I got in.

Yeah...that's what I said! I'm going to grad school, guys! Looking at places to stay now and hopefully will move in around late July, early August.

Many things

Okay...I think it's best I bullet this. Life has been crazy behind the scenes!

• I semi-recently came to the conclusion that Mom's right, I would be a ridiculously good child life specialist. I have applied to a graduate program in child life, and received my unofficial acceptance email yesterday.


• Currently am awaiting my official acceptance letter, which will come once all my recommendation letters and my statement of interest/goals (sent today) are received.


• Also currently am trying to find a place to live while at grad school in case I 1) do not receive enough financial aid or 2) do not put in my application soon enough to receive housing. If I get in to traditional housing, I may end up rooming with a freshman. Bummer for poor roomie, having to live with a 23 year old grad student with no interest in partying whatsoever.


• Also discovered recently that there is an orientation a week from Friday morning (gee, thanks for the advance notice) so will be going down there to investigate campus and such. Pick up a newspaper and check the residentials, see if a kind family has a garage apartment.


• Incidentally, learned this week what 420-friendly means. Craigslist, you live up to your shady reputation. Yes, you do.


• Feel the need to say that 1) I discovered at a concert in 2007 sitting on the lawn with my dad that I am allergic to second-hand marijuana smoke and 2) it's illegal, guys, get over it and 3) there have reportedly been studies recently that show that it is much more harmful and addictive than originally thought. Therefore, I am not, nor shall I ever be, 420 friendly. Sorry Mary Jane.


• Am nannying for a very sweet little girl who does/says such funny things. We sing Skinnamarink a lot, but she is little and doesn't sing it all. I sing skinnamarinky-dinky-dink skinnamarinky....and she fills in "DO!" and so on. Today she hit her head, I hugged her and comforted her like a good nanny, and we said "I LOOOVE you" until she stopped crying (not long) and then she walked off saying "I love you in the morning and in the afternoon..." Can I just say that I am an excellent influence, here? I have her singing Sharon, Lois, and Bram, saying "Awesome" and am slowly but surely teaching her that when she wants "Kate" to do something, she says "You do it, Kate" not "I do it?" (that's right, the little darling has her pronouns confused! I'm really mean, too. Whenever she says "I swing? I swing?" I stay where I am and say "you are swinging!" We go back and forth like this a lot. [back and forth...swing...inadvertent pun!] Eventually I say "who do you want to swing?" and she says "Kate?" and I say "then say 'you swing, Kate'" and she says something that kind of sounds like that. Progress is slow...). I don't currently get to take her anywhere because her carseat is complicated and they keep that in the car. Am praying that this summer when baby brother is born and mommy is home and needs her out of her hair, I'll be able to take her to the zoo and the water park and the gardens and the library (two as of Sunday and love books) and the regular park...etc.
• I went to a plant swap on Saturday and got rid of about 75 irises. You can't tell.
• Also received butterfly weed seeds, purple aster plant, spearmint plant, phlox plant, and white oxalis (to go with my two pink ones).
• Going to take classes this summer and hopefully volunteer at a camp for children with medical needs (sadly, I can't make it to Camp Broncho, the asthma camp, but perhaps can do the sickle cell camp) and at the childrens hospital with the child life department.

So, that is my life in bullet points right now. Kudos if you kept up!

When it gets warm again and I've had a chance to work in the yard more I will show garden pics. Seedlings are dropping off one by one so my cutting garden may consist of...coneflowers.

What color would you call this?

What color would you call this?, originally uploaded by cranberriesandcheese.

Gardening has gone south a bit because the weather got cold. We're expecting a freeze sometime this week (which is right on time since we have beautiful weather and then ice around late March or mid April), so I'm veering from my topic for a little bit.
Okay, so this is blogged from my flickr page.

