2018 MAY – DivaAnnie’s Garden Day

This post, 2018 MAY – DivaAnnie’s Garden Day, was written by Glinda/Annie in Austin for the Divas of the Dirt Blog. 

The rotating schedule told us that DivaAnnie’s turn to be hostess would happen in May, the month of her birthday. Annie really wanted to host the meeting but she was having serious health issues. We knew that Annie was having trouble with gardening maintenance and we wanted to do it for her. She was having trouble with other things too, and many of her friends and neighbors helped with what they could. They took her to stores, helped her get supplies for the garden, drove her to buy groceries, took Annie to doctor appointments and her pets to the veterinarian and helped with mowing. 

A few days before the meeting I took a Before Photo of the fence corner in front – hoping there would be a good After Photo. On the day before the meeting some rain fell on the garden, softening the ground and plumping up the plants.

Annie, Buffy, Karla, Mindy, Mattie and Sophia were already there when I arrived, enjoying coffee with muffins and fruit salad. And ooh, what’s this? A beautiful orchid decorated the table of the birthday girl.

After a while we all went outside and got out the tools. In that front Before corner a seven foot tall Barbados cherry had not done well over the winter – the whole top had died off, but new growth was appearing at the bottom. The Salvia guaranitica was running rampant, covering other plants that Annie liked. In the square bed the top of her magnificent Duranta was all dead sticks. We could fix all of that.

We could weed and clip back all the beds and borders, rescue plants that were being smothered and dig out the oh-so-many tree seedlings that had popped up everywhere. We were going to need a lot of yard bags!

The ‘Marilyn’ abutilon was so beautiful one could almost ignore the weeds in the bed.

You’ve seen Annie’s Abutilon ‘Patrick’ in previous posts…let’s take a closer look at her ‘Marilyn’

The day was quite warm, the ants were out and there was a lot to do. Everyone worked together, trying to make a difference in each part of the front yard while trying to keep an eye on Annie, who was working too hard in the hot sun.

Sweet mascot Barbie stayed in the dappled shade and kept us company.

Eventually the shady end of the front sidewalk looked respectable again

The square garden on the far side of the driveway was no longer a tangle of overgrown plants and saplings.

We couldn’t make the St. Augustine lawn look better, but we could get rid of the weeds in the center bed and clip things back so the Phlomis/Jerusalem Sage, columbines, salvias and other plants had some space. Maybe some mulch could discourage new weeds.

Annie called us in to lunch – really good broccoli salad, a fruit salad of strawberries and pineapple chunks, rotisserie chicken salad on croissants with leaves of romaine to add crunch. We had so much to talk about as we ate – well, we always have so much to talk about!

Annie had requested a lemon cake for her birthday. There were no candles on top, but she liked this old-fashioned 1-2-3-4 lemon cake with cream cheese frosting, made even better with a little ice cream plopped on top.

We puttered around a little more outside and added plants to her porch containers. We wanted to stay and keep working in the garden but Annie said what she wanted was for us to go home, and then she wanted to go to bed.

Before we left I snapped a photo of the now-pretty Barbados cherry-Salvia guaranitica bed so there’d be an After picture to go with the Before picture.

                                                                    

****************INTERVAL***************

I’m writing about this day a whole year after that meeting, and it’s been an odd and difficult post to write. Back then we were worried about Annie’s health and hoped that modern medicine could make her better, but we couldn’t know the future.

We didn’t know that this would be the last time she had a garden day, the last time we would all be together at her house, that this was her last birthday cake in this the last spring of her life.

All that I can do now is tell you about that day and tell you how we liked being together and tell you how much we loved and miss our dear friend.

2016 – APRIL ANNIE’S GARDEN DAY

This post, 2016 – APRIL ANNIE’S GARDEN DAY, was written by Diva Glinda/ Annieinaustin for the Divas of the Dirt blog 

We Divas of the Dirt won’t work in non-stop downpours but we can still get some gardening done if the showers are brief and intermittent. That’s what happened last April when Diva Annie had her turn as hostess on a day that mixed sun, drizzle and rain.

Six Divas of the Dirt - Mindy, Karla, Mattie, Buffy, Glinda and hostess Annie sat down for breakfast at this pretty table. Crystal cups holding tiny pots of succulents paraded down the center surrounded by lovely vintage plates in floral patterns.

Diva Sophia was at a meeting and would arrive later.

Although Sugar was out of town, her two pups Junior and Skeeter were staying at Annie’s house. Since Annie also has two dogs (Chip & Dale) and Mattie’s dog Barbie came along to visit, the canine element was well represented! Here are Chip and Skeeter.

