I've finally completed my landscaping! Nothing to brag about since it's been one and a half years into my residency in this neighborhood. Still, I couldn't resist the urge to proclaim success somehow since this was a huge improvement over my previous landscaping project, which languished for such a long time that it invoked the wrath of the community association. I'm much relieved it was a drama-free undertaking this time around and quite excited that our family has a whole summer ahead of us to enjoy our new backyard.
Mystery flower in my backyard
My youngest daughter, Lauren, was vocal and insistent about her request for a porch swing. Since I've decided to put off a patio cover due to lack of funds, we made compromise with the purchase of a stand-alone swing. It will take up the remaining space once all the outdoor furniture is assembled and assumes their rightful place on our patio. To be honest, I think the bulky three-person swing will ruin my vision of the backyard as a serene haven. But Lauren won't be a child much longer and I'm happy to indulge her. It was gratifying to see her head out the back door immediately after school and laze out on the sofa with a book almost every afternoon. Even kids need to escape from the stresses of life!
I've seriously gotten into gardening and think I might have overdone it with too many planters in my backyard! Was terribly excited about being able to scoop up 6 ceramic planters on sale for 75% off at Armstrong Garden Center. The glossy black glaze of the ceramic matched the color of our outdoor aluminum wicker furniture perfectly. I placed one planter each next to the bright orange buckets that marked the places where the posts of my patio cover would be once built, one as a garden accent between two club chairs in my conversation set and another near our outdoor dining set at the other end.
As my backyard structures slowly unfolded, I became more and more impatient to plant the many trees I've bought and stored during the wait. I've also had to return more than a few dying ones since my landscaping project took much longer than I expected (most do!). My mom rightfully complained that I seemed overly partial to vines (a dependence complex, maybe?). Besides a Eugenia topiary and an unknown, but exotic looking, showpiece from Armstrong Garden, I've given homes to a total of five different vines in my patio planters:
Purple Vine Lilac
Hardenbergia violacea 'Happy Wanderer' (Purple Vine Lilac) - An evergreen vine that climbs by twining stems to 12-16 feet. Simple, oblong (2-4 inches) leaves clothe these stems. Pinkish purple flowers with chartreuse spot in center cascade like small Wisteria blossoms in the winter to early spring.
Other common names for Purple Vine Lilac are Australian Sarsparilla and False Sarsaparilla. The name Hardenbergia honors Franziska Countess von Hardenberg, a 19th century Austrian patron of botany.
http://www.smgrowers.com/products/plants/plantdisplay.asp?plant_id=766
The purple lilac was immortalized by Verdelle Smith in the 60's song "Tar and Cement". Most Vietnamese, like me, are more familiar with the French version sung by Francois Hardy, "La maison où j'ai grandi".
White Lady Banks
(I enclosed this climbing rose in a copper rose obelisk purchased from Plow and Hearth.)
The White Lady Banks is a once-blooming vigorous climber with distinctive clusters of white flowers and dark green elongated lancelot foliage. Unlike the Yellow Lady Banks rose, the White Lady Banks has both thorns and fragrance.
The blooms are small, fragrant, and double. They occur in huge trusses that cover the plant in the late spring.
The 'Lady Banks White' was brought from China by William Kerr, who discovered it in a Canton garden and brought it to England on behalf of the Royal Society. The rose was named for Lady Banks, the wife of the Director of the Kew Gardens.
Allow plenty of room if you want to grow a Lady Banks rose, and ...
Include it in your will for some lucky heir, because it will outlive you, and possibly your children, and possibly your grandchildren and ... (well you get the point).
The White Lady Banks rose holds the records among living roses for both sheer biomass and longevity. The largest and oldest known rose specimen in the United States is the Tombstone Rose in Tombstone, Arizona.
It is reported that a young Scottish bride named Mary Gee planted a White Lady Banks rose not long after her arrival in 1855 in the mining camp of Tombstone, Arizona. The Tombstone White Lady Banks rose is still flourishing today.