I've always had trouble labeling what color my eyes are. If you look, I have all sorts of stuff in there. I used to think they changed colors because if I wore green, they looked green, if I wore blue they were blue, and if I wore grey...they were stormy charcoal.
I hate the term 'hazel.' I think it is too much of a blanket term. What, if it's not blue, brown, grey, or green, it's hazel? Surely we have better descriptive terms. Unfortunately, I know my eyes too well. I am biased. So I turn to you, my friend and reader (do I have more than one of you still out there?), to tell me. What color do you think this is?

MORE progress! (This time with pictures!)

The lack of posting does not mean I have been idle this week. Far from it, I think I've done more visible work this week than I have this whole time. If you want to compare, check out my before post.


I broke down and bought some Sweet Alyssum at the garden store. They were all on a table and I was downwind. Suddenly I smelled honey, and I am very weak when it comes to honey. They are the ONLY non native plant in the garden, and they are in a container. We'll see if they live. Oh, to live on the Mediterranean so I can smell them every spring! I cleared out the front garden (including pulling all four privet shrubs out) and I am amazed that I can move. That's right, all 4'11" of me, all ninety pounds, pulled four shrubs who were quite comfortable in our clay soil from growing there for four years. I'm proud of myself; I'll admit it!

All these irises were in this garden already. I swear...we have millions of irises and I don't know what to do with them. Any friends reading this blog: TAKE SOME IRISES! I already gave at least ten to someone else and obviously made no dents! The green proliferation you see in the front right there is a bunch of carrots growing in the yard. They don't look very pretty...but I want to eat them someday, so in the yard they'll stay. I plan on picking them before they go to seed. You can also see some privet brush on the left over there. I won't risk composting the main plant, but I will probably strip the branches, stack the wood up for kindling, and be done with it.

So here is the side yard that I cleaned out earlier: the lilies are sprouting, and I still have to find something to go in front of Mom's window. I may have to go nonnative because I'm having trouble finding a shrub that will stay around for a long amount of time, get really large (but not tree sized, considering our property line), and be pretty much evergreen. The ones I do find are actually desert plants that prefer sandy soil and little water. I have clay soil and our house is almost on floodplane. I stupidly bought two Rio Bravo Texas Sage shrubs, but I'm going to put them in front of the bay window after cleaning out that garden and fixing the soil. I'll see what happens.

This is a bad picture, I know, but if you look really hard you can see my new blackberry plant! Apparently there are three thornless varieties. I got the Apache variety because they have bigger berries. Mom said that when we moved in there were wild blackberry plants, but they "went away" whatever that means. It was planted in the former vegetable garden, which probably has the best soil out of the whole yard. Those stones leading up to the water spigot were there from the beginning, but you couldn't see them under all the brush!

I'm also sprouting seeds for the cutting garden, which is now going in front of the porch. The seeds were planted just over a week ago and some of each variety has sprouted (which is early for zinnias!). Coneflowers, Zinnias, and Cosmos are all doing very well and soon I can take the greenhouse lid off! Indoor greenhouse kits are pretty much amazing.

Happy Spring (in ten days)!
Kate

Progress

I apologize for no pictures but I was too tired to go out and photograph!

Worked for about four hours in the garden today. This doesn't seem like a lot, and in fact it isn't, but I'm considerably weaker than I used to be. I cleared out the side garden (which apparently was home to about twenty tiny aspiring trees...too small to be called saplings --except one honker-- but still hard to get out!) and I'm so glad that it has good soil in it, it was so much easier to get things out than dealing with the clay soil in other parts of the yard. Yay for all the work Mom and I did six years ago!

Also pulled out as much ivy as possible for me from the other side of the house. I'm very short and could only reach so high...and then of course it is pretty well attached to the walls and very determinedly clinging to the ground.

I also raked out a bunch of leaves everywhere in the corners and discovered that, indeed, there are carrots growing all over the front lawn. Not the garden, the lawn. The only way I can explain that is that six years ago we had a vegetable garden and the carrots proved disappointing (my fault, I didn't thin them out properly). I was irresponsible and just uprooted them and left them on the grass. Well...they went to seed and now we have carrots running rampant. Which is a good thing, I guess.

