Green thumb expectations
The gardening bug has struck early this year. I've transferred most of my energies from the kitchen re-model plans to the backyard project. Scott's the one who has to make the cabinets, and he just hasn't the time to devote to them lately, so I figured I'd expend my energies to re-doing the backyard for now and make it my goal to finish by late spring.
Of course, I needed Scott's help with demolishing the shed in the backyard, which was a perfect kick-off. Next, I'll be digging up the awful concrete/re-bar "grass" flower bed at the back of the house and laying a whole new bed for shade plants, and installing a brand new bed along the back fence for sunny plants.
The concrete foundation left by the torn-down shed will be the perfect floor for a lattice-roof arbor, and I can plant fast-growing trumpet vine to take over and provide some shade around the arbor. (I will need Scott's help for that project, of course.) Scott's mom had the idea of surrounding the base of the big tree with an island and creating yet another flower bed for groundcover and shrubs, since some of the tree's roots have grown along the surface of the ground and are exposed and unattractive. And finally, I'd like to lay some flagstone down--some for a pathway from the patio to the arbor, and some more over by the tree for a circular "conversation area" where we can place some patio furniture.
I've started working on germinating seeds. I did a science project in 5th grade growing some bean plants, and I remembered how I germinated those rather quickly by folding the seeds inside moist paper towels and keeping them in a warm place. So I used coffee filters this time, and placed them in Ziploc bags, and spread them around the warm blowing vent of Scott's server.
Here are some of the seeds I'm experimenting with:
Lupine which I'm excited about because it's native to Texas so it might be pretty low-maintenance, it's tall so it will stand out, and it's perennial!
Bluebonnets, which I want to plant around the mailbox in the front;
Sweet Pea, which is just plain beautiful, and it grows like a vine, so I can pair it with the bluebonnets around the mailbox, and maybe use some over by the trellis in the front yard;
Impatiens, which will be the main flower for the shade flower bed;
Four o'clocks, which will come back every year, and supposedly spread everywhere to the hilt, and can grow absolutely anywhere;
Columbine, which my sister recommended to me for the shade bed as a perennial, which also looks beautiful.
I'm also taking a stab at growing a tomato and a watermelon plant. We'll see how that goes. No guarantees!