Annie made yummy Baked Muffin Eggs – a layer of hash browned potatoes was topped with ham, sauteed peppers and crowned with an egg before popping them in the oven.

She also served waffles – with a choice of regular or gluten free batter.

A big fruit bowl held strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and pineapple and Annie also gave us a choice of three kinds of juice.

What a lovely breakfast - how we enjoyed visiting with each other while disappearing the goodies that Annie had made for us!

When we went out to work after breakfast we had to take time to look around – the relatively mild weather meant that the Mexican Honeysuckle continued to bloom while Crossvine blossoms hung in colorful swags near the gate. And the Anacacho Orchid was already in full bloom.

We worked in small groups at first – branches from the Arizona Ash were overhanging the porch and house - Mindy and Glinda decided to go after some of them with the pole pruner.

Annie and Buffy were ready to clip and weed the central bed where Phlomis AKA Jerusalem Sage and Cyclamen were in bloom.

The front triangle and median bed also needed clipping and weeding so Karla and Mattie took on the assignment. Soon Sophia arrived and as we progressed, just about everyone worked on the beds in the parkway – Annie has a lot of Mexican Honeysuckle!

Yard bags of debris were soon marching down the driveway, awaiting pickup. At one point we were chased in by lightning to wait for the weather to clear a little. We went out again and were just getting back in the rhythm of work when zap! More lightning chased us inside again and Annie declared that it was time for lunch.

The fiesta that Annie unveiled was great – chicken tacos, shrimp tacos and black beans. Annie cooked and peeled seasoned shrimp. She cooked chicken thighs, then ingeniously used a hand mixer to shred the cooked meat.

For toppings she had two kinds of sauce, tomatoes, cilantro, queso, shredded lettuce and  avocado – all on corn tortillas.

Even the beverages were festive – delicious Italian sodas in citrus flavors, found at the local HEB.

Dessert was almost decadent. Annie followed a Martha Stewart recipe for flourless chocolate cake, topped with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.

Dear reader, I wish you could taste this delicious cake …

We went outside again and this time had a good dry spell. Soon more of the Arizona Ash was pruned away from the top of the fence. We snipped a little at the Vitex/Chaste Tree but could see that it had expanded beyond the scope of our tools – taming that tree called for a chain saw. The loppers worked well to remove dead wood from the interiors of the Almond Verbena and the Texas Mountain Laurel.

Some new plants went into beds, borders and containers, including violets, scabiosa/Cushion Flower, Kangaroo Paw, Baptisia and skullcaps.

We made a lot of progress but only had time to begin to spread the bags of mulch.

By the time our day ended it was dark and the rain had restarted. We were tired and our hostess was even more weary than we were, but Annie is indomitable! She’d promised to take part in the CAP 10K the next day and she got over that finish line in less than 2 hours.

This post, 2016 – APRIL ANNIE’S GARDEN DAY, was written by Diva Glinda/ Annieinaustin for the Divas of the Dirt blog 

2015 - SEPTEMBER SOPHIA'S GARDEN DAY

This post, 2015 - SEPTEMBER  SOPHIA'S GARDEN DAY, was written by Annie in Austin/Diva Glinda for the Divas of the DIrt Blog

2015 - September Sophia's Garden Day

The abundant rains of May and June 2015 stopped as suddenly as they had started. July and August straggled along, hot and dry. Although September brought no relief, Austin weatherfolk assured us of El Nino moisture ahead so people who had been putting off garden work were once again making plans and starting projects. 

In early September, Sophia sent this photo of her Schoolhouse Lilies (AKA Oxblood Lilies) beginning to bloom.

 A clump of my Schoolhouse lilies bloomed a week later, after I encouraged them with a drink from the hand-held hose.

 Sophia's Garden Day dawned with the daunting prediction for a high temperature of 97°F. I live closest to Sophia and was the first Diva of the Dirt to arrive - what did I see in Sophia & Roger's driveway? Two pallets of grassy sod...

 And about 4 yards of amended soil! Luckily we'd be working in filtered sun from the small-leaved Cedar Elm trees.

The calendar said this was Talk Like A Pirate Day, but the only Sea we'd be dealing with was a Sea of grass.

Over the years, we’ve removed large amounts of lawn from almost every Diva yard to make beds and borders and reduce water needs. but we also know that in some places, a little lawn works best. Sophia's request was that we redo the space between the front beds and groundcover borders, making a semi-shaded, cool grassy area for visiting grandchildren to play. The area now alternated between mud and dust – not a good choice for the kids.

