A Walk Around

Walking out the back door one morning after a night of rain, the hillside is dominated by a brown mulch covering. Still, in the distance around the standing stones, a mossy carpet begins to take shape.

Taking the steps for a better look, the side view of the walled areas seems a little more verdant.

Do you like the black rain barrel on the corner? I do – it’s amazing how much water you can capture:  a single rainfall fills up the barrels on opposite corners of the house.

Moss scraped from the street-side strip has been patched together for the beginning of a lawn.

The last grass – really a weed patch – is scheduled for tarping (an alternative to frog-toxic Roundup) soon, in preparation for a long sunny border of small trees, shrubs and a small meadow-ette.

The hillside at the top of the driveway is a jumble these days.

Partly this is a holding bed – hibiscus mutabilis, a cardoon, artemisia ‘Powis Castle,’and asclepias tuberosa are waiting for their moment to occupy the new sunshiny bed out front. The agaves are in their possibly permanent positions, but I’ll wait until the cold wet weather is definitely gone by to plant them. Newly planted daffodils are behind everyone else’s, just beginning to bud, and the spray painted lily stalks have gone from bronze to purple, really the best color under the sun.

The garden seems more like home now with a potted phormium out by the front walk. This one is ‘Pink Stripe’ from Logee’s Greenhouses in Danielson CT – a fast grower, starting a couple of winters ago from a four inch pot.

By the front door, hellebores are putting on a show. H. foetidus is my favorite,

but I’m grateful for the occasional orientalis that looks me in the eye – it’s too wet to lay on the ground for a picture!

As usual, a walk this brightly dripping  morning ends down in the Valley of the Primordial Soup, staring at the bubbles and blinking into the sun.