I also made friends with a few beneficial allies: I found two garter/garden snakes (nondescript harmless grey ones that I think eat bugs...because they're often found in gardens) and relocated them while I was using the rake and hoe in that area, and then probably the biggest earthworm I've ever found at our property (a good 5-6 inches) who I also relocated. Hopefully they'll repay my kindness by eating bugs and giving me better soil, respectively. And heck...if a Lion and the Mouse scenario came to play, that'd be cool, too.
Pictures soon. Now to soak in warm water.
Oh! Also, I'm going to a workshop at
Weston Gardens (really bad at updating their website) on the first weekend in March that focuses on vegetables, fruit, and nuts that grow well in Texas and how to grow them, etc. I think there will be some container gardening as well (I can learn how to make my spinach dream happen!). Will update about that!

Invasive plants

I was going through my previous post making little *Edit* signs, but I figured this is enough to warrant its own post.

Remember this?

My garden guru friend Trey says that this is a Bamboo Nandina. I did some research and it is also called "Heavenly Bamboo." Nandina is not a bamboo, but you know how we all like to name things that look like but have no relation to other things. It is native to Korea and was most likely brought in as an ornamental (good gracious if we could just think....it's kudzu all over again). The berries can be toxic to cats (strike one) and it is listed as an invasive plant in Texas (as far as I am concerned, that's like fifteen strikes). Birds and other animals eat the berries from the plants in the gardens and then fly off to their homes into the forest. Then they pass the seeds, which can hold off on germinating for ages and grow as much as 8 feet tall. Not only do they seed, but they set out runners underground, pushing other native plants out of the way. This is going to be a nightmare to get rid of, but I'd rather have the headache of getting rid of it than anything akin to the kudzu epidemic over here. Stupid kudzu.

The Variegated Privet is ALSO invasive and non-native. I read a forum thread with many people talking about how they constantly have to pull it out of their yard because it's in their neighbors' garden. A person in Atlanta said that on a nature hike he realized that nearly all the shrubs were now privet. Out it goes. I'm afraid to even mulch these things!

English Ivy is definitely nonnative (hence the "English" part). I have a friend whose father, a carpenter, says ivy really messes up the mortar in bricks. This ivy pushes other plants out, keeps the native plants from thriving, etc. Out it goes. I am considering replacing it with cross vine if we MUST have a vine. Anything that creeps and twists and climbs kind of makes me nervous though. I'll try to get it while the upper parts are brown.

On a happier note, I started work on the side garden today and found soil! It wasn't very hard to get the majority of the grass out (the trick is to do it while it's brittle and brown) and I'm leaving the calla lilies alone for now until we decide if we really truly need them. I need to sharpen the blade on the hoe though because it's not cutting too well. I'm thinking in type.

Go Native. Go Texan (unless you live in another state).

Kate

Garden Project 2009: before

**I know I said I'd write a post on choosing native Texas plants next, but I want to do some more research first! **

Today was warm enough for me to take “before” pictures of my project space. Deep breaths. I am getting a bit intimidated.

Currently: I don’t know what this shrub is on the far left. It has little red berries and the leaves come to a point.

Trey? Do you know what this is?
I’m trying to decide what to do with it. It’s pretty, sure, but it’s all by itself in the very middle of the area. It may end up being transplanted to the other side of the house if it will live.

The long leaves you see are the irises. These things are everywhere. Literally everywhere. And we don’t get rid of these irises. They were given to my mom from my grandmother’s neighbor, and some of these are antique bulbs. The peach flower irises cannot be purchased in stores anymore. They’ll be transplanted somewhere…but I don’t know where. The thing about irises is that you have to completely cut them down to the ground and let them grow back again, so we have to find something to plant with them for when they’re in their ugly phase.
We’ll clear out the rest of the brush. There are some plants I’ll encourage that others call weeds, though.

