The nice lady at the nursery assured me, “it’s impossible to kill an oleander.” I almost said, “wanna bet? Come by my house.” Instead, I just said “Maybe I can’t, but something sure is.” When we moved into this house over 30 years ago, the oleander hedge between us and the neighbor was well-established and thriving. In summer it was covered with bright pink flowers; the rest of the year the leaves were dark green and glossy. It formed a pleasant demarcation. It seemed independent and content, and I was perfectly content to let it be. In fact, I never gave it a second thought and only occasionally dragged the hose across the driveway to water it. Then a couple of years ago I noticed withering leaves and bare, dead branches. Oops. “So,” I said as I plopped a couple of smallish oleander bushes on the wagon, “how long do you… Read More »
I am not Responsible
It is a struggle, but I have come to understand that I am not responsible for finding homes for everything that crosses my path. Except the kittens who are born in my backyard, of course. I was responsible for them, but other things? Not so much. Many years ago a friend gave me a handful of hollyhock seeds. I had seen pictures of hollyhocks growing in front of Swiss chalets, so I didn’t expect them to grow in the desert, but they did! Not only grow, but thrive. They also re-seed themselves, and they are not discriminate about where they land, so they drift across the fences into the neighbors yards. This gives me a stunning wall of hollyhocks every spring and summer. A joyous display to gladden the heart. At the end of the season, when they are done blooming, I collect the excess seeds in baggies. In the beginning,… Read More »
The $50 sunflowers
Don’t you just love sunflowers? Doesn’t everybody? And as for mine, I don’t know for a fact that the sunflowers have cost me $50 — it might be more; I’m hoping it’s less. I’ll find out next month when I get the water bill. I’ve wanted to plant sunflowers ever since I saw them in a neighbor’s yard a few years back, but I always forget until it’s too late. But not this year! Sometime in March I actually remembered and went to the nursery. Problem is, I haven’t bought seeds for years. They used to be 39¢, then they went up to 79¢. Of course, that was in the 90s. How about $2.59? For a packet of seeds. SEEDS. Not a pot of flowers, just a little envelope with seeds. Okay, okay, I know — I’m still living in the last century. Anyway … I came home and planted… Read More »
The burglar in my backyard
Okay, I don’t know for sure that it was a burglar. Coulda been a car thief, an arsonist, a vagrant or some other wanted person. All I know is he was in my back yard. It was a couple of evenings ago just before dusk when I had the slightest inkling that something was amiss. You know how you recognize every sound in your house? Most of the time you’re not even aware, but your subconscious registers it and checks it off. The refrigerator coming on — check; the water heater gugrling — check; the wind rattling the front door — check; the wind rattling the back door — Alert. The back door does not rattle. I listened for a moment and decided that I was hearing unfamiliar sounds. I trotted into the dining room and confirmed the patio door was locked and then the laundry room door — locked,… Read More »
How I know my figs are ripe
“My figs are ripe!” I told Cousin Dusty on the phone. I knew this even though I could not actually see them. I had been hearing a glorious chorus of happy birds and I suddenly realized why they were so darn happy — they were in my fig tree — eating my figs! There was a lot of excited fluttering and they were singing, “Woo-Hoo! Ripe Figs! Oh Yum!” I’m pretty sure that’s what they were saying, because that’s what I say when they get ripe. The crop wasn’t very big this year, unfortunately. I’d been watching one particular fig which was eye-level and visible from the dining room. Sure enough, it was purple — the thing about figs is that they get ripe overnight. Literally. They are green…green…green and then suddenly PURPLE. As soon as I hung up the phone, I dashed outside and was dismayed to discover several figs had been eaten into… Read More »
