Back & Better Than Ever

For several months now, the weekend rolls around and I make no plans at all. No plans? Well, then, why bother getting out of bed? Next thing you know it's 2:00 in the afternoon and I'm just lugging my lazy ass out of bed.
But last weekend I made plans. I was going to meet a couple of friends for brunch on Sunday morning. Not wanting to be too ambitious, I scheduled it for 11:30. Still plenty of time to sleep in and get down there in time. Right? Yeah. Not so much. I've been such a slug for so long that I completely slept through the brunch and then, following my usual Sunday morning pattern, went downstairs and sat in front of the TV drinking diet coke for an hour. It wasn't until my face began to drown in oil and my teeth began to grow moss that I got off my kieser and went upstairs for a shower. After that, I checked my phone and saw my missed calls, and CRAP!!! I had completely spaced our brunch. And for what? A few hours in bed? Doing what? Sleeping? Won't there be time enough for that when I'm dead? Monday morning after prostrating myself in remorse, my friend Nancy told me what a wonderful time they had had. The weather had been gorgeous. The food tasty. The company superb. And I missed all of this for what?! Sleep?? Then, as if the wound wasn't smarting enough, she told me about all she had done before she got to the restaurant. Before? Good grief, I asked, what time do you wake up in the morning? "6:00. Whether weekend or weekday." And in so doing, she gets her shopping, gardening, cleaning, etc all done before I'm even out of bed.
The gauntlet was thrown.
I realized how much of my time off I've been wasting and resolved to no longer sleep in past 8:00. And that's how, this past weekend, I was, to steal from Mike & Mike, Back and Better Than Ever.
I should be honest here. When the alarm went off at 8:00, I did hit the snooze button, but I was up by 8:30. And as a result of finally getting it in gear, I was able to do something I've wanted to do for a long time.
Meet the indoor herb garden:

For years, I've tried and failed to grow most of these in my yard. Either they don't get enough sun, or they do, but they get eaten alive by something. So, I bought a 200watt grow bulb and installed it in my storeroom. In here, the floor is concrete and right next to a drain, so if I get overly exuberant in watering, no harm, no foul (to the floor anyway). I had to rearrange the room to find a good spot for this, and I had to be frugal in my use of space so the SigO would still have room to do laundry, but I have high hopes that I will no longer need to spend $5.00 for cilantro of which I will only use 1/3 of the bunch and have to toss the rest after it gets all slimey and gross. Or, $5.00 for basil and not have enough for my recipe, so there goes another $5.00. Not to mention the lavender. I've had a recipe for lavender-bloom crusted duck breast I've wanted to make forever but can never find blooming lavender. And tarragon. I have this killer recipe for Veal Tarragon. Yum!! Not to mention Saltimboca - which calls for lots of sage. Keep your fingers crossed for me. I'm really hoping this will solve my herb dilemma.
But, that was Saturday. What to do Sunday? Wellllllllllll...
Meet the yard.
Starting with the deck. Under the deck I have three hanging plants and on the rail I have another moss basket. I usually put a hummingbird feeder in the moss basket, which is why I have Salvia planted in there. I'm still waiting for the feeder to arrive in the mail.

 On my side of the deck, you see lots of fuscia, and behind the chair, where you can't see, is a nice tall palm tree that lives inside the house until it gets warm enough to come outside. The temps aren't supposed to drop below 55F after it comes out. It's nearly mid-May and that's still a potential problem, but I'm hoping we're past the risky season.

 On SigO's side of the deck is another plant that lives indoors year round and should only be out when the temps are warm enough. Also, you can see a nice small bamboo. Every year, I spend >$100 on bamboo only to have it die in the winter because it's too big to bring in the house. This year, I spent less and plan to cut back anything that's too tall and bring it in during the winter, hoping it will survive til next year. I love bamboo, but don't want to plant it in the yard as I know that will be the last thing I ever plant and then I'll be living in Vietnam. So, here's hoping it does well this year. Also, out of sight, is a large pot full of coleus. I love coleus, fuscia and dragon wing (what they call angel wing in TX) begonias. They bloom even in the shade. In a yard like mine, that's invaluable.



Moving into the yard, here's my limelight hydrangea that grows leaves like a lunatic. It's 3 years old and I wouldn't be at all surprised if it eventually started climbing the maple tree behind it. But will it bloom? Of course, that is, in large part, my fault. I never prune it in the autumn and I suck at fertilizing it. I actually did remember one year, and it bloomed very nicely. Maybe this Autumn. Maybe I can get Nancy to throw down the gauntlet on that one as well?

Continuing on, we have the section of my yard where I'm pretty certain a dead indian princess has been buried. See the pine? We planted that five years ago to replace the dead pear tree. It hasn't grown an inch. I guess I shouldn't complain. It hasn't died either. Unlike everything else in that corner. I've tried coral bells, which, you can see do fine away from the corner. I've tried Hostas. There's one still fighting for its life. Barely. Last year I tried something I don't remember the name of and the stems looked like dead fingers reaching from the grave. So, this year, what the hell. I'm trying roses. Next year (see, I'm already planning for failure), I'll try azaleas. When (not if? Really? Am I so cynical?) those die, I'll just let the pine live (relatively speaking) there all by itself.

Straight back in the center of my yard live my pride and joy - my Nandina's. These are gulf stream Nandina's and I've had them for a few years now. They started out about half their current size. I love these because the new growth has this beautiful orangey color reminiscent of Autumn. Sandwiched between them is a poinsettia from two Christmas' ago. At the end of the season, I decided I'd experiment and put them in a nice large pot and let them grow all year. My thinking: I'd have this huge, beautiful poinsettia and not have to buy any come next Christmas. And they did grow beautiful and large. Big luscious leaves. Thick healthy stems. I was so excited. Just wait and see them in the winter! They'll be gorgeous! I think I got four measly red leaves. The rest stayed green. So, into the yard with them and the bamboo now lives in the pot they grew in. Will they survive the winter? I seriously doubt it. That'll teach 'em not to bloom for me. Also, in the top hanging basket is some St. John's Wort. In case I get too depressed when they do die.

And finally, the pond. The poor, unbalanced, leaky pond. It's nice and small so it doesn't take much to clean out, but it can't hold a full load of water for more than an hour before it's leaking out from somewhere. Not to mention it so completely unbalanced, the lower half is pouring out over the edge before the upper half is even half full. But, I still have a pond in my yard. How many people can say that, huh? And those Dragon Wing begonias love it there. I plant them there every spring and they go ballistic every year. I used to drag those in for winter too, but they get so leggy and spindly that it actually takes them longer to get healthy after I drag them back out than they do when I just buy them new.

So, that was my weekend. Much, much, much better than sleeping in all weekend and then slumming it in front of the TV, completely wasting a beautiful day. Thanks, Nancy!