Surprises in my yard

I did some yardwork in the backyard today (as usual on Sundays), and came across some accidental happy things:

1. The "weed" in my deck pit. I had noticed this "weed" growing about a month ago. It grew very quickly and kept getting taller and taller! I was kind of amused by it, and decided to let it go to see how big it would get. A few days ago I noticed some buds on the top of it. Well lo and behold, it's a sunflower! Like an eight foot tall sunflower plant! Just poking up out of my deck pit. One sunflower is already blooming and there's about four more buds on it.

2. Next to the sunflower, I noticed some type of petunia looking flower. Now, to my understanding, petunias are annuals, right? And I certainly didn't plant this there. There are about three purple petunia-looking flowers.

3. Last summer I had about three big containers in my "courtyard" area (at the foot of the deck) that I grew herbs in: basil, catnip, and sage. When the ice storm hit last December, huge tree limbs fell on all of the containers and busted them, and knocked what was left of the dead plants out. Earlier this spring, I cleaned them up and salvaged the containers as best I could. Apparently the herbs re-seeded themselves in the ground where the containers fell in December... Because I have a ton of baby basil plants, a flowering sage bush, and several catnip plants growing in the ground *next* to the containers!

Just goes to show, I guess, that good, beautiful things come from accidents. I assume the flowers are growing in the deck pit because the previous owners had those things planted there before they built the deck... And now that the deck is gone, and light is shining on that area again, the flowers have returned! How beautiful is that? That deck was there for three years. These plants were dormant for three years, then just sprung up as soon as sun hit that soil again.

Kinda gives you hope... That if an eight foot tall sunflower plant can spring up after living under darkness for three years, then all kinds of things in life are possible.

More garden pics!

I've been spending at least one afternoon a week in my garden for awhile now. I'm trying so hard to keep up with all of it! So far I'm doing a pretty bang-up job, I think. And the weather has been cooperating. It's been dry and hot here (low to mid-90s). No more monsoon, like we had last year (last year it pretty much rained for a month straight in June). So, I've been actually watering to help things out. Here's a bunch of pictures!

It is very hard to capture the "big picture" of my garden. Too many big green leafy things... So this is an attempt to show some scale.

Brown-eyed susans! Wow, the bushes got huge like overnight. There are even more blooms since I took this picture about a week ago. I'm worried about their survival, though! Severe storms are forecast for tonight.

Purple coneflower! This is actually a native Oklahoma wildflower. I don't have too many blooms of this yet, but I think it's improving. They just got a slow start this year.

Another variety of brown-eyed susan. I have two or three varieties, as best I can tell. There's the big bushy type pictured above. Then this type, which is just a single stalk that shoots up from the ground, then there is another type with a black center, which I don't have a photograph of, because they weren't blooming a week ago.

I don't know what this is, but it's pretty! Also, check out my camera strap in the frame. I'm clearly a professional photographer.

More stuff that I have no idea what it is... It's also a native Oklahoma wildflower though, because you can see this stuff (the white stuff) blooming everywhere.

Cannas! Growing big and healthy, and looking much better than last year, so far. I think the monsoon hurt them last year. They are tropical plants, but too much rain makes them rot.

My asiatic lilies! My favorites.

I wish I had time to take more pictures before the storms arrive tonight. Unfortunately I'm working at both jobs today, which means I won't make it home until after dark. Oh, and I've even spotted my zinnias coming up! Last year I'm pretty sure they didn't emerge until July. I just don't know, I'm so new to this gardening thing! I guess things are just different every year. I purchased three more bags of mulch last week, bringing the running total for this season to 20 bags.

In other, completely unrelated news, I've decided to forego any additional "big" projects this summer and freakin' take a vacation. I haven't had a real, get out of town for a few days vacation since September 2006. I am overdue. My mental sanity and peace of mind are every bit as important as my house. Hopefully I'll be going to Austin with a friend for a few days in July.

