Sunday, March 8, 2009

A Productive Weekend


Double Mist


Our weekend started off early on Saturday morning. I managed to wrangle Jamie out of bed to ride to my favorite spot to watch the sunrise. However, there would be no sun on this morning. The fog was so thick it was almost noon before the sun decided to make an appearance. That’s okay, at least we got an early start on the day!

Single Mist


We got our new martin house put up and the wrens wasted no time building their little nests in it. We pulled it back down this afternoon and removed all the material they had dragged into the house. Nothing personal against the wrens, but there is a reason why they call it a martin house. I don’t know if we’ll get any martins this year or not, however I do intend on keeping it clean for them if they do show up.

Martin House


We also put up two new bluebird houses and of course, the wrens found them too. But they’re a lot easier to clean out than the martin house. The martin house isn’t hard to take down, it’s just a nuisance to have to do it.

Bluebird House


We also managed to get the remaining two of six poles in place for the climbing roses; you can only see five in this picture. The roses will be trained to climb up the ten foot poles and they will follow a steel cable that will be threaded through the top of the poles. We already have the holes drilled but the cable hasn’t been put through them yet. It will take a little while for the roses to get to that point; meanwhile, the cable can be put in on a later date and that money can be used on something we need now (like more plants for the garden).

Speaking of… We bought and planted several new plants this weekend. We purchased 4 variegated Winter Daphne, 2 Dwarf Alberta Spruce, 2 Dwarf Mugo Pines, a Tea Olive and a Crepuscule Rose. In addition to getting all that planted, we also managed to get the large side bed cleaned up, weeded and were able to get several more things potted up to give to friends.

Rose Polls


On our ride back from our favorite nursery, we drove past a concrete statuary place in the middle of nowhere. We decided to stop and ended up leaving with two new planters for the end of the patio; we really like them, too. The plan is to place a bench between the two planters. We are going to place an eight foot high trellis the width of the patio, that will cap off the end of it, behind the planters and bench. It will be placed just behind the three daylilies you can barely see emerging in the picture. I’m not sure what we will plant on it; right now we are leaning towards several different complimentary colors of thunbergia until we come up with a more permanent solution. I’m also considering Evergreen Wysteria or some other evergreen vine. We are certainly open to suggestions and welcome any you may have.

Planters


It was a good weekend...

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love the concrete planters. It will look nice with a bench. I also like the poles you put up for the roses. That should look sooo good once the roses are on the cable. Looks like you two really did have a productive weekend.

Jan
Always Growing

Unknown said...

You sure did have a productive weekend! I love that you have tenants in your martin house already.

Randy Emmitt said...

Very cool climbing rose poles! The wrens you might want to provide housing for them too, then they'd leave the other nest boxes alone.

Randy said...

Jan,
I think the planters will look really nice when we get the screen up and covered. Jamie and I have decided to move just a tad more to the formal side for our garden with more evergreens so this will be the start.

Jodi,
My legs are so sore I can't touch them with a powder puff from all that bending up and down. I have to use my legs more since I'm not suppose to be bending my back. Boy do I fell it this morning, but it was soooooooo wonderful to be outside working again, even if I did have to be cautious of my every move.

Randy,
Welcome to our place!I didn't think about getting them their own homes. I would have to erect a sky scraper to house all of those wrens! I think the poles are going to look really nice once the roses start to climb on them. We've started to tie them now, they should have a good start by the end of the summer.

Randy said...

Yes, I enjoyed every single minute in the garden yesterday while we were working. Like Randy though, I am soooo very sore this morning! I had to skip the gym, because there's no way I was going to work out this sore. LOL... Besides, my neck and arms are just as terribly sunburned as Randy's. ;0)

--Jamie

Anonymous said...

Wow you did have a productive weekend. All those upcoming projects are really making your garden a beautiful destination. Can't wait to see the roses do their thing on the new posts. Looks like you found some great plants & the urns are a nice touch to the patio. :)

Phillip Oliver said...

Where to begin - the photo of the trees in the fog are amazing. I love the martin house although I have to say - poor wrens!

Where did you find Crepuscule? PFTP? That rose used to be on my wish list and at one time was hard to find.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

You did get a lot accomplished this weekend. Doesn't it feel good to get something accomplished in the garden especially this time of year??!!

You could plant more than one plant on your new trellis. Something that will bloom several different seasons.

Anonymous said...

You guys know how to stay on task and get things done. I have to say I'm envious that you both work on these garden projects together. I'm sure a willing partner makes it all more fun---and you get a lot more done!

I like Mugo pines and look forward to seeing pics of yours.

Jan said...

Everything looks lovely, and it sounds like you guys had a wonderful weekend. I wish you well on your journey to a newer and even better garden this year! It's amazing what can happen, given a bit of time! I will be watching as your vines grow and your Eden continues to take shape;)

Jennifer AKA keewee said...

Thanks for stopping by Keewee's Garden. To answer your question about germinating seeds in peat pots.Our season here can be quite short so, yes it is a good idea to give some a head start. Then, when they are planted outside, protect them against a frost, uncovering them in the AM. Some seeds, as I am sure you are aware of,do not like to be transplanted. I am fairly new at growing vegetables so this is still all a learning experience for me

Randy said...

Racquel,
We’ve got a very long list of things we want to get done this year. I hope we get a lot of it accomplished. I’ll feel a lot better about the urns once we get the trellis up and the bench.:-)

Hey Phillip! Thanks for the compliment on the pics! I’ll send you an email in a minute.

Lisa,
I was so sore when I got up this morning I could hardly walk, but it was that good kind of sore. You know what I mean? I felt accomplished!