 Mattie and Annie arrived soon after I did, with Karla pulling up next. When Buffy drove up, she brought the electric tiller. A few years ago, we Divas of the Dirt chipped in and bought this handy tool so it could be ready when we needed it.

Breakfast would be ready soon but Sophia (being Sophia!) offered a first course of coffee and two fruit breads from HEB - how can you choose between Peach Melba Bread and Triple Berry Bread?

 Mindy and Sugar couldn't be there for breakfast but would be coming later. So six of us went in to admire the autumn decor of the dining room. I can't wait for those beautiful berries but please hide that candy corn!

Oh, my - maybe it was a mistake to have tried both kinds of fruit bread... Sophia made Cheese Grits?

There was a big bowl of Blueberries, Strawberries and Grapes, there were juices, there were scrambled eggs and Jimmy Dean pork sausages, too.

Who could not love a bouquet of big, friendly-faced golden sunflowers?

 Breakfast was almost over when the three-member canine crew made an appearance. Mattie had brought Barbie to visit Sophia's two dogs. Luckily we were already sitting down because they so excited they began running laps around the dining room table. That brown blur at left is Barbie (seen often in previous posts), the handsome grey gentleman in the middle is Chukster and at right is Miss Magnolia, the young-black-Lab-who-thinks-she's-a-Bichon Frise. Magnolia has a sweet temperament, but she is sure that she can fit into the same spaces she did as a puppy!

 Once we went outside, it was time to get any weeds or grass out, to dump the amended soil where the sod would go, to rake it over the area and to then run the tiller - this process would take a very long time.

Here is Mattie raking the dumped soil, spreading it out so the tiller can work.

 Sophia took the first turn at running the tiller.

The soil in the designated area was gradually amended and mixed.

We alternated tasks and worked on other beds and borders. The soggy spring followed by a too-dry summer meant death to rosemary plants all over Austin. Some of the goners were large old plants in Sophia's parkway.

Other unhappy plants were the two Mutabilis roses - usually one of the toughest roses in Central Texas, but not this year. It would take some time to get all the dead wood out – and we had to watch out for the thorns.

The tiller works best with a rotating crew. Some of the Divas of the Dirt were up for operating the tiller, some of us knew we couldn’t handle it. This time it’s Karla as the tiller driver.

Although she broke one garden fork in half while doing it, our Buffy got that dead rosemary out of the parkway.

 We took time to admire the plants that were thriving, like this combination of Blue Plumbago, Burgundy-leaved Oxalis and Northern Sea Oats.

 Before the sod could be set into place, the advice from the sod company was to soak the ground first. How could we do this without walking through mud while we worked on adjoining patches?  And exactly how should the squares be laid? What kind of pattern and direction would work best? As you can imagine, this part of the project took a long time, requiring a lot of discussion and some trial and error.

 Sugar and Mindy had both arrived to help, and soon different sections of the front yard were in different stages of progress  – soil dumping, soil mixing, watering and sod laying happening at the same time. Mindy and I filled the wheelbarrow over and over, then she steered it to the next spot to dump it.

Some Divas used the dolly or the wheelbarrow to move the sod squares around – other Divas liked to just grab a couple of pieces off the stacks. Diva Annie joked that we still had enough sod for a green sofa.

 Sophia had been busy inside - a wonderful lunch of Challah bread, herbed pasta with veggies, baked crunchy chicken fillets, and a huge green salad with choice of dressings was on the table by 3:15pm.

Sugar, Buffy, Karla, Mattie! Come on in and have lunch!

 I don't know how Sophia makes that chicken, but it is amazingly delicious. With a salad for healthy crunch, great bread and yummy pasta, who could want more?

 But you know there will be more - do you see what's in the bakery box?

Sophia conjured up a chocolate Italian Cream Cake (think it was from Upper Crust Bakery) with our group's name on the top.

 The afternoon temperature topped out at 96°F and while the number of squares on those pallets had been greatly reduced, there was still a lot to do after lunch - including fitting the edges along the driveway.

 We also had a lot of finishing to do with the edges along the front sidewalk. We Divas did what we could before we had to leave, but Sophia and Roger will have to complete more of the project tomorrow.

Saturday night is the official night for running hose end sprinklers – watering will be necessary until the promised rain arrives. Goodbye for now from the Divas of the Dirt! Grow little front lawn, grow and thrive.

This post, 2015 - SEPTEMBER  SOPHIA'S GARDEN DAY, was written by Annie in Austin/Diva Glinda for the Divas of the DIrt Blog