The Hill Continues to Transform...

Wednesday Farmer Claude purchased 3 more plants for the yard. One is a squash plant. It was put in the newest 1/2 barrel from Buffalo Trace Distillery. We should have some really happy squash because the barrel still had a great bourbon fragrance when he drilled holes and filled it with dirt. The nest was a replacement decorative grass. Claude moved these 2 decorative grasses to this bed in front of the pipe that brings the drainage water from the gutters on the north side of the house down the hill. The bed catches the water before it can run down the hill. One of the previous grasses gave up the ghost and needed to be replaced. This time Claude picked a purple one (if you haven't guessed that is and has always been my favorite color).

The 3rd plant is a Crepe Myrtle bush. It has the potential to get 4 feet high. Early in the summer Claude extended the flower bed along the south side of our home and rounded it into the flower bed on the back of the house under my sewing room. This new bush is at the corner of the house and should blossom through the summer.

Our first summer here we determined we wanted hydrangeas along the wall in the back of the house under my sewing room window. We purchased 6 plants and Claude built a bed for them to go in. We are down to 3 plants now and they are healthier this year than ever. These 3 may have staying power. I really wanted them to be blue. But the thing about hydrangeas is that their color is determined by the acidity of your soil. They blossom blue or pink determined by the level of acidity. I can't remember which is for blue and which is for pink but as you can tell by the picture we have pink ones. But I still think they are just lovely.

The final project Claude did this week was to put stakes in the ground for his tractor path. This will be a major project and he hopes to accomplish it through this summer. The path will come through the trees on our hill to the right of this picture. It will curve down where he has the stakes with orange streamers on them. Then it will curve and gently go down to the flat land along the creek. This path will be great for the tractor and for humans walking up and down the hill. If you look closely (I know this picture is small) you can see to the right of the altar some of the day lilies Andie gave us. They are blooming like crazy. To the right of that on our property line is the forsythia bush.

This 4th of July evening we are blessed with a nice gentle soaking rain. That should make the new plantings and the old ones very happy. Claude just looks in amazement that the lawn is still green into July. We have had really good rains this summer and it is such a help to our grass and plants. Hope you had a great 4th of July!!