How Does My Garden Grow?

Well folks, I garden. 

Ish. 

I'm trying.

Last year when I moved into my house, I had some flower beds in the front yard.  Left untouched, I mean truly - I didn't once water, rake, or even offer a long glance in their direction, this spring began with some overgrown shrubs on one side and a lone lantana plant on the other.  When my parents were coming down for Easter, I asked them about possibly putting in some roses or other plants.  "So mom, what exactly does that involve?" 

Ha.  I had no idea what that involved.  After approximately 17 minutes of explanation, I was convinced that I had zero interest in putting in my own sweat and tears (because there would definitely have been tears).  Thankfully, this was around the same time that I had hired a 19 year old - the older brother of one of my tutoring clients - to mow my lawn.  I quickly learned that the kid LOVES landscaping.  He knew what he was talking about and was delighted to make some money, but he truly actually enjoys it.  Over one long weekend, he transformed my front yard from being the blight of the block to something actually pleasant to look at!  I do have lots of before and after pictures of this transformation.  That being said, madre raised me to be super paranoid, so I'm not inclined to post pictures of the front of my house that can identify me for all of the interwebs to find.  Ask me in person, and I'll be delighted to show you.  

This did spur me on to want to do more with my backyard, though.  

I have attempted to keep plants alive in the past, with varying levels of failure.  It took me a whole year to kill a mother-in-law plant.  From what I've gathered, it's quite a feat.  In trying to keep the front yard plants alive, I've been reminded of an unfortunate truth: mosquitoes love me.  Not in the way that we all enjoy savoring a nice steak on a special occasion.  Mosquitoes flock to me and devour my blood like tween girls devour chocolate and cookie dough at a slumber party.  Enter pinterest: apparently there are gardeners who share my dilemma and were pleased as punch to share which plants send these blood-sucking monsters running (flying?) for the hills.  

I had purchased a few whisky barrels to plant things in my backyard, so I armed myself with a list of these mosquito-repellant plants and headed off to Home Depot.  Why yes, it turns out I spend a lot of time - and money - at Home Depot.  They should really sponsor this blog.  If not, I might need to start directly depositing a portion of my paycheck there each month.  Over several trips and many hours spent outside, here is the current set up. 

Barrel # 1 - yellow and orange bell peppers

I bought the plants already like this (as opposed to starting them from seed).  I have no idea how long it takes actual peppers to sprout, but if it works I will be beyond excited.  I could eat bell peppers with breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Oh, how I love them. 

 

 

Barrel # 2 - Angelonia

I had never seen this plant before, but they look a little like purple and white bluebonnets.  They were all over the internets as being fairly drought-tolerant and low maintenance.  The one in the very front is having a difficult time, but I'm trying to nurse it back to life.  I also left some room to plant something else in the middle of the barrel, but I haven't decided what just yet. 

 

Barrel # 3 - rosemary in the center, with sage on the side

I tried to leave some room in this guy too, for planting more when I get around to it.  Supposedly putting dried sage in a campfire keeps mosquitoes away, so I decided to grow some.  Watering this barrel is my favorite part of taking care of these plants because it smells amazing.

Barrel # 4 - some more angelonia, with some shrub in the center

What can I say?  It looked okay, so I grabbed two of them and put them in the cart.  No idea what it's called.

 I also potted some basil.  Word on the street is that basil is the easiest herb to take care of because you can tell by looking at it exactly what it needs.  Mine look pretty puny, and I guess we aren't communicating on the same wavelength.  I'll research some more.  In the meantime, though, I made some Berry Basil Tea a few weeks ago when I had friends over for dinner.  It is possibly the most Martha Stewart I've ever felt in my life - going outside to gather basil leaves to make my very own iced tea from scratch.  I was called out for heating up store-made frozen burger patties, so I had to compensate somehow.  

  The reviews on the tea were mixed.  The smell of the basil when you're right about to sip the tea does not correlate well to the flavor of the tea, so it is rather confusing for the tastebuds.  I happened to enjoy it.  I'm lazy, so this was semi labor intensive as far as recipes go.  To do over, I'd double it and get a full gallon of tea from one batch. 

"Cascading geranium" was one of the so-called mosquito repelling plants.  I have no idea if this is the same as regular geranium.  I saw no hanging geranium for sale.  I determined to make this geranium cascade.  

(Lesson learned while hanging the basket: if you are one inch shy of reaching the hook whilst standing on your tippy-toes, it will take less effort to grab a stool or chair to stand on and hang it properly than to clean up the mess made while attempting to just jump and pray that you can reach the hook, after which you will need to grab a stool or chair to stand on anyway.)

This is the last plant out back right now.  I think it's called something yucca.  It looked cool. 

 

My mom gave me those cute pots for Christmas, along with one medium sized green one to complete the set.  The green one had broken during shipping, so I pulled a Wonderlynn and decided to use the pieces to make a mosaic-tiled pot.   (The grout is still drying, and I'll need to clean it up a little.)

Lastly, I'm making my umpteenth attempt at composting.  This was another DIY bin I found online.  It's propped up on the bucket because I learned overnight that if you leave a bucket with food scraps on your porch, ants will find it.  Thank goodness you readers have me to share such wisdom with you.

 I also finally got around to fixing my fence.  It had looked like this for awhile now: 

 I went out yesterday armed with my drill and a box of wood screws and within two minutes I had this:

 

Yes.  I see the nail and screw still sticking out.  For whatever reason, they wouldn't go through the crossbar all the way.  (Is it called a crossbar?  I have no idea.  It sounds right?)  But it's an improvement nonetheless.  I am just nailing this whole adulthood thing. (Pun intended.)

The last thing I'll add is the massive success I experienced last night at the fire pit.  My parents also gave me a fire pit for my back patio as an early Christmas present.  I've spent several evenings out there embarrassed by my inability to keep anything other than cardboard and lighter fluid aflame.  

I had some friends over to watch The Sandlot and make s'mores afterward.  (That movie is easily in my top 5 favorites.  Without question.)

Thanks to the teepee method of fire building I found online and the secret ingredient fire-starter I am now aware of, I finally sustained a fire!  Friends, this was truly a proud moment.  Prior to last night, I felt great shame at my inability to carry on the pyromaniacal legacy of my family.  That shame is now gone.

Oh, and I haven't gotten a single mosquito bite on the patio in days!  (I also put up some sweet citronella tiki torches and flame pots to create a citronella force field around the patio.  It's fabulous.)

Alright, any guesses as to the secret fire starter ingredient?  Twelve gold stars to whoever can get it first (parents excluded, as I already told them)!

Love, 

Murphy & Me