The Variegated Thumb

Over the last couple weeks I put in about 10 hours of work to build a little path from our back patio around the greenhouse to the gate on the side of the house.  The work mostly consisted of digging out the area for the bricks, dumping the dirt in various low areas of our yard, cleaning the bricks of mortar (since these are repurposed bricks) and then the fun part: laying the bricks.

Our new brick path, wrapping around the greenhouse.

I think the project turned out really nice.  This area is very shady as soon as our huge Sycamore tree leafs out, so the grass has been gone for years.  This path was laid just before the Spring rains come, so we’ll be able to walk around the house without trudging into mud.

Our new brick path, leading to the side gate.

Building this path also gave us the opportunity to use some of our gardening budget and spiff up this part of our yard.  We purchased some little Pieris bushes (Pieris japonica ‘Valley Rose’) from Lowe’s that have the 1 year warranty.  That way if they aren’t able to handle the heat of our Oklahoma Summers, we can get our money back.  Lowe’s often offers some things that I haven’t seen before and I have to be a little skeptical.  Either they haven’t been tested in our climate or they have and they’re not going to make it.  I am kind of familiar with the name Pieris, though, and have read enough online now that I am fairly confident that these plants will be happy here.

Pieris japonica 'Valley Rose' and decorative hedgehog

The Pieris bushes have really nice, dusty rose colored blooms that droop like a fountain of little bells.  When the blooms have finished the foliage is still interesting, having a shape similar to a Schefflera.

I have wanted a Forsythia for a while, seeing them light up every Spring, and I know that it will do well in our climate.  Like our Quince, it won’t require any special care and should establish itself well in this location.  Also, I know that the Blue Star Junipers will do well in our climate.  We have some nice Green Mound Junipers in our front yard around the waterfall that look great.  They have slowly spread over time and just look better every year.

Forsythia and Blue Star Juniper

We would like to lay some shade grass sod around our path and in the most barren part of our yard near our porch now.  It will look much nicer and keep our house cleaner from the pups’ trips in and out this Spring.

The Beefsteak Begonia (Begonia ‘Erythrophylla’) is grown for it’s foliage – very large, round dark colored leaves.  But that doesn’t prevent it from blooming.

Beefsteak Begonia blooms

A while back a neighbor gave me some cuttings of her Beefsteak Begonia – 4 large leaves with stems attached.  I rooted the leaves and then gave 2 of them to my mother-in-law, who grows some Begonias.  We both planted the leaves in potting soil about the same time.  My plant is now in a small 4″ pot with about 8 leaves.  Hers is in a 12″ or larger pot with about 8 million leaves!  In fact, I think Cheryl’s plant is probably larger than the parent plant from which the cuttings were taken.

My mother-in-law's monstrous Beefsteak Begonia (Begonia 'Erythrophylla') in bloom

A week or two back she reported to me that it now has tall, thick bloom stalks with little pink flowers on the ends.  Not to be outdone, my own tiny plant decided to put up a little bloom stalk of its own.

My tiny Beefsteak Begonia