Gardening in Busted Stick.: May 2009

Welcome to Busted Stick

I actually live in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, where the winters are usually mild and the summers are brutal. I have, in my 15 years here, killed an untold number of plants. It took me a few years to realize that my gardening knowledge was based on living in Michigan for most of my childhood and what works there, won't work here.

I've long had dreams of having an English Cottage look and feel to my gardens. I gave up that dream and settled for "safe" trees and bushes, and then an ice storm unlike anything we've ever seen hit Tulsa in 2007 and killed almost every bush and tree I own. Leaving me momentarily heartbroken, but totally inspired.

I'm slowly re-developing my yard and painting the landscape I've seen in my inner vision since arriving. It can be done. It just takes patience, time, and a lot of research.

That's what this blog is. The culmination of my learning, my mistakes (and I've made many already) and hopefully in time, you will see my new canvas and my studying, trial and error, pay off with beauty.

I hope you keep coming back and checking on the progress. I'm excited.

What I'm Working on Right Now

This South West corner is the newest room in my yard. I will be working on this space most of the winter to get it ready for Spring planting. It is by far the most unsightly, what with the utility boxes and whatnot. It's also under a "no dig" restriction, so I'm having to build up and be creative with pots and planting locations. This is primarily shaded, I'm researching color and cover options while keeping it usable to as much of an extent as possible.

I've already added the trellis, as well as two bushes to hide the boxes - and I'm building up a brick garden spot just outside of the shade and next to the trellis for my climbing morning glories. I like entrances.

In the back will be large pots of ferns, hostas, and whatever other shade loving things I can find. - My "pots" won't be pots so much as they will be feeding troughs from the local AG store. A trick I learned from a California gardener who wasn't allowed to dig in parts of his yard either because of right of way restrictions.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

It is Graduation Day

The month of May has wings. It must. How else can I explain why it is already the 21st and my son is graduating highschool. My absence on the blogosphere is directly tied to our getting ready for today. I'm not ready.

I did take some garden pictures this week so that I could check in and touch base with everyone. I missed bloom day and when I slowed down enough to look around, I noticed that my roses, Lupines, Ceriopsis and shasta daisies were blooming. They look great.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

My Yard is a Swamp, but that's okay.

I know that the weather is fickle in Oklahoma, but rain for a week solid is enough for me. My yard is presently a swamp and while other parts of the start are flooded and I should be grateful we are not, I'm not. I'm worried.

Worry won't change a thing, so I thought I'd show you a few recent photos of my gardens to date. My Iris and dwarf lillies are blooming and once the rain stops, I'll show you more pictures.