Edges Like Sea Glass

By Leah LaRocco

gardening

What Lies Beneath…

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I am nearly going insane with spring fever.  The weather this winter has been a confusing mix of unusually warm and utterly freezing cold.  All of my bulbs are starting to emerge, which is making me crazy to get in the garden, and I’ve been pruning and fussing around all my little tender plants that are starting to come back up.

It’s maddening because it is too early to be gardening.  So I’m reading You Grow Girl, which is actually a great book for savvy chicks who like to get dirty and the website is pretty awesome too.

At Home Depot and Lowes, the garden center sections are pretty much closed off, and when you walk into them, there is a tepid supply of seeds and some leftover plants from the fall.  I think my biological garden clock is off because it is seed starting time, people, there should be ridiculous amounts of veggie and flower seeds strewn all over the place by avid planters like me, but all that awaits me are two cardboard displays with ugly Burpee seed packets that boast totally boring varietals.  Having worked in a garden center for 5 years and growing up with a horticulturist for a dad, I usually know exactly what I want when I walk into a garden center.  I am infuriated by lame employees who know nothing of the plants they are selling.  I get irrationally pissed when I ask a question about seeds and get a blank stare. 

I purchased all my seeds for seed starting as of today.  Some are in the mail on their way, and some were found in the local garden shop Yarrow Acres in downtown Franklin.  I will expound on that at a later date, but today I basked in the loveliness that was President’s Day.  Bulbs are emerging, the garden is laid out and a plan is down on paper…and also in the yard, laid out with bamboo. 

I am so excited for spring.  In March, Cheekwood will have a daffodil show on March 23-24.  I am so excited.  I’ve been to this a couple of times and each time, I am stunned by the beauty and variety of the flowers.  I’ve noticed in my yard that several patches of daffodils were planted by the previous owners…in the shade…so none of the leaves have blooms amongst them.  I might try relocating the bulbs to a sunnier spot to see if that helps.

For now I have to be content to wait knowing that the payoff will be big.  If I start too early, I’ll screw my little plants and cause them to struggle unnecessarily.  Only a couple more weeks and the planting can begin!!!

November: Phantom Month

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November was a phantom month.  It came and it went.  It was there and then it simply…wasn’t.  To say I have been busy doesn’t really describe what I’ve been up to.  Busy for me might look different than busy for other people.  My friends who have children (I don’t know how they do it) know a kind of busy that must be exhausting and exhilarating all at the same time.  For me, busy looks like traveling for work, traveling for family and friends, maintaining friendships outside of work, cooking, cleaning, maintaining my 1/2 acre of ground, cleaning gutters, learning Italian, maintaining a relationship, maintaining my faith.  All of these things signal a lack of time alone, which for me, is utterly exhausting.  There is peace and regeneration in time spent alone.

The weekend before November hit, there was one task that had to be finished.  Planting trees.  I wanted to plant a maple that would get bright red in the fall, along with two apple trees.  I settled on an October Glory Maple and two Honeycrisp Apple trees.  Albert Camus once said that “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”  I chose the maple based on this lovely leaf. 

And I chose the Honeycrisp because I love the taste of the variety and they are $2.99 a pound when in season, so hopefully I can save myself some money and get some lovely apples!

To plant the maple my neighbor, Lindsay, came over and helped me dig a hole in some of harshest, rockiest clay soil, I’ve ever seen.  Rob helped separate the soil from the grass while we dug.

After watering the tree as we went, while piling a bit of mud up, we covered the bottom surface with mini pine nuggets.  Over the next weeks, I watered the tree every few days and waited impatiently for the color to change to a cheery autumn red.  More on that later…

I decided to put the apple trees in the same part of the yard.  This time I dug alone and almost immediately ran into some nasty rock with my shovel.  Due to the changing daylight and lack thereof in the evenings, I was forced to wake up early in the morning — which I hate to do, by the way — and dig like a maniac.  The neighbors must have thought me mad.  I got out there with a small spade and used the hammer on top of it to break up the stone, a miserable task.  How a tree would make it in that soil, I could only guess.  I threw some manure in those holes and hoped for the best.  Here’s what happened.

 
There is a Welsh proverb that says “A seed hidden in the heart of an apple is an orchard invisible.”  These two little trees are my mini orchard, sort of visible, with a bit of tender hope attached to them.  There are two other apple trees close by in the neighborhood, so hopefully they will pollinate this spring.