There’s one of our trees. I am going to try to get those brown leaves off so maybe we’ll get more green leaves this spring.
The millions of bare shrubs are althaea, the Rose of Sharon variety. They’re beautiful but out of control. I will probably thin them out a bit, prune them back a little so they won’t scrape our faces when we walk to the sidewalk. The branches are just tall enough to meet the other trees’ branches in the yard, so in the summer we have a nice bower going on that makes me happy. It’s a good place to read if the nosy neighbor doesn’t come.
I’m also going to plant a groundcover and a few taller shade-loving plants among the Rose of Sharon because it looks so bare.
The hose is all crazy right now but I’m going to find a way to fix it. There is a little bit of ivy climbing the corner, but not too much. I’ll probably cut it down so it doesn’t ruin the mortar. I’ll also try to scrub the green stuff off of the wall. The gutter leaks so that every time it rains the wall gets wet.

More irises and a stray Rose of Sharon plant. Maybe I can sell them to neighbors. Ha.
This is actually where I hope to plant the cutting garden. I think if I can control the irises I can grow them in the back, and then plant some dahlias, maybe some coneflowers, some zinnias, and I really really want to plant balloon flowers. The buds puff up like balloons and then burst open into star-shaped blooms. The pictures I’ve seen make me laugh. There are so many flowers I want to plant.

This is ground ivy. It grows pretty prominently in the yard and is considered a weed. However it is one of my favorite little wildflowers and sprouts the cutest little trumpet shaped purple flowers in the spring and smells good when it’s mowed over. I’m thinking of transplanting it to go under the Rose of Sharon, because neither one of them will push each other around. They’re tough. And cultivating a “weed” in my garden will drive my nosy neighbor (who is pretty much the male incarnation of Mrs. Cravitz from Bewitched) absolutely bonkers.

The other side of the bay window with a huge chunk of irises. They’re everywhere!
This is the garden in front of the porch. The shrub is called Variegated Privet. I’m going to prune it down so it isn’t above the porch railing. I think I’ll plant some flowers in front of them, in two levels. Maybe some herbs. Who knows. There are irises here, too.
Persistent weeds. They even filled up containers.

More stinking irises on the other side of the porch.


Okay, now this is the part that kind of makes me want to cry.


This used to be my vegetable garden.
Here’s more:

It used to have cucumbers and tomatoes and carrots and basil…
The piled up brown leaves you see are calla lilies (given to my mom from a lady who owned a bed and breakfast..I don't really like them. They're messy.). I’m going to cut off all the brown stuff and mulch it. They’ll come back.
The window by the porch will have the big shrub so Mom won’t have to sit in the sunlight. I haven’t decided which yet. I think the window by the fence will maybe have herbs…or some sun loving flowers…or another shrub for some symmetry. I just hate covering up windows.

More ground ivy (Hey! It’s evergreen!)

This used to have plants in it. They don’t do well because of that hideous weed cover. That will change. I probably will do something about those bricks, too. My shadow looks weird because I’m wearing sweatpants that are way too big for them.

These trees bloom really well and cover the whole yard in shade. My parents planted every single one, fighting against the clay.

This little part of our driveway has a car-scraping crepe myrtle and used to contain river rocks. They’re there somewhere under all that confounded grass. The myrtle will be trimmed and maybe some flowers planted right there.

This had to end with happiness: The ornamental pear with buds just waiting to burst. They bloom for a few weeks and then there’s always a humongous rainstorm with wind so hard that it blows all the white petals on the ground and makes it look like someone had a confetti party in our front yard. The leaves are this beautiful waxy dark green and sound so very strange when they blow in the wind.

As you can see, this will need a lot a lot of work. Again I welcome any information people have, from native Texas plants to gardening in Zone 8 to gardening in clay soil. Any encouragement or commiserating is good, too.
Sorry for the long post. Thanks for sticking with me if you did!
Kate