocks, Broken Hot tubs and Backyard Hardscaping

It's so very hot outside right now. I've been watering the container plants twice a day, but that's about all the outside I can stand. I miss hanging out there.

The backyard was an icky mess for starters. It consisted of a small patio, a river rock bed and a broken hot tub. Oh, and lots and lots of weeds. Interestingly enough, the poison ivy appeared to confine itself to the Professional Landscaping in the Front Yard? Go figure. We moved the rock to the side and the front of the house and had two patios and a sidewalk poured.

The first patio is here. It's under the deck and Ry installed an outdoor ceiling fan, which makes a tremendous difference. We also have this great gas firepit from Costco. It's super comfy and runs off of a regular propane tank, which is hidden in the table.



In the area between this new patio and the pre-existing patio, we chose to leave open for landscaping. We installed this stone pathway to link the two areas. Other than the obvious VERY HEAVY rocks, this was pretty simple.



Luckly, since we had already moved the river rock, there was really not a lot but hard, clay dirt to dig up. We dug out the pathway about 4 inches and then installed metal edging to "outline" the path". Next, we put in a thin layer of sand and then laid in our rocks, jigsaw-puzzle-like. That was the hardest part - moving those around to get them to fit just so. Then we filled in the spaces between the rock with pea gravel. Next, we mulched around the path and then pulled up the metal edging, which we reused in other landscaping.



This is the second patio. We poured it for the previouly broken hot tub, which Ryan fixed AND redid all the sides so it looks pretty again. You can see where the older patio ends and the new one begins. One day we may stain or do an overlay, or just wait patiently for it all to naturally color? We shall see...



A view from the other side.



This fall we hope to build an arbor over the hot tub, with a stone wall facing toward the woods.

This is the original patio on the back of the house.



We struggled with the placement of the furniture, as the patio is on the small side. This works really well. Behind the loveseat, the crank out window can still open, and there is plenty of space to walk out the back door between the loveseat and the chair. But it's still all close enough for easy conversation.

And here's a picture where I try to capture it all. There is a slope and lots of trees behind the house, so I can't get a photo that shows the entire project.

But, you can see where we finished off some landscaping around the patios and under the deck. We also placed a water fountain to the right of the firepit group, which is very nice. And we put a heater in it and leave it on in the winter. We've gotten over 20 birds splashing around in it! We also refinished the deck.



The plantings around the decks include:
Hosta, Iris, Peony, Lilies, Vinca (annual), Daffodils, Aster, Chrysanthemum, Chives, Oregeno, Thyme, Solomon's Seal, Yarrow, Fern, Heuchera, Gladiolas, Surprise Lily, Nandinia, Wild Onion, Clematis, Catnip, Geranium, Zinnia, Ferns, some Tropicals, Morning Glory and a variety of stuff in pots.

I am still struggling with getting a handle on the light and moisture around the entire house...Live and Learn!

Walk this way

While we've shared some tales of the disaster that was inside the home, you haven't heard a lot about the outside. Ryan literally shed a tear for the grass struggling to survive the weeds after years of neglect. (But he also relished the challenge to bring it around!)

And the landscaping?! HAH! What wasn't already dead was overgrown and covered with poison ivy.

One of the outdoor projects we did right away was putting in a sidewalk from the front of the house to the back. It's great when working on projects or for wheeling supplies to the back and camping gear to the front.



And we had a bit of a curve put in it to make it feel less sidwalk-y and more path-y. AND it made a great edge for the foundation landscaping. But you don't see a lot of Side Yard - Side Walks. Why do you think that is?

Six Degrees of Gardening

Okay! ONG offered up a Six Degrees from Favorite Sports Team to Gardening Throw Down. Never one to miss out on some friendly competition, I was in.

First, however, I struggled with my fave sports team, being the Mizzou and Razorback gal that I am, so ultimately decided on the town's favorite heartbreakers, our Kansas City Chiefs.

1. The Kansas City Chiefs are scheduled to complete a $375 million stadium renovation to Arrowhead this year. $250 million is being funded by Jackson County tax payers (that's yours truly) through a sales tax.

2. 250 million cubic metre of ash spewed from the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull, which began erupting March 20, 2010.

This caused over 100,000 cancelled flights and delayed travelers, including Fabian Forde and his two sons. Fabian is a deputy manager at an electrical supply company outside of London.

3. The Electrical Power industry in the UK was nationalized by the Electricity Act of 1947. One of the local authority undertakings that was merged into the East Midlands Electricity Board was Burton Upon Trent: a town known for its brewing heritage.


4. Heritage Brewing is a Canadian brewer who brews seasonal ales, including one called Maple Brown Lager. (They say the beer has the aroma of maple, the smokiness of a sugar camp and the rich colour of amber maple syrup. It sounds yummy!)

5. Maple Brown Lager is made from the sap of trees found in Eastern Ontario in Lanark County.

6. Lanark County is home to Rockwall Gardens,which specializes in selling a wide variety of hardy unique perennial plants.

and BAM! I'm thinking this could be a winner. It combined current events, history, a human interest element and BEER!