That rose has grown to cover a supporting arbor that is some 8,000 square feet in size, and it has become one of the greatest tourist attractions of that city.
http://www.ph-rose-gardens.com/00108.htm
Pink Bower of Beauty
http://daughterofthegoldenwest.blogspot.com/2008/09/pink-bower-vine-of-beauty.html
Purple Royal Trumpet Vine
http://www.hgtv.com/landscaping/control-vine-growth/index.html
Sun Parasol "Stars & Stripes" Mandevilla
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/249099/
Yesterday, my Vietnamese neighbor saw me gardening in the backyard and asked if it's OK for him to drape himself across our shared half-wall in order to view my patio more closely. He commented that our landscaping has evolved with a flourish and he was envious of my greenery. It was a neighborly thing to give that sort of compliment, but I think other residents in the community also took notice as well, including a hummingbird who visited my backyard for the first time yesterday and several bees that looked quite happy flitting around our flowering plants. Further proof of my backyard's popularity came in the form of my rescue of a dazed ladybug that fell into the fountain. About two weeks ago, I came home in the afternoon after picking up my kids from school to find a bunny resting on the long but narrow patch of grass that separated my front yard from my neighbor's on the left. Since then, I've seen him making himself comfortable on my lawn at various times in the day, so I'm convinced he's chosen my garden as his pied-à-terre. Despite reports that indicate how pesky rabbits can be, I couldn't help but feel for them. Ours was a new development back when I first moved in, and as I drove around at night, I would often stop to avoid running over young rabbits darting across the street. Many died this way, and their population was further decimated as their habitat gradually dwindled with the increasing numbers of new homes being erected. Now that our community has pretty much built out, it's rare to see a bunny out and about at night or in the daytime. The ones that survived must have relocated into the barren fields surrounding our neighborhood. Poor little ones!
I got to thinking about how often one gets to enjoy owning a home from scratch and putting his/her personal touches on it... For me, it's happened twice in my life. This time around, it was so much sweeter since the home purchase came on the heels of a difficult chapter in my life.
My next occasion and excuse to move into a brand-new place will probably involve my downsizing to a retirement condo. I hope to still have enough room for my grown children to visit, and a little patio garden to attract the local winged creatures. In the meantime, I'm putting out invitations for butterflies and hummingbirds in the neighborhood to throw themselves a cocktail party in my backyard!
My poor yellow rose bush was so happy to be planted in the ground after lying forgotten in its plastic container for months
My youngest daughter, Lauren, was vocal and insistent about her request for a porch swing. Since I've decided to put off a patio cover due to lack of funds, we made compromise with the purchase of a stand-alone swing. It will take up the remaining space once all the outdoor furniture is assembled and assumes their rightful place on our patio. To be honest, I think the bulky three-person swing will ruin my vision of the backyard as a serene haven. But Lauren won't be a child much longer and I'm happy to indulge her. It was gratifying to see her head out the back door immediately after school and laze out on the sofa with a book almost every afternoon. Even kids need to escape from the stresses of life!
Andrea reading assembly instructions in order to put together the swing for her sister
I've seriously gotten into gardening and think I might have overdone it with too many planters in my backyard! Was terribly excited about being able to scoop up 6 ceramic planters on sale for 75% off at Armstrong Garden Center. The glossy black glaze of the ceramic matched the color of our outdoor aluminum wicker furniture perfectly. I placed one planter each next to the bright orange buckets that marked the places where the posts of my patio cover would be once built, one as a garden accent between two club chairs in my conversation set and another near our outdoor dining set at the other end.
Trumpet vine in ceramic pot
As my backyard structures slowly unfolded, I became more and more impatient to plant the many trees I've bought and stored during the wait. I've also had to return more than a few dying ones since my landscaping project took much longer than I expected (most do!). My mom rightfully complained that I seemed overly partial to vines (a dependence complex, maybe?). Besides a Eugenia topiary and an unknown, but exotic looking, showpiece from Armstrong Garden, I've given homes to a total of five different vines in my patio planters:
Purple Vine Lilac
Hardenbergia violacea 'Happy Wanderer' (Purple Vine Lilac) - An evergreen vine that climbs by twining stems to 12-16 feet. Simple, oblong (2-4 inches) leaves clothe these stems. Pinkish purple flowers with chartreuse spot in center cascade like small Wisteria blossoms in the winter to early spring.
