Commute

After living in the city and only a mile from work, my daily commute in from the inner suburbs is a bit of a grind. (+6 for city living, -12 for suburbia) There are two routes I can take that are somewhat direct shots to my mom's house to drop off Ruby, and then 2 routes I can take to get in to work. Both routes to my mom's house are plagued with traffic. Today, I decided to appreciate the route for its beauty. On one route I drive through a part of town that is incredibly well maintained. I love this route because some of the houses could be in Better Homes and Gardens. Of course, it is hard to take a good photo from the car (even when I'm sitting in slow traffic) but I tried.

Even the underpasses are wonderfully landscaped. Who knew that driving under a highway could provide me with some gardening inspiration?

Note to self: Get some hydrangea already!

From Flower to Fruit

A look at the process of becoming a pea.






I was going to post a picture of our first pea harvest, but Ruby ate them all. Seriously.

Plants and Parties

Over the weekend we did more of the same: gardened, went to a garden shop, and waited for rain to come. But this weekend we also had a party to attend (woohoo!) which means Ruby got to go spend the night at her best friend Indio's house.
Saturday morning we were up bright and early and decided to go to Sappington Gardens to see their plant selection. We are in the market for nothing in particular, but always looking to see what we could add to our ever growing garden. It's an addiction. In our defense, you can't know if you are overpaying for a giant shrub or tree unless you price it at various locations. Anyway, Sappington Gardens has a lot to offer.

I really could have gone home with all these evergreens and been a very happy (and poor) camper. The globe blue spruce (the light blue evergreen) is on the top of my wish list.

Ruby took it all in from the comfort of her stroller.

When she wasn't chilling in her sun hat, Ruby got in on the action of inspecting leaves to learn the names of our favorite plants

The terra cotta pot aisle made me drool. I love terra cotta pots. Especially ones specifically made for succulents and cacti!


We walked away with only a cardinal flower and ruby bells huechera (we are a sucker for anything with Ruby's name) to add to our shade garden. Whew, it was a lesson in self restraint. (I really could have spent so much more on evergreen shrubs!)
On Saturday night Ruby went over to her cousin's house for the night while Joe and I went to celebrate his sister's Mandy's 30th birthday. (Happy birthday!) This is all the photographic evidence I have of our fabulous evening.

Camera phone lights are really bright!
Sunday was a lazy day. Ruby was completely worn out from her up all night party, and took 2 big long naps with me. Needless to say, it was a good weekend.

A Day in the Life

Here is a glimpse (through a series of videos) into the life of Ruby.
This is how she complains when she wants what Indio has

This is how she asserts her presence to Indio

This is how Ruby dances

This is how she walks

This is how she really walks

In Bloom

Our gardens around the house are really starting to come together. I am so happy that Joe devoted so much time and energy to starting seeds, because we have had a lot of fun (at least I have) going "shopping" in our seedling piles to fill out our many garden beds. But we haven't been able to shake our nursery addiction, and have still gone and bought some items at big box stores. Mostly, bigger and more mature shrubs for screening purposes. But! There is a lot in the ground that started from seed, a lot growing really well and BLOOMS!

I can't seem to get a picture of the front garden bed without it looking scrubby. I think some edging and good mulch/compost might help it out. But this is to show that green plants are loving the front garden. First of all, I never thought I would ever say this, but we might have gone overboard with the purple coneflower. I love love love purple coneflower. It is the best plant because it is not only beautiful, but medicinal, and native and low maintenance. If I were to be a plant, I would want to be a purple coneflower.



Most of our blooms right now are in the raised vegetable bed. Which is great because you can't get veggies until you get flowers! Our peas are growing really well. We are growing a sugar snap pea. I cannot wait to eat these fresh! In the meantime, how beautiful are pea flowers?

Tomato is also in bloom.

As are the cucumbers.

And we have had our first of hopefully too many zinnia blooms

And over in my herb garden, my African Blue basil is beautiful. Unfortunately, you don't really want your herbs to go to flower. The flavorful leaves lack the energy (as the plant shifts its focus to making flowers) and your herb gets bitter. Oops, I got caught up in the beauty of purple flowers!