Plants

We have been working hard in our new, beautiful, large backyard. Well, Steve has anyway. I have been helping, but I’m trying hard to keep my black thumb out of it.

We are reluctant to plant too much in the ground since this is a rental and we don’t want to invest too much money in things we can’t take with us. We also didn’t want to spend too much money on any individual plant, in case we accidentally kill it.

We started with these plants:
Left to right: Meyer Lemon, Bouganvilla, Solanum Pyracanthum, Boulevard Cypress, Verbascum Bombyciferum 'Arctic Summer' (Mullien)

We also cleared some weeds and reshaped a flower bed. We filled it with a bag of assorted bulbs. We found out later that the gophers will probably eat them, but at least they weren’t expensive. Next time we’ll put chicken wire down first.

In cleaning up the yard, I found some bulbs underneath some rotting planter boxes. I planted them in a pot and they’re already starting to come up. I have no idea what they are, so it’ll be kinda fun to see.

Most of our backyard is shady, but there is a lot of sun around the deck, so we have arranged our pots there.


Steve is doing a wonderful job with the plants. Our Meyer Lemon is really happy and growing lots of flowers.

I love the look of the Boulevard Cypress. Such a pretty, shimmery silver plant. The picture doesn’t do it justice.

The Verbascum has really soft leaves and wonderful silver color.

The Solanum Pyracanthum is a fascinating plant. It has orange spines all over, including the top and bottom of every leaf, and lovely delicate purple flowers. It was just so unusual and colorful, Steve and I couldn’t resist.