Back Yard Project: May 10, 2020

Yesterday I planted several new pretty plants in the "fallen logs" area in front of our back yard patio while Charlie cleared out brush in the back of our property, near our property line.

Pink Mandevilla

Red Begonia

Pink & Lime Caladiums

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New Guinea Impatiens

White Begonia (on left)

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Dead Nettle (in ground)

I found 2 Dead Nettle plants at the WalMart garden center. They're slightly shriveled up from dehydration but I think they'll perk up and be fine in a few days. I love the foliage colors of the Dead Nettle and the purple blooms are just as pretty.

I love how the morning sun filters in between the trees.

Flutter By

I was setting some plants in my flower garden when a beautiful butterfly 

decided to check out some nearby blooms...

Spicebush Swallowtail

Wildflowers

A few of the wild flowers growing in our back yard

this spring...

A couple of thistles were nearly as tall as me!  

I can't imagine falling into one of these prickly plants, OUCH!

Back Yard Notes

The new flowers and plants are taking well in the flower garden.  The carpet roses are heavy laden with blooms.  The day lilies are close to making their spring appearance.  Their bed needs a coat of mulch before the summer heat sets in. 

Daddy Wren perched upon an old weathered tree stump just a few feet from me and began singing.  It was a perfect moment to snap a good photo.  I watched for a while as the wren parents made several trips around the brush in the back yard then in and out of the nest box.  I could hear the baby birds chirping when a parent approached the nest.

Piper likes to come out of the brush and play when I'm in the area.  She gets hyperactive and does all sorts of silly things that make me laugh.  She plays with pine cones and sticks and digs around in the dirt and piles of pine straw.  She runs and dashes about and sometimes takes an unpredictable notion to climb halfway up a tree.  On this day, she wanted to include Butters in her play but he displayed no interest in it.  He didn't have time for her nonsense because it was interfering with his cat nap.  

I enjoy the sights and sounds of my back yard.  I treasure the abundant signs of life in it.

Plant Bed Makeover

Remember the photo of the new plants that covered our lower deck on April 12th? 

Those plants, many of them hostas, are now planted in their new home beneath the pine and oak trees.  The varieties of hosta included in this plant bed are Christmas Tree, Diana Remembered, Paul's Glory, Halycon, Queen Josephine and Orange Marmalade.  

New plants added this year also include pink and purple calla lilies, bleeding hearts, autumn embers azaleas and pink asiatic lilies.  

It wouldn't have been possible to do this project makeover without my sister's help.  She did all the hard stuff while I watched her and supervised.  Great job!  I'm so grateful for her.  She was so proud of her accomplishment too- it shows in the photo of her below ;)

A recap of what this area of our back yard looked like in spring of 2015, about 6 months after we moved in.  The back yard mainly consisted of fallen pine straw, pine cones and dead leaves.  Good soil was plentiful in the area under this group of trees but had to be built up enough to add plants under them.  Most of the original plants have died.  Of those in the second photo, only the calla lilies and a couple of hostas remain to this day.  I'm not sure about the white caladiums- they looked good last year, but have not yet appeared this year.  It's still a little early for them.

I love how the back yard is looking- it's wonderful!