2010 EARLY MAY, KARLA'S DAY

2010 Early May
Karla's Turn for 2010


We Divas of the Dirt like to tease Karla about being spoiled because her sister Callie has often acted as chef for meetings. But last May Callie had a broken leg & Karla had to cook!

The table looked fine and we enjoyed a delicious breakfast of sausages, a grits casserole, melons and strawberries.

Our garden project wasn't adding something new this time - it was the sometimes even more important task of subtracting what had died and maintaining the good parts that had made it through winter.

The hellstrip plants had done well - so well that they needed cutting back to keep the walk clear.

Look at that Rosemary!

The beds and borders needed weeding, edging, composting and mulching - we knew what to do!


Unfortunately the pomegranate tree that had done so well in past years was completely dead and needed to be cut down and the limbs reduced to fit in the recycling bags. I'd brought the pole pruner & loppers and had assigned myself that task, but while we worked, we also wanted to notice and admire the plants that had done well in spite of rough weather.

The Jerusalem Sage/Phlomis fruticosa had filled in and was blooming


Native columbine had not only done well - they'd seeded and made a colony! Their delicate bluish-green leaves were set off by the broad leaves of emerging Cannas.

Graptopetalum/Ghost plant survived and thrived, its intriguing shape and color making some of us decide to try it, too.
At one point a wandering canine saw the Divas at work and came over to keep us company. Sugar couldn't help making friends with the sweet dog
We made good progress, stopping for lunch mid-afternoon. Little Slider sandwiches of Central Market Chicken Salad and Pimiento Cheese and an enormous, beautiful salad were both reward and incentive to finish the job.... a delicious and visually appealing lunch indeed

I didn't take a picture of them, but we loved Karla's dessert - tiny chocolate cupcakes.

We finished up and left Karla's garden looking tidy, refreshed and well-mulched against the harsh summer to come.
The next day another sweet reward came via email from Karla:

Dear Divas,
Thank you SOOOO much for the all the hard work yesterday to make my yard look BEAUTIFUL!!! It still amazes me what 7 women can do in about 7 hours - WOW!! I got my coffee, paper and crept to the patio this morning to enjoy the beauty that I haven't seen in many, many months (oh yeah, since you were here last) and just got settled in when the sprinkles started. I gladly moved in hoping they would get a little heavier and make my plants even happier!!!!