Patio

So it seems I haven't posted since January.  There's been rather a lot going on.  The biggest thing (thankfully) is that I moved house. Sylvan and I now live in a duplex on the opposite end of town, and aside from some freak-accident plumbing issues in the first couple of weeks, we both really love it.  The place is small, but good.

And it has a lovely backyard patio area.  It was finished, freshly power-washed, and just waiting for someone to love it when we moved in.  Here's a quick sketch:

made with Icovia

The patio surface itself is tumbled aggregate cemented over the slab - kind of golden brown and agate-y.  A lot of people hate this kind of surface because it's outdated (the house was built in 1965, after all); but I like it.  It's natural-looking, and easier to keep clean than plain concrete.

It also coordinates well with the 3' wide gravel-filled garden bed to the north of the patio (sorry, guys, north is at the bottom in this pic), and to the south underneath the big paving stones that are set into the ground there.  On top of the gravel are a trio of stepping stones in the same tumbled aggregate. 

On the west (left) side of the patio is a wooden trellis built into a frame, which comes down from the roofline - the whole thing is covered, and shaded. Woohoo! 

I put an outdoor rug down to cushion my (and my dogs') feet against the aggregate, and matching blue chairs.  I also put nearly all of the former houseplants out here. 

The poor houseplants got no light at all at the old house.  I crowded them around every available light source, and rotated them from room to room, but by the time I moved out, nearly all of them were dying.  Being outside, however, has perked up every single one of them.  "Dying" plants are now blooming and putting out new branches for the first time in years!  With the exception of one scorched Dracaena which I placed in direct sunlight by mistake, everyone's done great.  Everyone also got a new pot, and fresh dirt, about three weeks ago, and they're loving it. 

Daisy surveys her domain

One day I'll figure out how to get a nice picture of lights,  but for now, I'll just tell you that to the left of this picture, , I have several tiny hanging plants in little pots hanging from hooks on the trellis, as well as several little colored glass "Moroccan" candle lanterns with LED tealights in them.

There's also a string of 1" cracked glass globe lights lining the entire top edge of the patio area.  When it and the candles are all lit up in the evening, it's really lovely. 

Too bad my camera HATES it.

Here's that bougainvillea. I have no idea what variety it is - I rescued it from a table full of sad-looking plants that were marked down and ready to be thrown in the trash.  It's a little stringy and slow, but it'll be just fine eventually.

This little guy starts out white, then slowly turns to pink, then hot pink. 

Almost-mature flower bracts.

A little scene I made on the table by my chair, hoping to learn to draw silver, and reflections in shiny metal.  It's harder than it looks.

A Rabbit's Foot Fern, which has fuzzy rhizomes that [will eventually] stick over the side of the container.  They look like tarantula legs.

Tiny spotty neighbor is a Scilla of some kind, but I forget which.  The only thing I really know about this plant is that cats LOVE it and will mow the entire thing flat in a single night while you're asleep. 

Tarantula legs!

A wee "Moss Rose" Portulaca.  I have grown these for nearly twenty years.  I love their little waxy flowers. And the fact that you can practically just LOOK at them and they make more plants.

I can never remember what these are called. 

But no kidding, this died over a year ago. I forgot to clean out the pot and just left it - keeping plants at the last house was just a Sisyphean clusterfuck, and I got so disheartened. 

I stuck this pot out on the patio to see if I could figure out what to put in it. In the meantime, it got watered along with everything else, and after about two weeks, it sprouted a leaf! And then it sprouted another one!

This is my Asparagus Fern, now about 4' across.  It was drooping badly, pale and dusty looking.  In addition to lack of light, it was ridiculously potbound.

All of the plants got new pots and soil.  About three weeks later, this guy threw up a THICK new stalk - it was so big, I thought another plant had taken root in the pot.  It had been so long since this thing made a new branch that I'd forgotten what a new branch looks like.

Ghost branch.

A Coleus, and a Dracaena (var. Janet Craig). 

Fun fact about me: I think I might be a hoarder.  Or at least, was headed down that road, before the move.  Thanks to that, at least, I had a BUNCH of nice flowerpots in the garage.  I used them all on this patio, and recycled all the plastic, and threw away all the broken, ancient terra cotta. Didn't spend a penny, and everybody got a new outfit. 