Other common names for Purple Vine Lilac are Australian Sarsparilla and False Sarsaparilla. The name Hardenbergia honors Franziska Countess von Hardenberg, a 19th century Austrian patron of botany.
http://www.smgrowers.com/products/plants/plantdisplay.asp?plant_id=766
The purple lilac was immortalized by Verdelle Smith in the 60's song "Tar and Cement". Most Vietnamese, like me, are more familiar with the French version sung by Francois Hardy, "La maison où j'ai grandi".
White Lady Banks
(I enclosed this climbing rose in a copper rose obelisk purchased from Plow and Hearth.)
The White Lady Banks is a once-blooming vigorous climber with distinctive clusters of white flowers and dark green elongated lancelot foliage. Unlike the Yellow Lady Banks rose, the White Lady Banks has both thorns and fragrance.
The blooms are small, fragrant, and double. They occur in huge trusses that cover the plant in the late spring.
The 'Lady Banks White' was brought from China by William Kerr, who discovered it in a Canton garden and brought it to England on behalf of the Royal Society. The rose was named for Lady Banks, the wife of the Director of the Kew Gardens.
Allow plenty of room if you want to grow a Lady Banks rose, and ...
Include it in your will for some lucky heir, because it will outlive you, and possibly your children, and possibly your grandchildren and ... (well you get the point).
The White Lady Banks rose holds the records among living roses for both sheer biomass and longevity. The largest and oldest known rose specimen in the United States is the Tombstone Rose in Tombstone, Arizona.
It is reported that a young Scottish bride named Mary Gee planted a White Lady Banks rose not long after her arrival in 1855 in the mining camp of Tombstone, Arizona. The Tombstone White Lady Banks rose is still flourishing today.
That rose has grown to cover a supporting arbor that is some 8,000 square feet in size, and it has become one of the greatest tourist attractions of that city.
http://www.ph-rose-gardens.com/00108.htm
Pink Bower of Beauty
http://daughterofthegoldenwest.blogspot.com/2008/09/pink-bower-vine-of-beauty.html
Purple Royal Trumpet Vine
http://www.hgtv.com/landscaping/control-vine-growth/index.html
Sun Parasol "Stars & Stripes" Mandevilla
One glorious bud from my garden
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/249099/
Yesterday, my Vietnamese neighbor saw me gardening in the backyard and asked if it's OK for him to drape himself across our shared half-wall in order to view my patio more closely. He commented that our landscaping has evolved with a flourish and he was envious of my greenery. It was a neighborly thing to give that sort of compliment, but I think other residents in the community also took notice as well, including a hummingbird who visited my backyard for the first time yesterday and several bees that looked quite happy flitting around our flowering plants. Further proof of my backyard's popularity came in the form of my rescue of a dazed ladybug that fell into the fountain. About two weeks ago, I came home in the afternoon after picking up my kids from school to find a bunny resting on the long but narrow patch of grass that separated my front yard from my neighbor's on the left. Since then, I've seen him making himself comfortable on my lawn at various times in the day, so I'm convinced he's chosen my garden as his pied-à-terre. Despite reports that indicate how pesky rabbits can be, I couldn't help but feel for them. Ours was a new development back when I first moved in, and as I drove around at night, I would often stop to avoid running over young rabbits darting across the street. Many died this way, and their population was further decimated as their habitat gradually dwindled with the increasing numbers of new homes being erected. Now that our community has pretty much built out, it's rare to see a bunny out and about at night or in the daytime. The ones that survived must have relocated into the barren fields surrounding our neighborhood. Poor little ones!
I got to thinking about how often one gets to enjoy owning a home from scratch and putting his/her personal touches on it... For me, it's happened twice in my life. This time around, it was so much sweeter since the home purchase came on the heels of a difficult chapter in my life.
My next occasion and excuse to move into a brand-new place will probably involve my downsizing to a retirement condo. I hope to still have enough room for my grown children to visit, and a little patio garden to attract the local winged creatures. In the meantime, I'm putting out invitations for butterflies and hummingbirds in the neighborhood to throw themselves a cocktail party in my backyard!
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