Homefront: Plants and Pixies

This leaf is shaped like a heart. LIKE A HEART! adorableness.

Our lawn is crunchy and brown in most places, but at least I have some very drought resistant hedges. And since I am lethal to any house plant that enters my abode, these bush trimmings make for a dandy fresh, no guilt it it dies plant. And, it lasts for well over a week or two, just add water as it evaporates.

 Select cuttings with nice, crisp, green leaves and several little branches for fullness. Remove any leaves with brown spots, cuts, bird poo, spider webs... and the lower leaves that would otherwise be rotting in the water.

I love my thrifted urn. $2 or something.

I like to stack things on books. Especially awesome vintage books with charming illustrations and titles. Like my, They Marched with Spartacus (amazing cover, why didn't I photography it?) and Pound Foolish ones.

This little elfin pixie boy was found with my mom at my fav. antique mall before I moved. He is clearly vintage, I'm thinking 40's? It is only stamped with it's place of origin, Japan. I've seen this collection once online but do not know anything about them. Does anyone know?

I love these polka dot curtains, $5 at Home Depot on clearance. I wish they had an army of them, to add in our living room, but this was the last set.

What a cutie patootie.

Homefront: Perfecting a Simple Front Yard

I thought I would do a little update on our new rental's yard. I posted here about how half of the plants were dead, and the roses were badly diseased, tree branches overgrown, weird growths around the trees... so, I did lots of pruning and transplanted a lot of the plants, but they all died anyways. I planted some flowers and the ornamental grasses, as well as some basil and cilantro seeds that are sprouting quite nicely. I love cooking with fresh herbs!

 That dirt area is where the herb seeds are.

**(edited to add, a huge rosemary, basil and cilantro bush are there now... and the rose bush came back!)

These pics were taken Labor Day weekend, so the flowers have grown a lot since then, but you get the idea! Amazing how getting rid of all of the disheveled looking plants in the garden and around the trees made the home feel much more cozy. It is really starting to feel like a 'home sweet home'.

 

For comparison's sake... before and after.

Homefront :Salvaging a Garden

Here it is. The yard. Amazingly, I've done a lot of work in it. And no, we do not have a lawnmower yet. This post is me showing you what I have and asking for lots and lots of help! First question: Those ivy things in pots were 50 cents apiece. Do they have to come inside, or can they stay outside in full sun?

Because our budget is limited, I am trying to find creative ways to garden. Considering the weird placement of plants, which looks even weirder with the blank spaces from all of the dead plants I pulled... I am considering pulling all of the plants around the trees and putting them in the garden area closer to the house. Screwed up Texan, I will be needing your advice, since you are familiar with the climate and  plants and all ...

These ornamental grass things were 1 cent for a planter of six. So, I spent 2 cents for twelve half dead plants.

My two minuscule roses have yielded about six flowers between them in the last 4 weeks. Unfortunately, they only last about two days, and the leaves are in pretty poor shape.

 "I'm here!" ~miniscule rose

 I thought those ornamental grasses shown above would look nice against this brick wall , where the two minuscule rose bushes and those three uneven smallish hedges dwell.

The little bushes have these green berry things on them, what kind of bush is that?  I'm thinking of removing those hedges and putting them somewhere else... or at least placing them evenly somehow. "scratches head'"

I got these moss rose little things. They are really pretty and my mil has some that are doing very well. I know they do well in containers, but I hope to put them in the garden. Trying to figure out a good spot. Suggestions?

The large rose bush next to the entry is in poor shape. The one next to it, is in so much despair, that it is laying sideways. I think I have seen maybe three roses between the both of them  in the last 3 weeks.

See how the large 'rose bush' it is growing on it's side? Can I remove it and plant it standing more upright? If I remove these two  rose bushes, (b/c I feel like they are in a weird place, where do I put them?) See the dried up looking lavender there between the roses?

The lavender (right?) flowers haven't been very bright, is that because the blossoms are dead? A few around the tree has just started to get some color back, but the ones in front of the rose bushes and the hedges are pretty dried up looking. Anyways, they are planted in random spots just on the very right and left of the hedge and around the backside of one tree.  I was considering pulling the ones from the tree and spreading them more evenly in front of the hedge.

Crazy, orange bugs like them apparently.

Speaking of the hedge... guess what I found under it and behind it? These succulent type things.

  I was thinking of maybe removing them and adding them to the garden next to the brick wall. But is the root system all weird now from all of the shoots that came up from the main plant, so I wouldn't be able to dig it up?  Do they prefer the shade, which is why they are under the hedge? I would love to have them actually, visible in the garden!

Now, time for the weirdness of the tree placement plants. Seriously, why is it all uneven? My ocd is going crazy. (I know I need to remove those pine needles... eye roll)

Hey little guy, what kind of plant are you? I see your root system is half sticking out of the ground. Too bad all of your friends died from that.

Hey there, are you a begonia? I can't tell because you are so dried up and shriveled. Poor thing.

Silver dust, one of my favorite plants of all time. All I can say, is, "I'm sorry".

What are these? Weed things? Shoots from trees? What to do with them? Plant in the garden, or pull them?

(This here tree on the far right, the other half has a whole bunch of dead and barren branches)

Speaking of trees... what kind of pine tree is this with the crazy cones?

What kind of tree produces these crazy seed pod things that my kids like to smash?

Well, there you have it. My yard, you know it intimately now. Any suggestions on placement or what I can do to maximize what I have with little cost would be most appreciated. I would love to get some more plants, maybe some flowers to add color to the hedge area and the walkway in front of the brick wall, but I want to move plants around first to utilize what is there already and save some money.

allan becker ~ garden guru

The type of landscaping we love most, are cottage style gardens with tall ornamental grasses, rocks, wild flowers, lots of growth and herbs such as cilantro, basil, chives, rosemary and such interspersed throughout. I would love honeysuckle or hydrangea and full rose bushes, though trying to stay away anything that climbs or needs a trellis, since we are renting and I don't know if they would approve of that. Lots of white flowers, with some different colors throughout, but not placed in pristine rows, varying heights. Something, free and unscripted. Like me.

Homefront: Succulent Succulents

My husband was given this lovely one pot succulent garden a few months ago for his new office. It was so cute and managable then and has happily thrived in front of a very sunny window. Boy do these things grow fast! I'm not used to it, since I usually kill most plants within a month or so.

Wanting a succulent garden of my own, I purchased cuttings from matilda mae. While they haven't even arrived here yet, the hubs brought home his succulent garden for some repotting and all that jazz.

Now, I am going to have all of these cute little succulents again, and I have this beast of a garden to figure out what to do with. I'll be sending it back to my husband's work, but no doubt some of it will have to stay here.

So, wonderful people, WHAT am I supposed to do with these... and more importantly, HOW! Can I still leave some in one pot, or will they all need to be separated in their own pots?

The little ones, maybe I can put in a terrarium (following these directions here), but the larger ones... do they need pruning (one has a dried up flower on top)... ? How much bigger will they get? Maybe I'll give some cuttings away... I suppose I'll need to figure out how to do that! I know google is my friend, but so is practical advice. (Thanks Julie, I'll be reading you blog, A Succulent Life for tips!)