The Zen Garden Wall

This is my lovely Zen Wall that got created by allowing nature to take it's course while wanting a privacy wall. This is the view from outside the porch.




This is the view from inside the porch. I haven't really put any effort into the outside view. I might start working on that.

I have to plant a tree...

...and I'm not in the mood for a cook out.

Actually, I think what is "wrong with me" is that I have not been out in my garden - working!! It's been raining, raining, raining, and that's really a good time to go out and dig, but it's just not worked out for me.

But here's the deal - my thing I have to do...I have a tree on my porch (The tree in the photo), and I really should not have done this, but, I love the way it twist and turns its self, and for some reason, I don't know why, I'm losing my mind? I saw it in a dream? Like I said, I don't know...

but I decided I wanted that tree growing right up on my porch, but when Mr. B saw what I had done i.e. stapling that tree to the outside of the porch area, (that second photo is the tree tacked up to the porch),

and he said, "oh, why did you do that?" He said it very quietly, but this lead me to believe that maybe it was not such a good idea? He denies that he meant anything at all, but come on, after 25 years? I can take a hint.

So, tomorrow, I have a day off...
so I need to plant this tree.

Sitting on my counter....

There they are. My first two ripe tomatoes! Notice that little zinna just popped in there for a bit of show, I guess. The sun was just going down and that's a bit of it's light on the right side of the photo.

On the ground you can see the egg shells I just put out this morning and haven't worked them in the ground yet. I read that tomatoes need calcium, so there ya' go ...

And here is a close up of my two first fruits. Aren't they just beautiful? Beefsteaks. Lovely, just lovely.

The best fertilizer is the gardener's shadow. ~Author Unknown

Little Strawberries

"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened."

~~Doctor Suess

These are not my very first strawberries....they are the second batch of strawberries. I use the term batch in jest.

You see, I ate the first batch (3) and they were so good. This batch, all three of them, I shared with Mr. B. He said they were good. And he was quite surprised!

I had no idea how to grow strawberries. I bought two plants. One I planted in the ground. It did nothing. It didn't even really grow. This one, I put in a hanging pot. Strawberries are supposed to have full sun. This one did not. The other one, which produced nothing, did. So I have moved the other one to a hanging basket.

Another thing I didn't know, along with nothing else on the list of things not known, was how many plants to buy. I have since read that one needs 4 plants per person in the household to have one pint of strawberries per month.

Each of these plants costs me $2.98. I would say then, that four plants per person would be quite an investment at first. But depending on the yield, might be a good one. But I don't know for sure. I'm not really quick at figuring these things out.

Most likely, I would never figure this out. Here's how it would go:

I would have a bunch of strawberry plants on my front porch. There would never be any strawberries on them because we would all eat them every time we passed by them. We would have no idea how many we ate, nor would we have any idea how many were ever produced.

I could probably be happy with that.

My latest Garden Discovery

I went out to my little garden the other day and found this little surprise.

Awhile back, I had used this area for a compost pile - then I decided to plant flowers, and I just covered up all the compost --

Well, seems something broke through. I knew it was a cantaloupe vine growing, but I never expected this!! ---

These photos were taken at two different times of the day. I notice that some insect is quickly eating into the vine. So, I don't know if I can save it. And, it's doubtful I can save the cantaloupe. I called a friend of mine who knows about these things, and she told me I have to find a way to support the cantaloupe because it will surely fall.

I don't know it's fate. But I was just pleased as punch when I found it hanging on the vine. Gave new meaning to 'hanging in there!'

Life is a celebration of awakenings, of new beginnings, and wonderful surprises that enlighten the soul. ~~ Cielo

My Pink Mandevilla

The are photographs of my front porch. The pink flowers on the edge of the porch are Mandevillas.

I noticed last week a real change in the plant, and so today I took a few leaves into the place where I bought them. Actually, they were a gift, but anyway -- I took the leaves in to ask what might be wrong with my Mandevillas, that I have grown to love so much.

I went over to the section of the store where the Mandevillas were and noticed that many of the ones there had leaves that looked the same as mine. A lady come around, and I showed her my leaves and she told me, "This looks like a mite has got them."

"But, they look the same as these right here." I said, and pointed to the ones for sale.

She started talking about mites and overwatering and pink mandevillas being more sensitive to things of nature as she lead me away from the flowers I was pointing to, and we ended in a section that sold fertilizer and treatment type things.

I listened to what she was saying and did buy a product that, she said, might save the Mandevilla, but I couldn't get out of my head that these people were selling flowers that might be diseased!

And she also told me that the leaves of the flowers needed to be discarded in an area away from other flowers as the other flowers, if sensitive to the same problem, could develop the disease, and I'm thinking, "Gee, you are not only selling flowers with disease, as your leaves look like my leaves, and you are leaving them right there together."

This was at Home Depot. This could be one of the reasons they are going out of business.

I am so sad about my Mandevillas. But doesn't that just represent life? It's here. And then, it's gone.

A 24 Hour Garden

Going to Home Depot used to be, to me, worse than having oral surgery. Now, I don't mind at all (Home Depot, not oral surgery). I spend all my time in the garden section whilst Mr. B doth fitter away looking at electrical fittings, tools used for wiring things that involve electronics, and such like that -- whatever --

The other day I was reading though the books there and found a suggestion for your garden - plant plants that bloom at different times of the day and night! There are catus, that have flowers that are just beautiful, there is a photo of one here, that bloom at night only, and different flowers are suggested for a night garden effect, like Moonflowers, and then there was a mention of different flowers that bloom in the brightest sun, and those that bloom only in early morning ...I really need to post photos of my own blooms.

