Dallas Farmer’s MArket

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Finally Finished Those Flower Beds

Posted by James on May 9, 2013
Posted in: New Home. Tagged: , , , . 12 Comments

Normally I post several “teaser” pictures leading to the finished project…

But in this case, I’m just gunna start with our new cactus/agave/drought tolerant filled flower beds…

BA-BAM

Flower Beds on the Right Side of the House full of Plants

Front Flower Beds on the Left Side of the House

Square Flower Bed Full of Zennias

Front of House with New Flower Beds

Jamie wanted me to be sure to point out that the “We” in these stories of the flower beds is 90% him.

Although, I did Art Direct.

After removing all the heinous Indian Hawthorn….

and making a list of the plants that we would like to try planting.

We cruised down to the Dallas Farmer’s Market and bought a few.

Hippie at the Farmers Market

We found an old Hippie to help us with our “zero-scaping”. That means that we want to plant it then forget it.

Perfect.

Jamie lay everything out before digging any holes.

Adding the Plants to the Bed

Then planted away….Tall things in the back…at least, things that we expect to get taller.

All the Greenery Added to the Bed

All the Greenery Added to the Bed 2

Pretty groovy, right?

We wanted it to look a “desert-y”, but it was a little too “desert-y”.

Maybe some color…and no color is better than orange….and a little red and yellow.

Zennias

Coreopsis Salsa

Indian Blanket

Much better…..How could we not plant a flower called “Indian Blanket”? They grow along the road sides here in Texas.

Here are a few close-ups of the cactus-y bounty.

Agave Americana Veriegata

Paddle Cactus

Bottle Brush

Agave Azul

Creeping Rosemary

Bunny Ear Cactus

Agave Raggae Time

This is just a start, we plan on continuing to add new cactus as we collect them.

One more time..here’s the bed in front of the porch.

Flower Bed on Right Side with Porch

I can hardly wait for everything to get bigger.

Ohhh, and Jamie still has plans to add pea gravel with a layer of weed-blocking newspaper.

We’ll keep y’all posted.

Creating Autumn Outside Our House

Posted by James on October 7, 2012
Posted in: New Home. Tagged: , , , . 3 Comments

Yesterday it was 50 degrees when we woke up…..

Pretty unusual for early October in Dallas.

So it set our minds to FALL……and pumpkins. Where’s the best place to find pumpkins in Dallas?

Why the Dallas Farmer’s Market of course.

AHHHH, ……Yeah, …….they had a few pumpkins.

And Mini pumpkins…….of all sizes and colors. Aren’t these green/white striped the coolest ever?

and oodles of gourds…..

Chrysanthemums the size of Galapagos tortoise.

How beautiful are these 4 foot strings of chili peppers?

Back to the pumpkins….

…because that’s what we came for.

We loaded the car with perfect pumpkins, some “pimply” looking squash, and a few rusty-orange mums.

Now back home to make the front of our house look like “Autumn has Arrived”.

Wanna know the secret to beautiful shiny pumpkins? Wipe them off real well to remove the surface dirt…then spritz them with leafshine.

I borrowed ours from our dear friend the event planner.

You can buy it on Amazon. Pretty cheap.

Last year I thought I’d be clever and use Pam cooking spray. Don’t, it attracts ants……lots of ants.

Everyone has seen white B-lights for Christmas. But how about orange? We got these at Target last years for 70% off the retail price after Halloween. They are NOT LED, LED B-lights are the work of Satan himself and will never be allowed near this house.

That little glow of orange is just what our bushes needed. The trick with lights is to weave them into the bushes in a zig-zag shape…..hiding the cords as you go.

When the electricians installed the under eaves lights 2 years ago, we had them put an outlet on each side of the house……just for holiday lighting. BEST DECISION we made. There are no cords running along the patio, and both outlets are controlled with one switch. So simple.

We reused the square leaf wreath we made last fall. It was laying flat in the attic all year. I just added a few new leaves to fill in where the old ones had dried and separated. It doesn’t hurt to have an orange front door. Jamie thinks that he may paint it red for Christmas.

Remember the Ikea galvanized lanterns that we added orange gels to a few months ago? Told ya they’d be perfect for Fall.

 

We want the excitement of Halloween, without the commitment of removing everything on November first. This way, we can enjoy everything just as it is until Thanksgiving.

That’s when we change to Christmas….I can hardly wait.