Tis the season to plant all the 🌺 things! You can almost hear the Westlake Ace Hardware regulars going ching, ching, ching when they see me coming 🤣.
Mostly kidding; I’ve gotten a lot savvier over the years about what’s worth growing in transplant form and where I can save oodles by opting for bulbs and perennials (sometimes perennial bulbs too haha!)
This – gardening – is my therapy. My time with the Lord. My safe space to unpack all the little stressors that accumulate all week long, and to simply savor the gift of unstructured time, to feel the breeze on my (sunscreen-coated) face, the sun on my arms (anybody else out there peri-menopausal and brave enough to admit it makes your limbs extra hairy too? I mean, what is that about?), and the cheerful melodies of all the birds that our bleepity-bleep squirrels scare away from any attempt at actually enjoying the feeders we set out for them.
Back to gettin’ on with my green thumb this morning. Tackling an ambitious new project this season. My first ever flower cutting garden!
The raised bed where I’m installing them is a tricky area light-wise. It’s full sun-ish, but not the full eight hours you need to produce decent-sized peppers and tomatoes. More like 4-6-ish hours, and that brings up another point. Any other north Texas gardeners make allowances for what full sun means in our high summer melt the flesh off your face heat? Anywho, I’m giving it a go this summer, with tall gladioli and blue salvia in the back, followed by Oriental Lilies in the row just before that one, then dahlias, zinnias and we’ll see if there is any space left for more goodness (giving myself a gold star for Herculean restraint at the garden center this morning).
Back to my @Big Lots shout out from the reel I shared earlier this morning, they also have outdoor pillows for a steal, and mine were long overdue for replacement anyway. And tons of cute planters for patio flowers and foilage. So I’m also sprucing up that area too, with Portulaca, Spiral Rush (Juncus Effusus), Dragon Wing Begonia, Ivy Geranium, Scaevola, Oxalis, Licorice Plant, Torenia, and those crazy-looking Celosia that look they waltzed straight off an animator’s desk from The Lorax.
If it all works out, my sweet neighbors will find little front porch floral surprises along with their ‘maters and squash this summer. And hopefully some fresh flower bouquets for our supper table!
Feeling very close to The Divine Miss E as a result. She spent many talented years of her life designing beautiful floral arrangements for folks all over Vestavia Hills. To this day, her work still graces people’s front doors with wreaths, and their dining room tables with seasonal décor.
Way, way back in the day, she also added floral flair to all the Vestavia Belles hats, including mine. We lost her a year to the day on April 28th. As I plant and water and weed and hope and rush out back each day to check the cutting garden’s progress, my heart will be with her.
Happy Saturday all!
Love,
Rebecca