P.S., I think I'll be givin' the ole blog a makeover soon. I've grown tired of my weak-ass header. Just as soon as I get some spare time and can sit down to fool around with (read: be clueless with) photoshop, I'll crank out something new.

The return of the toads!

Last night I spent a couple of hours working in my garden. I was mulching the big middle garden, because the weeds (mainly the evil, evil bermuda grass which I want to KILL) were really taking off. When lo and behold, what should creep out from under my yarrow?

A LITTLE BABY TOAD!



The toads are back! Last year, I had a family of toads living in my garden. Two big fat ones and one or two smaller babies. They would hop around and hide under the bushy plants. One time, one hopped into my storage shed. And I couldn't get him out. And I had to close him up in there in the July heat. I worried I had killed him. But I've yet to find a toad carcass (gross) in my shed, so I guess he escaped!

I love that my garden provides a natural habitat for animals big and small. I don't mind them. The butterflies are already coming around. The neighborhood cats (we have a lot of strays) like to come in my backyard to munch on my sage plant. Last night this beautiful Siamese that I see around all the time was hanging out near my sage, waiting to munch, but I scared him off. Oh well. At least he knows it's there!

My garden is doing pretty well. The only thing I'm slightly concerned about at this point are the coneflowers. Last year I had white and purple coneflowers that were absolutely beautiful. So far this year I can only find very small upshoots. My mom thinks they might not be very big yet because, until recently, we've had cool-ish nights. So perhaps the ground temperature has been slow to warm up this spring. The brown-eyed susans and lemon basil are all emerging. My lilies are a few days away from blooming.

Even though sometimes my garden makes me feel really overwhelmed, gosh. I still love it. I will take more pictures later in the week. I ran out of daylight last night.

(P.S., I want to keep a running tally of how many bags of mulch I use this year... Last year I lost count, but I think the total was around 30. So far this year, I've purchased 17. And loaded, unloaded, and hauled them ALL by myself in my Civic!)

As kind of promised...

So, I haven't had time to clean my house enough to post pictures of it here. But, I have been working on the yard, and I think it's gorgeous right now! All I've really done so far is weed, and put mulch down in places where I didn't last year (already used ten bags).

It really makes me happy to see things doing this well in my yard. Last year was pretty rough. A month of torrential rain, three weeks of standing water, the deck collapse, and then the ice storm. I let the garden get out of control last year, and spent most of my time just trying to catch up. When all the lemon basil came up, I didn't know what to do. When all the rudebeckias came up, I didn't know what to do. When all the zinnias came up, I *really* didn't know what to do. This year, I know that's all coming, and about when! So I can be prepared! Things will be a lot better this year. Really, this does wonders for my mood and outlook on life and being a homeowner.

This week marks the one year anniversary of closing on my house.

So here's a bunch of pictures of my backyard!

I chopped this garden in half this year. Previously, it ran all the way down my fence. But there was nothing growing down there. And it floods. None of the things pictured here bloomed last year, as best I can remember.

This is a yellow "Lady Banks Rose" vine. I think last year, the previous owners must have planted some clippings from my neighbors.

So pretty! I love them.

Also, there's this thing. I think it's a trumpet vine! It's sticky.

My Japanese Maple tree, which has grown *a lot* since last year.

Blooming irises!

My clematis vines are already blooming, and they look a lot bushier and healthier than last year.

I have no idea what this is, but it's cute!

In a few days, those clusters will open up into white flowers. It's a yarrow plant!

Last year, I pulled this up, because I thought it was weed. Then I saw a bunch of it growing plentifully at a local restaurant known for its gorgeous patio garden. Oops.

Here is a close-up of the flowers. I didn't edit this photo, that's the actual color! So vibrant.

My lilies, which are still growing, and will soon bloom in red, white, and purple. They multiplied like crazy over the winter! Last year, there weren't even half this many. These are asiatic lilies, and I have trumpet lilies on the other side of the garden.

Poor tree. This is the damage from the ice storm. I think this is the oldest tree on my property, and he fared the worst during the storm.

