Spring is coming!

Today was a high of 60 degrees and we spent a lot of time outside. We walked to campus, saw the ancient map exhibit at the library and had lunch outside from the Red Onion. When we got home, we inspected the back of our house once again. Thanks to our pine tree falling, we now have more light and more of a view out of our kitchen, bathroom and bedroom windows (yes, it was that big). However, it's quite ugly out there and needs some TLC. I got the brilliant idea to start flower beds all over! I was probably influenced by the last hurrah of winter and the end of the storm, plus all of the tiny buds just starting and what looks like daffodils sprouting here and there... To our surprise, we found a shy rose bush against our back porch. See?



We headed out to our local gardening place and asked the stupidest questions to the elderly man working there. He was graceful to me, but I really should've read the "gardening for dummies" book before we went. Turns out, I need a lot of tools, some work gloves, a trellis for our poor rose bush (as thinned out as it is), and peat moss to work into our terrible soil.

The back of our house gets the most sun. Here's what I've got to work with. And no, I'd rather not have a million pots sitting on our steps. I'd rather appreciate the flowers in the ground and not trip over everything. Plus, when veggie planting season comes, I'd like to grow food in large planters on our steps and not in the lead-poinsoned soil.



The front gets only the late afternoon sun.

The right side:

The left side:

The sticks and debris I picked up in the front. Now it's all clean.


We were told that the annuals won't come around until May so I've got a long time to wait. I suppose there's plenty of patience to learn with gardening. Who knew? And here I was ready to buy, work and have flowers by the end of the day!! What a bummer.