A couple of short weeks later, the maple put on a brilliant little show, just before the bluebirds returned to their new house for the first time.  Bluebirds use these houses in the winter to nestle in for warmth.  Apparently you can even make heated ones!  Now the little birds will have a tree to perch in when they nest in the spring.

As of today, I am happy to report that all trees are still alive!!!  They are standing straight and will hopefully survive the winter.  I also went to the Biltmore in late October and got some bulbs to plant around the base of the maple.  So excited to see these bloom in the spring!

The fall brought with it a melancholy beauty.  I always enjoy nature’s brightest display with the knowledge that it ushers in the cold barrenness of winter.  Small changes like leaves accumulating under the last roses are bittersweet.

One morning in the cold I noticed this monarch butterfly clinging to the butterfly weed.  The wings were malformed and there is simply no way the creature will finish its migratory trip to Mexico, but I have a soft spot in my heart for monarchs from raising them when I was little.  I sat with this one for a moment and appreciated how much effort it must have taken to escape from its chrysalis into the cool breeze of fall.

And then the happiest surprise came when I noticed a sunflower growing in the Japanese Maple planter!

A frost had already come, but this determined little sprout refused to give up.  I couldn’t believe it would actually survive the cold until I went out to the car one morning to find the brightest yellow bloom smiling at me.

There is only one thing left to do in the yard.  The sick plum didn’t pull through and therefore, needs to be pulled out.  The roots are quite insistent that it stay in the ground, but I’m too afraid a disease will spread to the remaining plums.  This is what’s left.  All I can do now is buy a hatchet to sever the remaining roots.  Then the yard will be ready for winter and all it brings.

The first hard frost was beautiful.  Some of the flowers survived, and some simply succumbed to the beauty of the ice before breathing their last.  At this point, I’m ready for the yard to be done.  The sooner winter takes over, the sooner spring will be here!

Butterfly Shenanigans

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Summer is reluctantly fading into fall and I officially added the heavy duvet to my bed last evening, since the house is quite cold when I wake up.  This morning I could swear an arctic breeze had swept through the place at night, but the thermostat said 69.  I have no idea how I will survive the winter if I am freezing now!

The yard still has a lot of action happening as summer hands the baton to fall.  There have been some updates to the house and I will post those soon, but this post is dedicated to the nature outside my door and all its lovely splendor.  Big things really do come in small packages and I find that the tiniest bits of life around this place get my heart pounding. For example, I was headed into the shed one day and noticed this adorable little flower between the boards of the ramp.  I’ve looked in two flower books and cannot find the name of it, but I am enamored!  Some would call it red, but this little gem looks to be a lively Betsey Johnson pink to me.  If anyone knows what this is, please tell me!

Another surprise that has delighted me more than I can say is the fall seedum blooming on my front walk.  The plant has been covered in bumble bees, honey bees, hairstreaks, skippers, moths, and several other bugs I can’t name.  I sat transfixed one day just watching all of them work, the bees sinking face first into the tiny flowers and emerging covered in fluffy bits of yellow pollen.  I envy their ability to dive into flowers.

Several weeks ago I pruned my clematis back and she has revived herself for one last showy display before the cold sets in.  This shade of purple looks awful on clothing, but somehow seems deep and lustrous on a flower.

I feel a bit sheepish about this next bit.  It’s kind of porny actually.  There have been some serious butterfly shenanigans going on in my garden.  I was weeding a bunch of violets out one day and came upon this little guy.  I immediately brought him into the house and was freaking out because I love caterpillars and haven’t had any for so long, but I had to find out what it was.  Turns out, I’d found a buckeye.  These were quite rare on Long Island when I was growing up and I remember finding some in my dad’s garden as a girl.  To this day, it was one of the most exciting butterflies I’ve raised.  They’re quite common in the south.

As I left my little charge on a fresh violet leaf, I discovered some buckeyes having a naughty end of summer fling next to the fence.  If anyone ever asks you how a butterfly is made, I present you with exhibit A.

All of these tiny bugs and flowers are beautiful little worlds unto themselves that unless we stop to observe, we will sadly miss.  As fall approaches and the leaves begin to turn, I encourage you to turn off the TV and make the effort to get outside, take walks, look at the undersides of leaves, follow the flight of a butterfly, and disconnect from the world behind your desk or inside your living room.  These are the things that keep me sane, that remind me there is so much more to life than my own small universe.