Pam,
I can’t tell you how wonderful it is that we are able to do this together. We are so into working in the garden together that we don’t do a project until we can do it together. Jamie and I make an incredible team in the garden!

Our Mugos are tiny right now, only about a foot across, but I’ll post pictures of them soon.

Jan,
We had a positively glorious weekend! Jamie and I have such very hectic schedules; the time we spend in the garden is “our” time. I look forward to every precious minute we get to spend together. When ever we are alone together in the garden all sorts of magic happens.

Randy said...

Thank you KeeWee,
That's why I was asking, I have success getting them to sprout, but they don't usually do well when I transplant them. I'll give it another try. :-)

Randy said...

PS to Lisa:-)
What do you think about planting Chineses Evergreen Wysteria and Butterfly vine together? That is providing we can find them.

Skeeter said...

Looking good! Love the poles as they add a great look and the bench will be wonderful with the planters. I spotted decoy Purple Martin birds at Lowes. I did not pay too much attention to them but think they were meant to attract the real birds to the yard. You may want to investigate that... I sent you an email about sending you some Sweet Gum Pods… Have a good day!

Randy said...

Skeeter,
We saw those decoys too! We were trying to figure out if they really work or not. Do you know?--
Randy

Gail said...

You have had a busy and very productive day! It's important that we do our best to keep the economy afloat so let's buy more plants! That's my motto! Btw, nice planters!

I love the simplicity of your climbing rose system...Did I miss which ones you plan to plant?

gail

Randy said...

Gail,
We have Dortmund, Peggy Martin, Dr. Van Fleet, Red Cascade, Crepuscule and Caldwell Pink. After talking with Phillip at Dirt Therapy I think we are going to replace the Caldwell with another climber and let it use the fence as a trellis.

Connie said...

Love those planters and the Martin house. And roses growing on and between those poles...well, I can only imagine how pretty that will be.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

First I have to say .. I am totally IN LOVE with those pictures of the trees in the fog .. absolutely stunning .. hope you saved a full pixel count of it .. what are the chances of me getting a full copy so I can make a poster of them ? .. I know .. no chance girl .. right ? BIG sigh !
Love the houses .. love that you have an Alberta Spruce (honorary Canucks !!) way to go !!!
Stop telling me about the chocolate .. I mean it .. STOPPPPP !!!!! LOL

Skeeter said...

Dont know if they would work. I have always wondered if Duck Decoys work for hunters but dont know any duck hunters...

Read on the box and see if they have a money back guarantee!

Randy said...

That's a good idea... I was looking at the decoys at Lowe's too... That's where the martin house was purchased... I didn't read much about them on the package though... We've got to go back and check it out again... Besides, a weekend doesn't pass us by that we're not at Lowe's, Home Depot or one of the many, many local nurseries around here... LOL... We're such "garden-heads" it isn't even funny...

--Jamie

Wayne said...

My goodness! At the rate your going, you'll have no lawn left!
And good luck with the Wrens. They can be very persistant!

Kylee Baumle said...

Good weekend, indeed!

Those wrens...they keep making nests in the birdhouses here at Our Little Acre, too. We have a bluebird house exactly like yours and we had a sparrow in it last year. This year, we are determined to keep it clear for the bluebirds!

Randy said...

Connie,
I hoping that the roses do well over there, nothing I’ve every planted there has thrived. I may need to amend the soil. We’ll find out shortly. :-)

Joy,
I thought the spruces were a nice choice. :-)

Wayne,
The only lawn we want will be the walking paths. We still have several beds to put in, so it will become less and less.

Kylee,
Do you have any idea when the bluebird should show up? We say a male and a female one day a couple of weeks ago and nothing since then.

Kylee Baumle said...

Sorry, I don't know. I've really only ever seen one bluebird here. :-(

Monica the Garden Faerie said...

All the bird houses are great and I'm pretending I don't see the blooming forsythia. No reason.

Roses and Lilacs said...

Your plans sound great. I can't grow Crepuscule here (too cold) but I had a friend in Alabama that had two huge ones growing up the side of her home. Absolutely a must have, stunningly beautiful old garden rose.

Your bench will be perfect between the planters.
Marnie

Randy said...

Monica,
It seems everything has decided to sprout this week. You would have to pretend not to notice a lot of things in the garden right now. :-)

Marnie,
I’m having a fit to go buy a bench to go in that spot right now, but we really need to recover from the spending spree this past weekend first. Darn it, patience never have been one of my strong points

Randy said...

I shall have to agree, I'm more than ready to go ahead and purchase the bench needed to settle between those planters, but Randy's right! We MUST not go overboard right off the bat... LOL... We do have a way of spending more than necessary, but our garden is our pride and joy and our continued hope is that it can be such year round ;0)

--Jamie

Chandramouli S said...

Love the bird houses and of course the planters. Would love to see the climbing roses in complete profusion (never seen before).
On the screen/trellis, a combination of white and blue butterfly pea would look great. When in bloom, your screen would look as if it's full off tiny white and blue butterflies! If you get the double-petalled blue variety, it'd be A-one!

Randy said...

'Mouli,

I've never heard of the butterfly peas before, but I am going to google it. From the description you give, it sounds as if they're rather beautiful in bloom ;0) Who knows what will wind up on that trellis? LOL...

--Jamie

Annie in Austin said...

Hi Randy & Jamie,

What strides you've made - you take big steps!
When we moved to this house there was a decrepit Martin house and all it attracted was sparrows so we took it down.

We found out that Martins don't usually like the houses unless they have a fairly large, clear approach area and ours was a couple of feet from a big pecan tree.

If you're interested here's a video from the Central Texas Gardener TV show on our PBS station. The garden is interesting and one part you might like is the Purple Martin colony on the property.

Annie at the Transplantable Rose