A red Mandevilla I picked up at the store when I went to buy soil for the pots. Oops. 

This is on one of the stepping stones to the north (bottom) of the patio, in the gravel area. The metal trellis behind it in this picture is an old Ikea iron headboard, which has made a really good trellis over the years. 

Two Dracaenas (Warneckii) and a pot full of itty bitty Sansivieras. These plants are the ones that are struggling the most to come back from the half-dead.

Especially since the Warneckiis were a single plant until about three weeks ago.  It'll be fine - this plant is over 20 years old, and I've split it and repotted the parts probably a dozen times.















That's all for now.  I've got some woodworking projects and some art I'm working on. My duplex-neighbor is moving out this weekend, and the owers are going to be doing some work around the place.  I think I'll talk to them about maybe doing some real, in-ground gardening, now that my neighbor's 15,000 dollar-store lawn ornaments will be out of the way. 

Armchair Gardening

How many people read this blog, anyway? Like two? Well, if either of you has been wondering why I stopped posting, here it is: 

On May 14th, I broke two bones in my right foot (for my fellow nerds: extra-articular calcaneus fracture; it's cuboid neighbor basically got its top sheared off), and hyperextended the ligament that wraps around the outside of my ankle.  As much as I'd like to be able to say it's a cool cycling injury - because I was out on a ride when it happened - it actually happened while I was off the bike posing for a group picture.  And yes, I finished the ride after it happened, because I didn't know it was broken.  I thought, "Well, you stepped in a hole, dork.  But the motion of the pedals should limber up that sore foot, right?  And I'll just ice it when I get home."  But by the time we got to downtown Austin I couldn't put my foot down at stoplights and had to switch feet; by the time we got back to the shop I couldn't walk anymore.  I drove home, slowly and carefully, and in a lot of pain, and then my roommate took me to the ER.

For the past four weeks, and likely the next four as well, I'm stuck in a big, velcro space-boot, wheeling around on a little blue knee-scooter.  That part is pretty cool.  The crutches I started out with were destroying my hands; the scooter is fast, comfy, versatile, and has a dinky little basket on the front which has been a life-saver at work.  The scooter feels something like being on a bike and a skateboard at the same time, which has been a bit confusing to my reflexes (do I bunny-hop over this extension cord on the floor, or ollie it?)

This means no gardening for me, aside from sitting in a chair or on the couch, thinking about gardening.  Thankfully, it's been raining about once a week for the past month; but with warmer and drier weather setting in, I'm thinking about that sprinkler I never got around to buying a few months ago.  Sure, I could wrap a trash bag around my leg and water by hand - but I can't really stand up that long.  Popping down the street to the nursery isn't as easy as it was: I have to pack the scooter in the car, take off the boot to drive, put it back on when I get there, unpack the scooter, then traverse the parking lot and store without bumping into anyone and without being able to carry much in my basket...all the while knowing that if any one were to harrass or attack me while I'm out on my own, I couldn't defend myself or run away.  Not that I'm exactly Van Damme on my best day, but still - knowledge of your own vulnerability is, well, it's pretty much the human condition anyway, isn't it?  So, whatever.  Shut up, brain.

Anyway.

Even if I haven't been doing much lately, I hate to leave you without any pictures.  Most of these were taken during the last storm, so, just know that in these pictures, I'm wearing a trash bag on my right leg:

First flower cluster on my first Plumbago

I love the way this Oak looks in the rain

This ball moss, all decked out in dead leaves and raindrops

My friend Star brought me a basket of
Petunias when I broke my foot   <3

I can't get over how cool the bark is on this Lace Bark
Elm in the front yard.  I love this tree. 

Raindrops on roses leaves is one of my favorite things.
This Caladium was in my bag of "White Christmas"
Caladiums, but I think it's a different kind.

I bought this gal in May, shown here on a trail near my house which I only
discovered two days before the ride during which I broke my foot...which
was only my 5th ride on it.  I cannot wait to get rolling again.   

See you both next time.