Looking out from the deck. I'm giving up on weeding that "courtyard" area, as I call it. I need to plant some ground cover there.

Yes, the deck pit is still there. Oh well.

The clumps of green leafy things are my coneflowers and rudebeckias. They'll start to bloom in May, and last through July or so. They've still got a lot of growing to do. Last year, some of the coneflower plants came up past my waist.

Coming soon: pictures!

I realized the other day it's been a good long while since I last posted pictures of what my house actually looks like. My house is really starting to feel like a home, with the addition of artwork (local and independent!). So sometime this week I'll take some pictures and post them. Oh, and of my yard too.

Speaking of the yard, I am deep in the process of researching square foot vegetable gardening.



I honestly don't know if I'll have the time or energy this spring to get it all set up in time to plant; our last frost here is April 15 and seeds would need to go in the ground no later than two weeks after that. But, maybe! The hardest part would be improving my soil. I'm learning about soil composition, and as expected in most Okie locales- my soil is super, super clayey.



(On the right is an example of clayey soil- pretty much what my backyard's soil looks like, and on the left, an example of "amended" clayey soil- with compost and organic matter added in. P.S., I'm beginning to feel like Dwight from The Office with my knowledge of *soil types.* Maybe I'll grow some beets?)

I would need to really work the soil down to a depth of a foot, adding in compost and other organic matter, to make trying to grow vegetables even worth the effort. I read in one book that soil is considered clayey when water stands on it for several hours after a rainfall. Several hours? Try several days! The southwest and northeast corners of my backyard can hold standing water for up to three or four DAYS after heavy rainfall. Of course, I won't be trying to grow vegetables in those locations, but it's probably indicative of my soil's overall quality. I don't understand how my big middle garden flourishes as it does. The previous owner must have improved that bit of soil before planting all that stuff.

In semi-related backyard news, severe weather season has finally began in Oklahoma. I love it. :) Just so as long as the hail, tornados, and flooding rainfall stay away from my house.

Fabric for dining chairs?

I'm still on the hunt for the perfect fabric with which to recover my dining chairs. I think I might have a winner:

It's Amy Butler's Midwest Modern Fresh Poppies. And here's a reminder of what my table and chairs look like:

Yes? No? I like it a lot.

In unrelated news, I worked some more in my yard last night. The phlox in the front yard is beautiful; I have a singular, solitary daffodil in the front and I don't know where it came from and I don't remember it blooming last year; and in the back, my clematis vines are beginning to grow, and ALL of my day lilies have emerged from the ground... And there's like a ton of them. Do those things multiply like irises? I'm wondering if I should thin them out.

Won't be getting much done this weekend, because I've got to help a friend pack and move...

Finding the good things

1. Yard work. With the aid of my bestest guy friend, I FINALLY finished cleaning up from the ice storm this weekend. The ice storm was three months ago. And finally, save for one huge dangling branch, there are no visual reminders of it in my yard. This is a good thing, for my mental health. Now if I can just stop freaking out every time the electricity flickers during a severe storm (hey, you'd freak out too if you went 120+ hours without).

1a. Also, I got my hands in my garden for the first time this spring, and YAY! I didn't kill everything last year! I was so terrified that my neglect and abuse (and the monsoon season we suffered last year) killed off all my perennials. Not so! My rudebeckias and coneflowers are already emerging, as well as my day lilies! Even my miniature rose bushes look healthy! The only thing not emerging yet are my cannas, but I've read that those are slow to come up here in Oklahoma. So maybe my garden will be absolutely beautiful again this year, like it was last:



My big project in the yard this summer is going to be a vegetable garden. I'm determined to grow my own vegetables. It remains to be seen whether or not this will involve building a raised bed (a.k.a., lots of hard work), or just working out of a few containers. Either way, I plan to grow tomatoes, peppers, green beans, okra, and zucchini. I'm still evaluating my site and planning the layout.

