Sunday, June 19, 2022

Happy Father's Day

As I just finished up some DT work, I have no new art to share, but I thought I would share a few photos of our little back porch plant world to honor Honey on Father's Day. I realize "this ain't squat" compared to some of  y'alls gorgeous gardens but please know I love and respect your hard works. Honey and I just don't want to put in the work (and who am I kidding, I can't do it because of my physical limits). So, what we have is a reflection of what we want to devote to it. 😁
This Spring, Honey got into gardening again, sort of. His dad always kept a vegetable garden and in our early married years so did Honey. He has always mowed our yard until last year: we began using a lawn service for the front but Honey still mows the back. I may show some of the front at a much later date, give what he's planted time to grow and add to the view. For now, these are photos of some of our back (where we spend most of our outdoor time).
He's never really gotten into flowers, but this past birthday I asked him to plant ivy in the front flower beds for ground cover, which he did. It will be a good while until I can share a decent photo of that planting but for now here is what grows on our pool fence at our back porch. Both the lantana (pink) and the wandering Jew (blue) came up wild, probably by the birds scattering seed. There is jew in other parts of the yard as well. We leave it alone for the most part, occasionally whacking at the lantana to try to keep its bushiness contained (in vain and that's okay. We aren't into pruning at all).
Then I requested a nice succulent plant for Mother's Day and received an aloe vera from dear daughter. That began our little cacti/succulent garden. Honey got interested and bought 2 cacti and 3 tiny succulents at Home Depot along with some special soil mix, etc.  Photo above is from the week after Mother's Day.
At about the same time, my airplane plant named Baby that I've kept with me through thick and thin since 1981 (and which almost died during the 2021 Texas Freeze), was still looking iffy and just not right. Honey took her under his MiracleGro wing and Baby has completely bounced back and has never looked better and has been flowering and making little babies again like no tomorrow, which Honey roots and pots. He's planted some of them in a front yard bed and plans to plant more.
Honey even went through his scrap lumber to make an elevated plant caddy on wheels for Baby to let her babies hang instead of dragging the ground. It's a very simple yet solid and effective design and he found everything for the caddy in the garage, lol.

Top photo from a month ago and bottom photo 2 weeks ago after Honey got the cacti repotted. Now we have a growing and thriving container garden of airplane plants, cacti and succulents on the back porch that's fun to fun to watch grow and just take in the loveliness of nature, along with the birds that visit us.

I'm linking this post up to Rain's Thursday Art Date where the week's color is red, but I'm thinking that is not a deal-breaker for posting, plus Honey used a red board on his caddy and terracotta pots are often considered red. And the lantana is pink, which is a form of red (really stretching it here, haha).
😄
Thanks for visiting me today. I hope everyone's Father's Day was lovely. XOX

5 comments:

Alyson Mayo said...

This is such a beautiful and uplifting post! I love seeing what you have done and the hard work has paid off. I'm sure sitting outside is so enjoyable in such a pretty atmosphere:)

Kristine said...

Since 1981???!!!! Holy tamolie!! I'm green-thumb challenged, and a bit green with envy 😉 I can't keep a plant alive to save my life! But I admire those who have beautiful gardens and you're off to a nice start!! Thanks for sharing your lil part of the world with us 🥰 Happy Father's Day!

My name is Erika. said...

Wow, that airplane plant is amazing. I have a fig tree (that looks terrible right now-sadly) that I've had from about the same time and I am hoping I don't lose it. I think if I lived where we had so much more hot weather, gardening wouldn't be so big on my list either. It is fun to see what you have growing, and I am jealous you have a pool. And your husband made you a great wheelie box for Baby. I like how it holds her off the ground enough so the babies can hang. I hope you had a nice weekend and your husband had a great father's day. Stay cool. hugs-Erika

Rain said...

Aimeslee!!!! So nice to see you linked up! No deal breakers for TAD that's for sure! ☺☺ Honey is doing a great job with the flowers and wow!!! Baby is no longer a baby! Look at that plant grow! That's awesome!! ♥♥ I love the idea of a plant caddy!

Bonnie Lynn said...

Aimeslee I love your garden pics!! That caddy for Baby is fabulous. Your honey did an amazing job making it. I'm pretty sure my honey could make something like it - after he recovers from surgery this week.