A Storm, and Some New Plants

It rained Sunday morning. The way the news fussed about it, you'd think it was
going to rain frogs and kill everyone in the state. It was pretty epic, but it was also
really nice to wake up and enjoy my coffee to the sounds of a thunderstorm.

My front garden is under water!  Note the big, empty spot in the center
there where a kind squirrel has been good enough to relieve me of all of
the  Caladiums that I planted there in February.

Flooded yard.  Apparently people all over the Austin area got just
pounded by this storm - there was a lot of straight-line wind damage,
and even reports of a funnel cloud in west Austin. 
All I got was a lot of water. 

Like, a LOT.  Bye-bye, mulch.

After the storm cleared, it was a GORGEOUS day, which I
used for a quick trip to It's About Thyme to shop for pretty
things to pot up for the patio. There's a blue Plumbago here, with
a Pink Jasmine, and a Fernleaf Lavender.

Veggies and herbs on this side, along with the columbines in the EarthBox
 from the front yard.  Yellow Pear tomatoes, a "Patio Tomato", Serrano pepper,
onion chives,  a dentata lavender, Lime Mint - and you can't tell in this picture,
but the  potted rosemary from the front yard is now planted in the ground,
just off  the corner of the slab.

Daisy assisted, and then we both sat on the patio and rested for a while.
She watched the birds. 

Critters & Columbines

So, the bare-root Columbines I planted in the Earthbox last month are doing well:

February 22, 2017

March 19

glamour shot

I'm looking at revamping my whole patio space in the backyard soon.  I loved having an herb and flower border surrounding my patio area at the old house, and I was thinking about doing something similar in the new house.  These columbines are going to anchor the "doorways" that will lead through the border into the yard, I think.



Here's the patio itself...well, most of it.  It makes a great "before" shot, doesn't it?  Full of leaves and those hateful, crunchy, little Live Oak flowers that carry that infuriating yellow pollen that sticks to everything this time of year.  Also shown:  a bunch of junk I hadn't cleaned off before taking this pic, muddy yard shoes, and a wee House Finch:

 

Don't see the bird?  Here:

Hee.

In the front yard, all of the Caladiums I planted in February have been removed by the @#*!! squirrels:

LEAVES.  STAAAAHP.

Did you miss it?  Look again:

 

Little bastards.


Also, meet Frances: 

Frances is a Funnel Web spider (Agelenidae) who lives on my front porch and prevents people  ringing the doorbell.  Frances is harmless - not related to the Australian Funnel Web spiders you hear about that are trying to kill you.  (I think maybe everything in Australia is trying to kill you).  She likes to collect dead bugs.  She normally cleans out her web every few days, but she's really let it go lately.  Bad Frances.


It's going to be a big weekend in the backyard.  I'm hoping by Sunday evening the whole thing will have been completely transformed.  Also, The Zilker Garden Festival is this weekend.  I haven't been in a few years, and I'm so excited about it! 

More soon. 

Another Big Backyard Gardening Day

Today, I have

1. Finished raking up the yard clippings from yesterday
2. Pruned all the trees in the backyard
3. Cut down the Esperanza bush in the yard so it can grow afresh from the roots (which it does every year). 
4. Finished Raven's Garden in the northeast corner by the back porch
5. Dug out and new veggie garden in the same old veggie garden spot, and planted it
6. Dug out half the remaining stones from the old patio and moved them to create a short wall around the new veggie bed
7. Visited The Natural Gardener with friends, and brought home (only a few) new plants, and a bunch of seed packets. 

To wit: 

Backyard, east:  Chaste Tree (Vitex), compost bin and yarrow
in the corner (I put sunflower seeds all around it today), some
pallets just sitting around collecting dirt, and a small landing
of flat stones filled in with dirt and mulch (part of a long path
that will eventually run from the porch to the compost bin)

Backyard, west:  newly-pruned Mexcian Orchid
Tree (Bauhinia) just barely leaving out, Daisy and
huge Mulberry tree in the background, with free-
range bbq pit and lawnmower corpse. 

