The Gift Certificates:
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| Front Porch |
When we moved into our new house in the fall of 2016 a new friend to me, a classmate of Bill’s from the fifth grade gifted us a gift certificate to Jackson & Perkins the garden catalog.
This gift was a complete surprise and while we got several “house-warming” gifts each was unexpected and appreciated. I didn’t realize how much I needed to replace my doormats, I did need new garbage cans in different places but this gift certificate seemed to be the gift that keeps on giving. First, it was a total surprise. Second, I love gardening. I don’t like the heat and I have always said I hated yard work but turns out that is all a lie. I don’t like being hot, that is my Addison’s disease and that is another story but I do love being outside and in my new yard, there is always shade somewhere, another blessing. That gift certificate truly was the gift that keeps on giving. I looked at the catalogs, I daydreamed, I made list and when I finally ordered I got three beautiful little plants to watch grow and take care of and enjoy every day.
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| Part of the backyard garden |
Last year, our first spring in the new house my mom was visiting and almost every day we would walk around the yard and try to guess what was coming up. My plan was not to start digging stuff up until I knew what was there. The guy who owned the house before had put a lot of energy into the house and the garden. The beds are filled with grasses and perennials so it is a pretty low maintenance yard. I spend time mostly pruning and cleaning the beds. My mom and I would walk around and marvel at how beautiful it was.
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| Lilac on the left, neighbors Rhody showing over the fence and our little dogwood on the right. |
We have a cute little dogwood tree in the front, I hope it keeps growing, right now it looks like a dwarf and it’s blooms were a beautiful bright pink. We also have 2 lilacs, one is quite large, maybe ten feet. I had one at the old house and my neighbor pruned it for me and it didn’t bloom for about 10 more years. I was pretty sad about that so I planted a second lilac hoping that would bloom and grow but it didn’t and now I have two and both have had a beautiful spring. There are lots of plants in this yard that I might not or would definitely not have planted some of them but I am merciful and most of them are thriving and will get to enjoy a happy life. I did transplant some amazing dark violet irises to several locations around the yard to open up a nice sunny space for tomatoes.
This year we restructured the tomato bed for better drainage and getting water to the roots of the plants instead of running off. It was 2 bricks high and now it is four bricks high. We have also added more large pots for container gardening.
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| 3 turquoise pots are potatoes, also lettuce, spinach and radishes. |
There are rabbits in this neighborhood and the good news is we have a raised garden and the pots are also tall enough that the rabbits will have a harder time getting to the good stuff. I am hoping that they will move on to easier pickings.
Back to that gift certificate, it came with a catalog. I poured over that catalog all winter and spring and into the summer. The corners of the pages were getting all turned down and some were getting rumpled. I finally decided to purchase 3 Sarcocca Humilis Winter Gems. I had two at the old house; both were a gift from the neighbor with the pruners I mentioned earlier. This plant was unfamiliar to me. It blooms in the winter with the sweetest fragrance. I loved having them near the front door; the smells were wonderful as you walked up the walk to the house. I chose to put these three just out the back door near the deck, two straight out under the Laburnum and one just by the steps even before you get to the Laburnum, also called the Golden Chain Tree.
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| This is the base of the Laburnum tree. |
That was last year and then my cousin gave me a generous gift certificate to Home Depot for Christmas. The plan was to use it for the garden. Now all the seed and plant companies have my name; not just Jackson and Perkins but Brecks, Spring Hill, and Dutch Gardens and a couple others that are not sitting on my desk right now and I am addicted. I have lists of shade tolerant, plants that attract the pollinators, plants that bloom in the fall (I need to add more of those) and I haven’t even mentioned vegetables yet. I already have radishes, lettuces, spinach and Yukon gold and red potatoes planted and coming up. I have lived in the Northwest long enough to know not to plant before Mother’s Day. This spring has been warmer by three weeks compared to last year and I couldn’t help myself any longer, I had a lot planted by May 1. Last week I got 3 old-fashioned or vintage or antique tomatoes at a nursery and planted them. This week I cashed in the Home Depot gift certificate and got 4 Romas, 2 pots of zucchini, 3 of crookneck squash (one of my favorite vegetables growing up) and I am trying spaghetti squash this year also. We also took out a not so charming plant under the front guest room window and put in two violet azaleas. The plan is to take out another one of those plants at the corner of the driveway and add 2 or 3 heather plants. Bill really likes heather and that seems like a good place for it. I think everything is planted for now. All I need to do is sit around and watch it grow, right.
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I used to love the paths in my grandmothers garden, now
I have secret paths of my very own. |
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| and another.. |
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and another part.
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Thank you again especially Barbara and Lee.
Happy planting to you This Spring.
Bill has been busy working on projects also, here are a few photos from his projects:
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Yucky old pipe has been cut out.
Check out the size of that Hosta on the right |
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| Part of the watering system. |
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| yucky old pipe restricted the water pressure into the house. |
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with multiple timers...
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