Beautified and fortified

Man can not live by veggie patch alone...Okay, well, maybe he could, but I sure can't! I adore my veggie patch, and the beautiful old fruit trees on the land here, but I need some flowers and greenery to make my heart go pitter-pat.

There's no real shortage of non-food planty goodness in our plot, but it can always use a little help. We just started digging up what will eventually be our patio (spawned by my randomly digging a big hole in the lawn while fed up waiting to have enough money to hire a Bobcat-digger), which meant three things for the hot-or-not rating of our garden.

1. No dirt means homeless bulbs. Dozens of them. At least 10 canna lillies,
piles of irises, and some random pretty flowers we can't identify.
2. No pretty green-and-floral view out my kitchen window. A real bummer when
you hate washing dishes.
3. No protection from the cruel Aussie sun which pours in our dining area
window all. day. long.

So, we got to work. Strong-man hubby dug up the bulbs and rosebush and, with no small amount of blood and sweat, we replanted the poor old rose, crossing our toes that it survives a mid-season move, and he got busy lining our side of the neighbor's ugly fenceline with sun-loving bulbs. Problem #1 solved! But still no pretty view and lots of blinding sun for the window-gazers in the family. Now it was my turn to work.

For around $30, we bought three coconut-lined green wire hanging baskets and nine sun-tolerant seedlings including grasses, prostrate thyme, native ferns, evergreens, and a couple random ground covers. I potted them up with our own garden soil and a bit of mineral rich fertilizer, et voila! Two birds with one stone. The plants (theoreticallly) will grow and drape and help shade our brightest windows, all while providing me a gorgeous view as I scrub the daily dishes. Bang, pow! #2 and #3 down for the count! We're so pleased with the hanging pots so much that we're going to do two more and finish the full length of the house.

We've been slackers the last two days, but tonight the boy will get back to bulb planting, and I'll finish up the spring veggie/herb sowing then go back to digging up the back yard. Busy times ahead, that's for certain.