I mean, it's all stuff that I probably knew, but you know what? I didn't realize it. And now it's dawned on me - and yes, this will be fun.

I've already noticed that gardens have a Monet kind of effect to them because depending on what time you go out to view, it will show you different colors, as some are sleeping late and some are rising early. I don't have any that bloom at night yet.

I'll probably make a trip to the library for a book on night plants before I head back to Home Depot for some more plants.

Right now, I need more dirt. Today I put down 160 pounds of dirt. My back is reminding me of that. I had to move two Rose Bushes that were stabbing me when I needed to go in and trim the Mandevillas. And I have been encouraging the Mandevillas to grow over this space I want them to cover by using fishing line to show them their direction. The roses didn't care for my intrusion on their space to work on the Mandevilla plan. So, today, I put them front and center -- Maybe they will be happier now.

How does my garden grow?

My garden attacked me today. I made a huge mistake. I neglected to have a presence of mind that would reveal the fact that one must be able to get into a garden to weed and nurture it, and not plant bushes _with thorns_ that will prick you, and not real gently, should you get in their way!

Then I dropped the loppers on my knee. Nice big chunk of knee out.

Then my hat got caught in the Saw Palmetto.

The my back went into a spasm because I decided I could move a 40 lb bag of dirt.

So there I was sitting on the ground, and thinking to myself, "Who are you kidding? You are like a third grader in this project!" Actually, maybe a third grader would have planted some nice little seeds in a row and some bulbs in order of height and fared better!

But that's okay. It's all good, and it's all a learning experience.

I shall continue to learn and as the years roll by, there will be something out there for the neighbors, walkers, and whomever to enjoy. That is why I began the project anyway. Well, not really -- I began the project for privacy.

I live in a tiny house on a small lot on the corner of a dirt road and a regular road. The lot across from me will never be developed (60 feet of it anyway - but we'll see who comes up against the zoning board as one never knows about these things.) Across the street from me are houses that seem very close, and so I decided I'd make for myself a really nice area to build a privacy barrier.

Then it got into a feeling of, well, if people are going to walk by here or drive around this corner, they really should have something nice to look at ...

And, another influence was the image that Helen Keller gave me in her autobiography when she describes the foliage around the cottage where she played. I loved that. I want that. So in order to get that, you have to plant things and get them going!

One friend said, "Wow in 5 years, this will be great!" Okay, I'll take that. I'm in for 5 years for sure. If I had my way, I could get into gardening as a career, but right now, it's just a hobby, as I don't have the time for it (nor the money) I would love to put into it. It's so much more fun to be outside! (I have learned that from my three year old nephew who brought that feeling back to me.)

God made rainy days so gardeners could get the housework done. ~Author Unknown

(I could address that as truth! I tried to get things done in the house today, but I ended up outside with the dirt, and my hands are rough, and my back is sore, but it feels good.)

One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides. ~W.E. Johns

(My garden is small, but I can see the bigness of it. I can see it spread wide and tall with color. I've never seen anything that far ahead before.)

My Therapy Garden

You can bury a lot of troubles digging in the dirt. ~Author Unknown

I think that if ever a mortal heard the voice of God it would be in a garden at the cool of the day. ~F. Frankfort Moore, A Garden of Peace


My garden is growing. Last night a walker came by while I was working out there and said, "oh that's beautiful, just so beautiful!"

In my mind, the garden is not beautiful ~ yet. My vision of what it can be has not manifested itself. And I thought, wow, what a reflection on life is that.

Here is this Walker, who probably walks by my garden often and has seen the little things I have added and comments on the beauty of what goes into taking care of things and nurturing things and just constantly checking and working to make things better - so she calls out "Beautiful.."

And because I am still working on my vision, my unnamed goal for my little quiet spot, that I don't see the beauty she sees.

But that's okay ~ We stil each see Beauty, as we all know from the old adage, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

Yesterday, I had added a Bird Bath that I have to set up on a paving stone. I love the look of it and can't wait for the birds to come round. There is a nest in a small scrub oak in my front yard, so maybe the babies will eventually bathe in my bath!

Some of the roots that were existing in the area are just to strong and rooty and can't be dug into, so I've had to use some 'out of the box' thinking in placing some plants in pots. I love it.

It's a little area that was existing when we got here. The main plants were a Saw Palmetto (ouch) and a couple of little lackey scrub oaks. Des wanted to nix them all, but I said no, please, give me a chance there.

I've added flowers and such, but what I really want in my garden and in my yard are the plants that are from my region. I grew up with them and would like one of each of them in my yard. They are the plants of my childhood.

Of course, I wish I had pictures from the beginning and I want to do that now as I progress out there. So Maybe, within the next few days, I'll have some photos of my Therapy Garden. I want to name my garden something. I have to think about this. I can't tell you how peaceful it is to think about my garden and what it needs.

My thoughts going there in my mind where my garden has taken hold in picture makes traveling there such a holy respite; I find such joy in thinking of the new things I will invite into my garden.

The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses. ~Hanna Rion

Take thy plastic spade, It is thy pencil; take thy seeds, thy plants, They are thy colours. ~William Mason, The English Garden, 1782