Wishful Gardening

Gentle reader, every few years I get optimistic and imagine plants and blossoms and color in my yard...I forget how the brutal Texas sun takes out my plants around July. But I'm at it again. This year I bought pansies (an annual that does okay) and then a lavender. It's the third or fourth lavender attempt, but darn it, I promise to keep it in a container this year and remain devoted to watering it through the long hot summer. I love the smell of lavender, but as I've written before, I have a ridiculously hot yard and not enough disclipline to water. (And our city's water restrictions are seriously intense!) 

A few months have gone by, and today I bought some chocolate mint (smells amazing) and what appears to be a Ghost Plant (succulent). The summers are unforgiving, but home beautification definitely includes the yard....maybe I'm a bit delusional, but it's time to make an effort again.

"Decluttering" the yard is also on the list of to-dos--I didn't cut back certain plants this winter, and I have a monster sage with purple flowers that's gone crazy. Unfortunately nothing else in that flower bed is doing anything, not even the Lantana. (Why are everyone else's Lantanas blooming right now?) Clearly my yard needs tending. But I'm just glad I have the energy and desire, even if it's a bit fanciful, to try some new plants and spruce things up. I suspect container gardening is the way to go during this drought, so I'll try out new plants there. And then I'll need to take better care of the survivors in the yard--Copper Canyon daisy, etc.

I also realized it's time to re-mulch the flowerbed. And maybe replace the white gravel by the door that looks so 1980s grandparenty...I have a lot of other to-dos in my life, but I'm guessing gardening is good for your health, so it can't be bad to start dreaming of some changes and get outside. I do think making a home your own is so important and even psychologically significant, and while the summer is my opponent, I hope for some victories that bring me joy.