Fun in the Garden

One of the many fun things about owning a home is discovering the joys and frustrations of gardening. From rescuing a brown lawn from winter's slumber to watching new growth in the spring, it's a lot more fun (and work) than either of us initially thought.

Not long after moving in, we decided to plant herbs and marigolds in the flower boxes on the back patio. Most of them have moved on to the great garden in the sky, but we still have 2 or 3 marigolds hanging on. One spearmint plant, which we thought had died twice already, is still around, as are some chamomile and rosemary that have proven to be pretty hardy. RIP to the parsley, cilantro, dill, oregano, and catnip. Better luck next time.

Our next venture into landscaping was a row of rose shrubs, a gardenia bush, and two hydrangeas. In our excitement to plant, we forgot to take into account that the roots need to be soaked thoroughly, and the new plants need a LOT of water. Lucky for us, none of them died, but it is going to be an uphill battle. I love gardenias, especially the fragrance, so I really want that one to survive. (If you've never smelled one, it's kind of like coconut. It reminds me a little of that tropical tanning oil that was so popular before all the SPF stuff came out.) The roses are just starting to bloom on a couple of plants, so we have a few little lavender-pink blossoms out front. Yay! I just hope the water bill doesn't shock us too much.

The hydrangeas were another adventure. One started to get some very small blooms, but the other one never seemed to do anything. We called the company we ordered from and they sent a replacement, so we are hopeful that we can get a few blooms out of them before it gets too hot. We also found out that the color of hydrangea blooms can change depending on the acidity of your soil. The picture in the catalog was white, but ours have some blue in them from the acid. They look fine, but if we decide we want white, I guess we'll have to mix in some alkaline. The fun of chemistry. Who knew that flowers could be a litmus test?

My latest project involved a sago palm that had been planted by the previous owners. It didn't look too healthy at first, but we kept at it. It finally started to perk up, but it just wasn't thriving like we thought it should. Then one day we noticed a strange black ring around the trunk. We dug a little and discovered that it had been planted with the original plastic pot. No wonder the roots weren't taking hold! So this morning I dug around the palm, cut off the pot, loosened and soaked the roots, and re-planted. Maybe now it will start to grow like a palm tree and not a little shrub.

We don't have green thumbs yet. Far from it -- just ask the herbs. But it is fun to try. We are mostly focusing on the front yard this season, and then we'll dive in to the backyard, where the real fun will begin. That will probably require some professional help, but we have some nice ideas in store.