.
A local resident posted these photos, (which were actually postcards from 1933) of our neighbor’s house on our town’s FB page recently.
.
.
It’s a beautiful old home which was once a rose garden farm.
.
.
That must have been something to see. Can you imagine living next door to acres of roses? The scent would be heavenly.
Less fragrant but no less impressive? Our current neighbor’s vegetable farm across the street.
.
.
There’s a long tradition of growing in my little part of the world.
👍
.
.
Most years I wouldn’t have given this article a second thought.
.
.
But with a lawn comprised mostly of brown grass and numerous half dead flower beds? It caught my eye.
.
.
Interesting….
.
.
Who knew gin could solve my garden woes?
.
.
Drunks fare better than abstainers? Anyone who’s seen me navigate icy winter sidewalks after a few cocktails could have told you that.
😉
.
.
The drought is still turning our lawn into sandpaper and killing every living thing I’ve planted… so right now? I’m liking these.
.
.
Though I’ll have to switch ‘something green’ to ‘something brown’. I’ve got plenty of those.
.
.
A duck popping spaceship? I like! Sign me up.
.
.
Lord Dudley Mountcatten? I always like him… though the man cave leather club chairs didn’t like his claws.. at all.
.
.
Oh yes, that’s a tee shirt I definitely like.
.
.
Keith.
If you don’t like him now, no worries. He’ll wait until you do.
.
.
Since the stone border was complete, it was time for the next step. Garden soil.
.
.
Thankfully our local Agway had a giant pile and it was only a few miles away.
.
.
(Action shot)
Though why my husband kept bringing back such small piles I don’t know.
.
.
He made 7 trips, half a yard each time. And I kept spreading it while he went back for more.
.
.
I’m hoping it’s good soil.
.
.
But I’ll mix some fertilizer in before I plant just in case.
.
.
Another action shot.
.
.
It should not surprise you to learn that halfway through the process the husband decided I was raking incorrectly and relieved me of the job.
🤣
.
.
Viola!
.
.
The what seemed like never ending stone perennial garden border construction is complete.
.
.
Yes, it’s much smaller than I wanted.
.
.
But I’m pleased with it all the same.
.
.
It was a lot of work and the husband did a great job.
But the best part? Our marriage survived all the arguments it caused.
Next up? Dirt and flowers!
.
P.S….. I wrote this a few weeks ago. The lawn is actually the crunchy brown from yesterday’s post.
.
.
Our carefully tended lush green lawn is gone. Baked to a crisp by record breaking heat and dry weather.
.
.
How dry? Severe drought dry…
.
.
How hot?
.
.
Feels like 108 degrees before 10 in the morning hot. I live in Maine FFS! This is not supposed to happen.
That bright green patch of sod we laid?
.
.
Dead.
My full and healthy for the past 20 years boxwood shrubs?
.
.
Dying.
The brand new flowering crabapple tree we planted on June 7th over my mother’s ashes?
.
.
Might soon be joining her in the hereafter.
.
.
It’s beyond depressing at this point and moving toward the panic stage. We live in the country and rely on a well for water. As much as I’d like to water the garden, I can’t. Hell, I’m down to doing laundry twice a week and not flushing for number one.
(TMI? Sorry.)
.
.
As I type this, yet another flash thunderstorm is moving past us without a drop of rain falling.
.
.
Now that’s just cruel.
.
.
This weirdo bush was in place when we moved in 20 years ago. It blooms well, in big fuzzy pink blossoms.
.
.
Bees and butterflies love it, so even though it clashes with our red baby barn… it stays.
.
.
In my front bed? A small salvia that doesn’t get any larger year to year but keeps hanging on.
.
.
Then there’s my little daisy.
.
.
She’s so bright and cheerful, I went back to the same nursery later that season and bought two more of her.
.
.
But as you can see, her big sister is large.
.
.
Soooo much larger than they were supposed to be. They don’t even bloom at the same time. Major daisy fail.
😳
.
.
Another day, another layer of stone.
It’s back breaking work and though I kept offering to help… I got the look and strolled myself back inside the house.
.
.
Every time I thought he was almost finished, I’d check back to find he’d removed what he previously laid and reworked the section.
.
.
And when he knelt inside the border like that?
.
.
It looked like one very expensive sandbox.
.
.
I’m happy to report it was a dull and uneventful day of stone installation.
.
.
Probably because I stayed in the house. Oh, I was out there bright and early ready to work, but my help was neither needed nor desired.. so I left him to it.
.
.
The border looks great, though it really is a lot smaller than I wanted.
.
.
The perennial bed I had envisioned will have to be dramatically downsized.
.
.
But something is better than nothing and he certainly is doing a good job.
.
.
It’s daylily time.
.
.
When we bought this house there were no gardens to speak of and very little in the way of plantings but there were two bunches of oranges daylilies .
.
.
I can’t honestly say that’s where I would have planted them, but they thrive so who am I to complain?
.
.
Orange seems to be the hardiest and most prolific color in my part of the world.
.
.
And honestly they’re the easiest no fuss, no care flower there is.
.
.
I’ve planted a few others over the years….
.
.
But it really is a shame they’re true to their name. Each bloom only lasts a day.
.
River's world..... 