Why I Oughta...

Another week and (sadly) another tree is lost in our yard.  Just last week, I shared the news of one of our Earth Day 2018 trees - a Weeping Flowering Cherry Tree - died this season .  Today, you can see in the photo above, that we've lost one of our small Canadian Hemlock trees that I planted on the North side of our property out back. This is the seventh tree I've lost since planting and the second of this season. The other six trees that have died are: Other "Lost" trees include: a Chanticleer Pear, a Dawn Redwood, a Corkscrew Willow, a Fraser Fir, a Canadian Hemlock, Weeping Flowering Cherry. And now *this* Hemlock.  This means it is the second Canadian Hemlock that I've planted that has died.   The dead (or mostly dead) Hemlock in the photo above is the one on the far right of the photo in this post.   The other five of them seem to be doing well with all of them showing both a little stress and some new growth. Here's the full list of tr

Our first Disneyland Rose bush is in bloom.  And it is a stunner.  We received it as an anniversary gift in September of 2017 and I planted it that Fall .  Wasn't totally sure it was going to make it.  But, survive it did.  And now the area where I planted it is a lush garden of green.  You can kind of tell from the photo above that it is surrounded with hostas and ferns.  But, compare this June 2019 blooming photo with the same Disneyland Rose plant one year ago .  Quite a different view. Not just because of the filling-in of the rest of the bed, but also the height and bloom numbers of this particular plant.  It is doing really well and provides a great pop of orange and pink in the sea of green.  Love it.   Last Fall, Nat's Mom gave us two more and I planted them on the side of the house .  They're, umm, not doing as well as this one.  But they are one year younger.    I'll snap a couple of photos of those as I get around the yard in the coming days. 

It's not dark yet.  But it's getting there .  Had the time of my life with my partner as we fell in love all over again. 

These large stemmed hostas are what I've been calling our "Teardown Hostas" that I planted right outside our kitchen window in the backyard.  I put them in the ground in October of 2017 and they came back for the past few seasons and have filled in the space really nicely.  Here's a photo of these same Hostas emerging for the first time in Spring of 2018.   I haven't posted about these particular flowers in the past, but I did post late last Summer about some white flowering hostas that are also, kinda, teardown hostas.  This post shows some in our backyard that throw off white flowers that I pulled out of the front yard of the house we tore down before we built.   The photo you see above show a different kind of stalk coming out of the hosta plant.  Normally, I see a series of those trumpet-shaped flowers that come from a central stalk.  If you look at the photo above, you'll see that it is more like a central flower that has emerged from the t

Just like I did last year, I planted a few Elephant Ear bulbs in containers on our back patio.  I like the way they add a little bit of tropical interest and large leaf contrast to the pots and I think that I'll likely continue to add them (or something like them) going forward because this is the second year that I've had success with them.  Above (and below), you can see the first of our ordinary Colocasia start to unfurl.  I also planted a blackstem variety, but I don't remember which container that was in and I'm *pretty sure* that this isn't it.  At least...the stem isn't currently black, ya know? Here's a look at similar Elephant Ears in a container on our back patio last Summer (2018) .  And here's a peek at all of our containers from our back patio last July .  If/when the Black Stem Elephant Ear makes an appearance, I'll post a few photos.    

I drank a few of these 100 Ans de Coca-Cola en France bottles and cans during my trip to Paris for the Air Show.  Turns out, this is the first corporate campaign the company has run in-country .  Here's my view of the bottles and cans that I ran into.  And one cup...doesn't have the 100 years thing on it, but, its from Disneyland Paris.   Kinda interesting they didn't embrace the whole #ShareaCoke thing. Here's the little film they put together to mark 100 years together .

Oh, you know.  Just a giant thumb sticking out like a...well...sore thumb.  In La Defense.  Details here .  "Le Pouce" was the first piece out outdoor art that struck me in Paris on a recent trip there. Certainly not the last. But the first.