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Monday, June 12, 2006

No, I haven't cooked yet

When we bought this house the previous owners were a bit, uhmm.. spastic? regarding their planting. It seemed that either the lady or gentleman of the house liked to buy hedges and rose plants and just dig a hole randomly all over the front yard and front beds. I wish I had taken a picture of what it looked like before so you could really understand what I mean be spastic. We moved in at the end of May in 2003 and one of the first jobs I gave hubbs was to tear out the rose plants (I'm just not a rose lover) and the hedges so we could plant what we liked. After all of the painting and minor repairs were done in the house, it was my job to put the inside of the house together and his job to make the outside look pretty. Hubbs and I dated for a few years before living together and he always told me about his gorgeous lawns and award winning beds, so I felt more than comfortable allowing him to do his creative thing outside.

With that said.. imagine my shock and utter surprise when I went outside to see what he had accomplished. It had looked as if the previous owners' spirits had taken over Hubbs' body because he planted everything in a total mish-mosh way. There was no balance at all. I am a balance freak, people. I'm also thinking I must have some kind of compulsive manic disorder because when things aren't balanced.. I shake. I can't look at it. I start to sweat. I can't stop thinking about whatever it is that isn't balanced until it's finally balanced. I'm weird, eh?

But what to do? He spent hours working out there and he seemed pleased with his work. I did a good job keeping a smile on my face while he was giving me the tour but that was only because my mouth went dry and my lips were stuck to my teeth. Which, really? I'm thankful for. I didn't want to tell him that this was wrong, all terribly wrong. I wanted to just get over my silliness and be happy that all the pretty flowers were planted and there were no more hedges and rose plants. So I kept my mouth shut and thanked him for a job well done. I made it through that summer without spontaneously combusting into a pile of unbalanced ash.

That's as far as I made it.. I started making comments the following summer. Little things said here and there. Still, I controlled myself to not go batshit crazy and go out there and tear up the two beds. I did my thing and weeded and mulched. It was this spring that I just couldn't hold back any longer and I asked him if he'd be willing to move some plants around because the unbalance of the beds was truly killing me inside. teeeee! Thankfully, he didn't get upset and actually agreed with me that they were looking a "bit" off as the hostas had gotten huge and took up most of the space on the right side. Phew - thank you hostas! So yesterday we got to work. We moved every single plant to a more balanced and serene layout. And we started to make a bed in the backyard bigger. We didn't finish until about 7:30 and we've still got mulching to do sometime this week. Next weekend is the job of taking all the hedges out of the back yard to prepare for the new wood privacy fence. Wooo Hooo!

Here are a few pictures of some of the new plants we purchased. And the herbs.. the glorious herbs :D

Gerber Daisies
Gerber daisies for my tiny wagon

Way cool autumny colored plant that I don't know the name of!
The glorious fall leaf looking plant I was telling you about - isn't it gorgeous?

basil/sage
The top of my strawberry pot has basil and sage

parsley/lemon verbena/cilantro
This side shows italian flat leaf parsley, lemon verbena and cilantro

Chives/dill/thyme
And this side shows chives, dill and thyme

Tiger lilies
And these are my Tiger Lilies.. they really took off this year, look at all the blooms! Yay!

Okay well there are more on my Flickr account if you want to peruse them.. I think if you just click on one of the above pictures it'll take you there. Have any of you seen that autumn leafy looking plant before? It's a perennial and someone at the nursery told me that it lasts year round. I'm wondering what it looks like during the winter?

Alrighty, am a happy floral'd camper now. I can get back to cooking this week! I miss my kitchen :)

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Comments on "No, I haven't cooked yet"

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (6/12/2006 10:21 AM) : 

Love the tiger lillies, but most of all I love those pots! What a fantastic idea! I don't think I've ever seen pots being utilised that well...perhaps I've never seen strawberry pots before? Are the plants meant to be grown all over the surface, or is it your creative genius at work?

 

Blogger Ziz said ... (6/12/2006 10:58 AM) : 

gorgeous! :) I am so jealous about your herbs..I tried doing herbs in kansas and they absolutely did not flourish. :( sadness.

 

Blogger Acme Instant Food said ... (6/12/2006 11:53 AM) : 

When are we coming over for pasta with fresh basil? Your "autumn" looking plant is cool. Reminds me of grape leaves as they start to turn before going dormant.

 

Blogger Lis said ... (6/12/2006 4:16 PM) : 

Ellie - yep, the pots are made so that the strawberry plants poke through the holes. I just use them for herb in the summer. :D

Ali - thanks! Well I usually end up losing the parsley half way through summer, so we'll see how this summer goes!

Kevin - Since my basil plant is rather mature, how does Wednesday night sound? Around 6:30ish? ;)

 

Blogger Acme Instant Food said ... (6/12/2006 5:21 PM) : 

Hhmmm...well, Ed doesn't get home till 7 at the earliest, plus a 3 hour flight, add 2 (or 3?) hours time difference and ground transportation time. Maybe we'll see ya around 2:30 am or so?

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (6/12/2006 6:25 PM) : 

I'll bet the yard looks great now.If we don't get rain soon,everything in my yard is going to be crispy!

 

Blogger Ed Tep said ... (6/13/2006 1:05 AM) : 

Lis - Your little strawberry pot herb gaardn is sooooo CUTE! I haven't had much luck with herbs since my college days. Perhaps I need to give em one last shot.

 

Blogger Lis said ... (6/13/2006 6:29 AM) : 

Kevin - that's perfect! I keep leftovers in the fridge, right next to the milk. Plates to the left of the sink, glasses to the right. Bread is always on the chop block so don't forget to cut yourselves a good chunk. And there is ALWAYS Mayan Chocolate icecream in the freezer if you guys want a lil somethin sweet afterwards. Guest bedroom is down the hall first on the left.. bathroom at the end of the hall. Oh and would you mind puttin the coffee on before yas hit the sack? I can't wait to see yas! :D

Emily - luckily so far this year we've had rain pretty consistently, but I know what you mean and I know we'll be dealing with the same thing before too long. Summer and high water bills.. the only drawback to having a nice looking yard and productive garden.

Ed - Why thank you! I guess the only advice I can give is water every day, high sun during most of the day and shade during the latter part of the day, seems to work for me. If more than one starts to look as if it's suffering, I'll fertilize the pot and that helps. But I usually do end up losing the parsley for some reason. I'm wondering how the cilantro will do as it's the first time I've grown it. Good luck if you try again!

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (6/13/2006 4:04 PM) : 

I love the way you very diplomatically brought your husband over to your side. Well done!

 

Blogger Rachel said ... (6/13/2006 7:07 PM) : 

Our yard was the same way when we moved in. They just bought random things, plopped them where ever and left the tags on!

 

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