Catching You Up - Part 1

As soon as we moved in, I decided to outfit the brick planter that flanks our front entry. We thought it would be a good way to make our little house "happy." It would be so nice to drive up our very own driveway and see something pretty. Something I grew and could be proud of.

The day we moved in, one lone Dandelion called the planter home. A few days later, it looked like this. I roughed up the soil a bit each day and let the sun dry it out. 

I didn't have much energy to discard all the old soil (I'm sure it was 50 years old) or much $$$ to buy more to fill it, so I made do.

After a trip to my all-time favorite nursery - Gertens - and a few dollars later I had this.

Ahh, so proud! It looked so pretty! I think I stood out there for an hour admiring my own plantiwork.

And after a few weeks of growth and some good rainfall we had a very lush and tropical looking planter. 

Its awesomeness lasted about 3 more weeks. Deadly August took its toll and scorched my masterpiece to death. I had major vines growing down the planter and up the brick (by the downspout). My poor babies - seeking respite from the Western sun - fell to their death a few weeks earlier than I had planned.

At the beginning of September, I ripped it up. Dug it all out; to start again. September meant a new planting season and time for pumpkins and gourds. Lots and lots of pumpkins.

Front Planter Part Deux was the bomb! And it looked like this...

And our stairs... stacks of pumpkins and Pansy pots.

 

 Ornamental Kale... and gourds.

 

And Plant Life at the Front Entry was good. :)

I shall leave you with these happy photos as you wouldn't want to see what it looks like now. I haven't bothered to dig anything out - even the dried Eucalyptus I stuck in for pizazz... and it's under 8" of snow. 

Thanks for reading/looking! xo sj

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++