Its spring, and despite the wierd weather we’ve been having lately (high winds, rain, snow) things are blooming. I love this time of year. I never thought I’d be the type of person who got pleasure out of watching things come out of the ground, but here I am. I love walking around the yard looking to see what flowered since I last looked at it.

The only foxgloves I managed to grow from the seeds I got from a friend not only grew, but thrived in a spot next to the garage. They’re almost as tall as I am now.

The sweet peas I put in last year (in a large pot) not only didn’t die off over winter, they have grown and spread. I had to add another section of wire for them to grow up on the porch rail.

Now, I don’t really like red, yellow or orange flowers… in my garden. I do like them sometimes… just… not in my garden… But seems nature is bent on adding red to my colour palette so, although I won’t actively plant red, orange or yellow flowers, I’ll accept the ones that just turn up. Like the red sweet peas.

These are the colours I usually buy. Like these nemesias. Pretty.

And these reedy things. No idea what they’re called. I bought them this afternoon from an old lady who sells plants on the street outside her home sometimes. She did tell me the name, they come in white, yellow and orange as well. I got these for the embankment.

Speaking of the embankment… did I mention that long, steep embankment we have on the side of our driveway, where the dirt is as hard as cement?

Yep. I put in some succulents and they have managed to cling on for dear life and even grow. But then, so did the weeds.

I’ve wanted to do something about that embankment since we moved in here, but its such a large area it would be way too expensive to tier or use things like retaining wall blocks etc. The only thing I could think of using which was cheap (free) was tyres.

But Wayne hates tyres. To him they signify white trash.

To me, empty beer cans or bottles in the yard signify white trash… not to mention 4000 cars, some on blocks, trucks and a couple of old boats… we all have our opinions, right?

Anyway, I’m all for recycling and free, so I won in the end. We are lining the wall with old tyres.

This is the plan:

• lay down weed matting on the entire wall, leaving enough space at the bottom to allow for re-digging the drainage trench. And enough room on the top for another drainage trench.
• put tyres on the weed mat
• put topsoil in the tyres and pine bark in the gaps and on top of the topsoil
• put plants in the tyres
• create an an oasis of colour and limiting weeds while stopping erosion

There’s still a section of weed mat to put down, then we have to go pick up the rest of the tyres.

Meanwhile, some of the plants I put into the inhospitable ground were growing well and are now waiting for some topsoil in their tyres.

Love this little guy. When I put him in he was about 1/3 the size. And the little pink thing just came and joined him all by itself.

Meanwhile, since I’m on the subject of garden, tyres and flowers, I’ve developed an aquilegia obession. Granny’s bonnets or columbines to some people.

My purple and white ones are going crazy. I got them from seeds I took from a plant in Merrill’s place a few years ago and its where my obsession started.

These are lime white which I bought as seeds at the hardware store. Took them two years to come up.

I’m waiting for my mauve and pinks to come up. My double white are starting to bloom as well. And the old lady I got the pink plants from dug this little double purple beauty for me. Hopefully it lives.

These one look similar to mine but they’re the giant variety and have long spurs plus are a lighter purple.

Have you noticed the lack of yellow and red?

Heheheh

I’m going to have a million varieties growing in my garden!

z