Backyard, northwest: the new veggie garden,
in the old spot, surrounded by short wall made
with old patio stones.  Chives and Daffodils
visible now (left over from the old veggie garden);
this morning I also planted Yellow Pear and
Roma tomatoes, and Tam Mild and Mucho
Nacho jalapenos, as well as Kentucky Wonder
and Scarlet-something kidney beanson the trellis
 panels. 

L-R: Remnants of the old patio under the Mexican Orchid (with
Shelly), then removed, then stacked around the veggie bed. And
yes, I was singing "I Fought the Law" the whole time I was doing
this ("Breaking rocks in the /hot sun...")

Orange Mint (top) and Pineapple Mint (side)
in the old strawberry jar on the back porch. 

Raven's Garden: only the blue fencing around
the outside will stay; the panels stuck randomly
in the ground behind it are to keep the other dogs
from jumping in there and digging up the fresh
soil.  There's yarrow around back, and a mound
with strawberry plants in the center under the extra
fencing.  I also spread seed for "Bright Lights"
and "Sensation" Cosmos, as well as blue and white
Morning Glories and red Cypress Vine around the
fence.  (And the baling wire panel fencing wrapped
around the post, for my 'Romantika' Clematis) 

A very silly concept sketch of what the garden
will look like later this summer, made with Ribbet

Helpers! 

And I STILL have two lavenders and a Columbine to put in the ground (where??), and an Angel's Trumpet, a cilantro, and some comfrey to pot up and stow on the porch...as soon as I clean up the back porch, which is kinda still a dumping ground (I've been working on it slowly, right now it's mostly full of tools, abandoned yard shoes, and a junk table that needs to go out on the curb for bulk trash day - although for now it's coming in really handy as a makeshift potting bench!) 

AND I bought some new houseplants (a parsley-leaf Aralia and a couple of wee succulents) and a Persian Shield (Strobilanthes) to put into the front garden.  Tomorrow I need to run to the dump again for another giant tub of mulch, before I go much further in the yard. 

At the moment, though, I would give my left arm for a hot tub to sit in.  I'm pooped. 

Hair by Mother Nature

Evolution of An Herb Garden

One of the things I'll be doing this coming Spring is re-vamping what used to be my herb garden.  Into...not one.  I haven't yet decided what I'll do for an herb garden next, to be honest; but I know the space it was in before is shabby and overgrown and defunct. Part of the process of spiffing up the lawn includes returning to lawn to that space.

But first...

This was the first herb garden I built in my "new" house in 2004.  It doesn't look like much - this pic was taken in 2007 as I was demo-ing the whole thing to make way for the new patio project.  Plants are gone, pots all over the place, soaker hoses all wonky.

But before this, it was a pretty little semi-circle of fragrant forest to sit behind on a cool day on the back porch.

The patio project was a 152sf Quikrete Walkmaker project - not only was the slab surface covered with cement "cobblestones", but also a 9x12' area on the ground in front of it, to make one large surface.

The dip in the center is where two photos were spliced together, sorry. :)  An 18" border wrapped around the entire thing, and this is where I planted my herbs:

Summer, 2007.   Little did I know at the time that it was going to rain every single day from February through mid-August.  Those orange Cosmos in the back corner (hiding a compost bin) got to nearly twelve feet tall!

You can see here, it wasn't long before weeds starting breaking through the mortar.  I'd mixed my mortar with sand by half, like you're supposed to...not realizing that the mortar mix I bought was already sanded. Oops.

In 2009 I took up all the stones, chipped the mortar off of them entirely, and replaced them in a different pattern - concentric circles which I hoped looked like ripples in a pond.  I also created that wee round garden with the Buddha statue in it as an island in the patio surface.

A year later, the Martian Death Fungus hit; and the year after that, that soul-sucking damned drought.  My fluffy little fence of herbs around a pretty patio was no more.

This is what it looked like as of Fall 2012.  A single white Yarrow survived both the MDF and the drought.  The lawn doesn't look like much in this shot, but trust me, this is greatly improved over the previous year, and a pretty good-looking lawn for a woman who has three mid-sized dogs as well, I think.







So what's next for this space?  More lawn.  Sounds boring, I know, but I have a plan.  It involves moving a LOT of cobblestones.  Kill me now.


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