Well, spring has arrived and we are starting to see signs of life outdoors again. Unfortunately the artic blast we had several weeks ago here in Texas killed all of the shrubs in our landscape out front. I lost a beautiful rosemary shrub, several Indian Hawthorns and a Loropetalum. I am still hoping that the crepe mytrle trees will come out of it without too much damage. They can always be clipped back to the ground and will regrow. It's really too early to tell. So Tom and I went to work removing all the lava rock and concrete edging, something that was here when we moved in and really not to our taste, so all was removed. We then replanted with yaupon holly and nandina and a viburnum. All of these are much more hardy and also do not require a lot of water. It was quite the job, as we are not as young as we once were, but we managed by working a few hours each day. We found quite a few large boulders and removed them also, so hopefully all will grow well in their new home.
I also have some landscaping to do on my Summer stitchery! It should help spruce up the little house in my stitchery. I am pleased with my progress this week with all the other projects going at our house.
My little house needs a tree and some lawn and a few flowers don't you think!
I always put a few of my houseplants outside for the summer. The screened in porch seems to be where my Christmas cactus loves to grow and I also moved by parsley and cilantro from under the grow light out to the porch! I just love this time of year!
So sorry you lost those plants due to the extreme cold! They must not be used to that kind of weather. I'm still crossing my fingers that my tulips and daffodils have survived our two feet of snow from last weekend! Your cross-stitch design is so sweet. Have fun adding the stitched landscaping to it!
ReplyDeleteTulips and daffodils love the cold in fact in Texas we have refrigerate them before we plant the tulip bulbs. Looking forward to an afternoon of stitching grass a tree and some flowers!
Deleteyour plants look lovely and your stitching too. I have had the same trouble with plants from the extreme cold blast so many of us had. Are my 3 large 25+ year old azaleas dead? well they come back if I give them a really good pruning? I am waiting another couple weeks to see what they look like and will decide then - I might have to give them a drastic pruning but they look horrible right now and barely any leafs and no sign of buds - the 3 smaller plants all different varieties look better but usually much greener by now. I did yard work and was reminded this morning that I am not as young as I used to be when I could barely crawl out of bed from being achy and sore - will it get better as the day goes by or will I not be doing more yard work for a couple days!!
ReplyDeleteyes another friend said your getting to the age you need to bring a chair with you so you have something to pull your self up with! Ha Ha I hope your azaleas survive, Neil Sperry our local expert thinks the azaleas will be fine. Time will tell like you said!
DeleteI love this time of year too! New beginnings. Your newly dug bed looks lovely.
ReplyDeleteYes such a great time of renewal. We had a cold blast that is very unusual for our area so it was really rough on the kind of plants that normally thrive here. Better days ahead hopefully
DeleteWhat pretty herbs you have growing! The stitching is looking great.
ReplyDeleteThanks Deb!
DeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteMy Daffodils are up and have buds. I'm so ready for
spring. Your stitching piece is beautiful. And all
your plants are beautiful. Have a great day!
I hope to add some daffodils into my landscape in the fall. They are very welcome sign of spring
DeleteSo sorry you lost your bushes. Your stitching is lovely and your herbs.
ReplyDeleteYes It had been a lot of years since Texas saw that kind of a freeze lets hope its many more before that happens again
DeleteFunny thing was, after readi g about your gardening adventures I ended up I the garden trimming the lavender bushes. Now you will have plants you love. We are up north in Canada and know what that kind of weather is like, so we feel for everyone who was affected by that weather.
ReplyDeleteOh I don't know how you do it! I spent five years in Wisconsin in my younger years! The winter snows are beautiful however!
DeleteOh how I wish I could make my Christmas cactus healthy again. The new landscaping is very pretty. It is sad that all those plants were lost in that awful freeze that you had. I am planning on having a crepe myrtle tree planted here this year. We often have freezes and they do well in our climate, so hopefully yours have survived. Your stitching is looking good.
ReplyDeleteYeah the crepe myrtle is a staple here. It can take the heat and if it freezes then we just cut them back and they always seem to come back. They bloom for quite a while which is lovely!
DeleteThe Christmas cactus is so pretty! Hope everything grows well... we are always hopeful in the spring!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kathy
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