Today I head to Long Island for a much needed vacation from house projects and work.  The beach is calling…

Small Changes: Making Things Pretty

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The balmy summer continues here in TN, with temperatures consistently in the low 90s, making yard work a sweaty endeavor.  Lots of little changes have happened over the past few weeks, and the place is finally starting to breathe and feel like a home.

Paint can take a room from drab to fab!  My neighbor, Lindsay, was an art major and knows her stuff when it comes to paint colors.  She sat down with me one weekend and we laid out the color palette for the entire house.  I want to go for a beachy, blues and greens theme, so these are the colors that came out on top.  The place would have felt disjointed and clashy without her expertise, so I am really thankful I had help on this one.  Some of the colors I’d had in mind were too intense, and these are a good blend of cool relaxing shades.

Sneaky little sneak!  Keeping the cats’ curiosity at bay was impossible.

The guest room was the first room to paint, and I simply adore this cheery bright blue, which happens to be appropriately named “Sea glass.”  Rob said it looks like the inside of a Tiffany bag, which is fine by me!  This room is warmer than the rest of the house, so the light fixture was replaced with a fan, which makes a big difference temperature-wise.

I was able to find a lamp that doubles as a jar and filled it with sea glass and shells I’ve collected over the years on my trips home to long Island.

This room is tiny with a queen size bed in it, but I really wanted an adult sized bed in there for when people come to stay.  The Jacqueline Penney tapestry, titled “Inlet,” worked nicely over the bed in here.  The coverlet was a vintage find on one of mom’s thrifting trips that I stole from her years ago.  I’ve just been waiting for the perfect chance to use it.

The living room color was a challenge because I wanted a green or a blue that would work with everything I already had in there, artwork, accents, furniture, etc.  As I began painting, I started to worry it was going to look like Kermit the frog threw up on my walls, but once the entire room was finished, the result was a pretty green that really brightened things up the way the previous neutral brown had not.  It took a bit of getting used to, but I’m very happy with how everything blends without being too matchy.

 The biggest thing that made me start to feel like this was my house was unpacking my books, my dear old friends who keep me company on lazy days, rainy nights, cold winter afternoons, and every moment in between.  There is something about the familiar bindings, the titles that have changed my perspectives on life, the pages that have brought me comfort in hard times.  Hanging a Kindle on the wall just wouldn’t have the same effect.  For me, there is no substitute for a real book with real pages and real “book smell.”  On the back wall of the living room where the books are currently strewn about, I eventually would like to put in floor to ceiling bookshelves.  As it is, I still have eight boxes to unpack and really need the extra room.  It’s a bit of an addiction, what can I say?

Every light fixture in this house needs to be updated with the exception of one.  I am slowly but surely making my way through each room.  I still have not found a fan that I like for the living room or for my bedroom, but the kitchen and guest room have the same fan.  Ceiling fans are ugly.  There are few choices, and because the ceilings in this house are rather low, I have to find fans that can be flush mounted, which narrows my choices down even more.  Boring!

I love chandeliers, they make everything prettier.  The ugly fan in the dining room was changed out with this gorgeous little glass teardrop piece, fancied up with a pretty medallion on top.  I’m still amazed there weren’t more broken pieces.  Assembly was quite a delicate challenge!

And the hallway now has a little vintage sparkle thanks to this one, purchased at a locally owned store in Franklin called Philanthropy.

I can’t keep myself away from the gardens outside in spite of the heat, so I dug out some old irises and over-sized burning bushes that were simply…ugly, and cleaned out this little shaded bed beneath the weeping cherry.  I planted a little rose on the sunny corner, which I think will do better here due to the heat, and I’d like to plant some hosta and hydrangeas as well. 

And the newest addition to the patio has added a little conversation area out there for evenings and afternoons when the mosquitoes are at a minimum.  I found a wrought iron patio set on Craigslist for a good price and decided to spruce it up with a new coat of paint and a bright blue umbrella.  Here’s the transformation after a proverbial boob job and facelift.  It took 7 cans of Rustoleum paint, and my patio has a blue tinge to it, but highly worth the effort, I’d say!

Plus, two more whiskey barrel planters since they went down in price and one can never have too much gardening space, non?

At the moment, Rob is putting up trim in the bathroom and cursing quite loudly about the terrible job the previous owners did of hanging crown, but based on the other epic reno-failures we’ve discovered in this house, can one be surprised?  More to come!!!