The neighbors must think I'm crazy...

Every evening for the last three weeks, if my neighbors look outside, they can see me watering this dead tree. I can only imagine what they must be thinking. I'm actually surprised no one has come and chainsawed the thing down in the middle of the night. We live in a rental house, in a gorgeous location right across from the water, and we have landlords that don't care that there's a termite infested rotting dead Maple in our front yard. I feel bad for the view it gives the neighbors. But since the landlords don't care, I have taken it upon myself to turn it into something interesting. A totem pole was briefly considered, until I settled on totally covering it with cool vines. It's my way of giving it a second chance at life. It's like a dress up doll from when you were a kid, but a more horticultural version! So this year, the Cardinal Climber I planted last year graciously reseeded itself, and I also planted a bunch of Cup and Saucer vine seeds as well. The Cardinal Climber had foliage that was a little sparse, but the flowers were pretty. It was like she was wearing a sheer dress! I'm going for a little more modesty this year, so hopefully the crazy growth habit the Cup and Saucer vine is supposed to have will cover her up a little more.



On another note, I found my Brussels Sprouts seedlings. I didn't think I had lost them, but I did! I planted them a few weeks ago in a row near my tomatoes. I lazily staked their location with two branches I found on the ground, one at each end. A few days later, one of the branches was knocked down (probably by my dog, Lucy, who thinks I spend all my time making paths for her to walk on). I looked to either side of the branch that was still sticking in the ground and saw two branches lying there. So the row I planted could have been to the left, or the right. I chose the one on the left side, and stuck it back on the ground. Only today did I discover that I should have stuck in the branch on the right side, because there were my little seedlings, in their original row that I had lost.



My dog Lucy, walking in the garden...gah! She's giving that look, like "What? I thought you dug this all up so I didn't have to get my lil' paws wet on the grass!"