In Transition

 

                   

            
            Boy, this has been a bizarre winter. It didn't snow around St. Louis until the beginning of February, which is the point I started getting pumped up about planting the garden. LAST summer, I had moved in with my boyfriend and completely overhauled the garden in the front of his house, which had been left to fend for itself for like... 4 years. We're talking tilling, digging up plants left by the previous homeowner and rearranging them to add more flowering plants, trimming back a 10 FOOT TALL SNOWBALL BUSH that had ripped the screens out of the front windows, taking paver stones from the side of the house and making another layer of garden bed, and on and on and on. I spent $200 on plants and soil, which is alot of money for me if you haven't gathered that already (since I grumble about spending money on anything, ha ha!) and my boyfriend also spent a good amount on MORE soil, only to have the hottest, dryest, drought-iest dought-y summer that I can remember. Of the sixty or so bulbs I planted, about 6 blooms came of it. I should've expected it, but I was still pretty bummed! No worries, this year I have a better canvas to start with, some great plans to personalize my garden a bit, and I won this really freakin' awesome watering system (seen above) at a trivia night yesterday. Sounds like fate to me!

        My plans include:

Spray painting my "brick red" pavers; I suspect I can't paint them light gray because the red will just show through, so I hope to blend colors and give a coppery-brown look that will be subtle and unique, and should blend with the red as it will eventually shine back through with time.

Fixing the screens (I'd show you a picture but it's hard to get through the crunchy ice and snow to take a good one. Basically, I just ripped out the destroyed screens in the fake bay window, so, you know, I'm going to put screens back in so we can enjoy a breeze without the cats climbing out the window)

Re-finishing a lovely bench that my grandpa "found in the flood of 1932" that he was proud as punch about, and then after my grandpa passed away my grandma painted it a hilarious shade of bright yellow. I plan to bring it back to its former glory!

Getting a doorbell, which is not a garden detail but it's outside and I dream big, ha ha.

Planting again, taking more care to put down some weed cover (that's the only thing that thrived in my garden, weeds and grass) and putting in my fancy schmancy new watering system.

Now, if only this inch of ice would go away, and these "Blizzard conditions" for Monday and Tuesday would hurry up and pass by....