2. This.


Yes, I'm a member of "the cult." And I highly recommend this etsy seller! She included a bonus print, for free! So I got the one in blue AND the one in yellow. How nice. It will hang in my dining room, once I get a nice mat and frame.

3. Planning paint for the kitchen. I'm so excited about working with my kitchen in any way I can- who cares if I'm poor and can't afford new cabinets or a new dishwasher yet! I can paint, and I can re-contact paper the shelves and drawers.

4. My cat. A.k.a., my sweet kitty boo. My boo-bear. My Dante. He turns two years old this Wednesday! I love him dearly, and overall, he's a pretty good cat. Most of my friends say he is the BEST cat they've ever met. Even my friends who normally hate cats *love* my Dante. Happy birthday, boo-bear!!

(here he is passed out on his catnip scratcher, shortly after I moved in last year)

5. Spring time, which leads to summer time, and Oklahoma sunsets.

(as seen on the drive back from Okie Noodling last June)

6. Approaching one year. The end of April will mark the one year anniversary of closing on this house. Looking back at all the changes I've made so far makes me feel good. I feel proud of myself. I don't often give myself credit for my accomplishments, but damnit- I'm 25, single, and I OWN THIS HOUSE. That really is something to be proud of.

Ice Storm 2007!

These little ice storms are a different experience when you're a home-owner!! I've got nearly half an inch of ice outside. It's been *thundering and lightning* and raining ice at the same time! It started yesterday and will continue through the night tonight. I've got my first "snow day" off work tomorrow for the first time in over two years! I lived in Denver for a couple of years before moving back home last January, and not once during our fourteen to eighteen inch snow-blizzard storms did I get one snow day! Ahhh, it's good to be back home, where people are wusses about ice and snow. :) And I can laugh at all of them, with my mad ice-scraping skills and treacherous road driving skills.

But anyways, I've lost power five or six times tonight. It just flickers off and flickers back on. My trees are coated in ice, as are my gutters. I've heard a couple mysterious thumps, so I'm hoping I haven't lost any big limbs.

Before the storm arrived Friday night, I did manage to finally get some raking done! I hadn't raked leaves since I was a teenager, when I used to help out my mom. I forgot how tiring it is! With the aid of two friends, I finished the backyard. Twelve bags of leaves!! I didn't even get to the front yard, where the leaves are still ankle-deep and now frozen over. And, I still have my pumpkins... from Halloween... on my front porch and they're also frozen solid.

Everything should clear up by the middle of this week, then I can *finally* start Christmas shopping.

Damnit.

Why are plumbers so freakin' expensive?

In other news, I'm on my way to having a fixed front door lock. Just one more trip to Ace tonight for a different kind of screw. Then it will be time to tackle the kitchen door.

In addition to having Home Improvement ADD, I think I'm starting to get Home Improvement Guilt, or something. I imagine it's how most new mothers feel- like nothing you do is good enough, like there's something better you could always be doing, like all the other mothers are looking at you and thinking, "She's a horrible mother!" I feel this way about my house. I've really let my garden go, because I'm LAZY and hate watering (also, it probably has something to do with working 50 hours a week). I've killed a few mum plants, some vines, and even some bushes. I can excuse it by saying, "It's horrible for the environment to waste water on plants!" And while this is true, it also makes for an ugly garden. The whole thing is just TOO MUCH to take care of. I feel overwhelmed just looking at it from inside my house. It doesn't help that my next door neighbors have an absolutely stunning garden and yard, complete with koi pond, hand-built gazebo and arbor, and window boxes. Even though I've always made fun of it, I can totally see how people get roped into competing with their neighbors on things like this. It's easy to feel inadequate! I know I shouldn't care what my neighbors think. But I do wonder if they're mumbling under their breath, "Wow, she's really let that place go..."

I could also use this failure of mine as an opportunity to turn my backyard into something *I* want. I'm not crazy about the boring design, or the complete random mish-mash of flowers scattered here and there. I want something more environmentally friendly. Something more suited to Oklahoma's climate. Something easy to take care of.