News Travels Fast!

i IM'd a couple of blogging friends this morning to tell them about this spot - and not only did they both already know, but they've added garden spot to their blog links. modern technology in action. so, thanks larry, mike and amy for welcoming me to your worlds.

seems i wasn't the only one in our circle to catch the bug. rick and heather (and jack) also started a blog this week.

and yes, i do find gardening very, very therapeutic. i'm a much nicer, happier person after i've spent some time digging and trimming.

Butterfly Blooms.

i looked at the butterfly weed this morning as we left the house - one of the plants has flower buds and looks like it could bloom by the weekend. but then we have a cold front coming in later today (highs 50s, lows 30s) so the poor thing might get too chilly and lose them.

Pruning.

i like pruning. i'm anxious about the roses; i've never grown roses before, but they weren't very well cared for the last couple of years and definitely need some trimming. so i've been very conservative with the roses thus far. there is one that i want to relocate, but i haven't decided where it should go. the poor plant gets bumped by the driveway gate every time the gate is opened; either the rose predates the gate (possible), or someone wasn't thinking when they decided to plant a rose behind a gate.

the plumbago by the side fence was getting unruly last fall, even after i cut it back a few times. so this weekend i cut most of it back. all the branches spreading into the yard have been cut to 12-18 inches long, and the bits that were damaged by a couple of cold nights have been removed.

then there are the hollies. i don't like hollies to start with, and ours don't appear to have been trimmed for a couple of years so they are very overgrown - too tall, too wide. last weekend i was pretty brutal with them, although i think they'll be fine. as i told darin, if it doesn't kill them, it will make them stronger. if it does kill them, we can put in something we like better.

Fall Plantings. last fall, when the local nurseries were having their end-of-season clearouts, we bought some miscellaneous plants. i'm most pleased with the butterfly weed and mexican heather. this weekend i'd like to try to start some cuttings. i'll also trying some cuttings from the plumbago, since the three we have in the back yard are so wonderful.

What's Growing.

good question, actually. we moved into our (first) house in august 2001. part of our attraction to this particular house was (is) the generously-sized lot and the towering pine trees. and all the other greenery, not all of which we've identified. here's what i do know we have:
- crape myrtle
- plumbago
- roses
- ixora
- several holly bushes
- asparagus ferns
- Mexican false heather (Cuphea hyssopifolia)
- Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) - the butterfly weed really does draw monarchs. we had caterpillars in december!

there are lilies of some sort; maybe a couple of azaleas. lots of shrubby things of uncertain heritage. oh, and several non-pine trees.

slowly, slowly, i'm identifing the rest. although at this point, we still don't know what kind of grass we have.

we also seem to have a fine crop of squirrels.

My First Post.

this is too darn easy...now, instead of puttering in the real garden, i can write about what i'd do if i were in the garden, and putter with blog templates instead.

in fact, i'm hoping that this will serve as an electronic replacement for all the bits of paper with scribbled notes and the miscellaneous emails i send myself with links to websites of useful/interesting gardening info. it will also (ideally) be a journal for me to note what i've done to the yard and flowerbeds as well as what i hope to do.

i was "inspired" to start a blog by the several friends and acquaintances who have their own. the guilty parties are named on the right