Weston Gardens

Yesterday was the much anticipated trip to Weston Gardens in Fort Worth. It was incredible. I could go on and on about how groovy this Garden center and demonstration garden is. Let me just say that this place was very "secret garden" and, dare I say, sacred. Trees, shrubs, flowers, stones and sculptures were in abundance here. The picture above does a pretty good job of portraying the "secret garden" feel I was talking about. I'm not sure if it gets any better than the water lillies below.

I took a ton of pictures and I still missed so much. I certainly don't think it would be wise of me to post over 60 pictures so I will just focus on a couple more. After all, I do have three children and they all need clean clothes.

Many of the picture I took were of individual flowers and the tags that identified them. I'll post some in the future perhaps, I won't show those at this time. I'll finish up with two more photos. One of a statue that I just fell in love with and a picture of my Mom.

I included a link to the right that will take you to Weston Gardens website if you are interested in more information. Please feel free to leave comments and happy gardening to all.

Rebecca

Dizzy Days Ahead

I suppose it's about time that I ignore the kids, stop cleaning house and and take a break from piddling around outside to say a few words about my "Holding Pit".

It has been a busy and exiciting summer. Thank goodness it's almost over. School has been back in session for my kiddos for three weeks now and the weather is starting to show signs of "milding" up! It has not been a harsh hot summer as far as Texas goes, but definetly hot enough to prevent any major projects outdoors. Instead of digging in dirt we spent a lot of our time down at the pool and just hanging out in the ac.

Now that doesn't mean I have been totally lazy! I did get a little bit of work done outside, just nothing major! I have one bed almost finished. I just need to move one plant, go pick out a couple more plants, then mulch and edge with stones and I'm done. In January I'll be getting a Celeste Fig Tree to go in the bed so it will look a little blank in one spot for a while. I also need to get some screening material for the ac unit (yes I made a garden bed around the ac unit) and rig something up. Looks like hubby will be busy one of these weekends helping me build something. Maybe between the two of us we will have enough carpentry skills to get the job done.

Being that it is the middle of September, we are heading into prime planting season here in North Texas. I want to finish that bed I was talking about above, start work on a second bed and also get a nice shade tree in the ground near the kids play area. All the box store nurseries might be shutting down right about now but the real nurseries know what time it is! Alan Vargo at D and L nursery in Aubrey is going to help me pick out a good shade tree. I'm looking forward to going to a nursery in Fort Worth with 5 acres of demonstration gardens and free seminars. On October 6 there is an Info fest being sponsored by Denton County Master Gardeners and a plant swap happening soon. I am excited about everything going on up here in my neck of the woods but also a little dizzy just thinking about it all. I'll definetly be getting plenty of exercise this fall. So will the checkbook!

I have it all planned out, kinda sorta, and am looking forward to getting it all done. I think I FINALLY have gotten a shaky grasp of garden design. I am learning to think a little bigger. Instead of a strip at the back of the house I pulled it out a lot further. A lot. And I made it curvy. The whole "bones" thing is starting to take root in my mind. Now that I am planning BIG garden beds I can see where I have room for things like, imagine this, trees and shrubs! It's only natural to want to plant flowers first but I have promised myself for each bed I make I will do a tree, a shrub, a grass and THEN flowers. I also have come to realize that nothing is permanent and if I plant something in the wrong spot it can always come out later. This whole gardening thing is new to me and I don't always know what a real life mature plant looks like! Of course, thats what garden tours are for, right? My whole point is, I don't entirely know what I am doing, but I am learning. I think at this point I am doing pretty good! I know at some undetermined point in the future I'll be doing damn good. It just takes time.

I will have to make sure to carve out enough time to write and post some pictures here throughout the fall planting frenzy. Just be patient with me folks, I'll have something to show off soon enough!

Happy digging

Rebecca

Spider

Just because spiders are so cool, and because I want to share more than just one post about my garden, I thought would share these pictures.

My husband took these pictures last night. I think he did a damn fine job of capturing this gal considering it was pitch black with the only light being from the bathroom and the nagging wife holding a flashlight yelling "Try a different angle, Bob!".

We watched this spider wrap three bugs and it didn't take long at all for her to prep her dinner. Maybe she'll come help me prep my holiday dinners this year.

Cool things happen in gardens. Just ask my kids.

Rebecca

The name of my Blog.

You may be thinking to yourself "Rebecca, what possessed you to name your garden The Holding Pit?". After all, it's not a nice sounding name. Would it had been better named Rebecca's little haven of heaven or perhaps Rebecca's piece of paradise? Perhaps, if you like idyllic sounding names for a place that truly doesn't deserve the honor yet. Although "The Holding Pit" may sound a bit purgatorious, I think it accurately reflects the state of my garden. As a matter of fact, I think the term "purgatorious" really cinches the deal. Indulge me for a moment as I go off into a religious vein.

Purgatory, as related in The Cathecism of the Catholic Church, means that "all who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven." Okay. That works for me. So maybe I should loosely translate that into the Cathecism of Rebecca's garden. Let's see "all plants that enter into Rebecca's Garden in her grace and friendship, whether they be perfectly planted or not, are indeed assured that they will be cared for, tended and relocated until they achieve the holiness necessary to to actually thrive and define what is the joy of a garden". How exciting, I just wrote my first doctrine!

It's time to put aside the religious vibe and focus on the facts. The facts about my garden, fondly christened The Holding Pit, are as follows. It is simply a plot of land that I have decided to dig in. The few plants I have planted in the ground and growing in pots are waiting patiently until I can figure out where they really need to go. I have grand plans that everything I plant and grow will survive until I figure out what I am doing. I also have grand hopes that maybe it will look good. Last but not least is the fact that it is not perfect, yet I am enjoying every minute I spend in it and so are my children.

I would love to give you a witty ending today but I'm all tapped out. Instead I will just leave you with just one wish. I wish that you will enjoy watching my garden grow as much as I do.

Rebecca