May Goals - Curb Appeal

Our property is large... over 5 acres, with about 2 acres of cleared land that is considered to be the "yard". I use the term "yard" loosely because it's closer to being pasture than yard.

Very little landscaping or care has been done, so we are playing a bit of catch up. There's a lot of work to be done. I messed around a bit last year but didn't do much as I wanted to see what I'd be dealing with thru every season. Early work included widening the driveway entrance and enlarging the upper parking area (where guest park). Ripping out a lot of overgrown shrubs that had been planted in areas far too small for their mature growth. Planting my daylilies, irises and daffodils. Laying out some mulch.

Other than that, I've been doing a lot of planning.

Now it's time to put some of those plans into action before the HOT Tennessee summer hits.

Because I don't do "hot".

We are going to work on is our 'curb appeal'. Whatever one sees from when they pull into our drive and continuing all the way up to our front porch. This will include:


the mail box area,

the driveway itself,

the areas immediately around the north...

and east side of the house (that is where the butterfly garden will be)

and finally this front area and the porch/stoop.

A Taste of Spring

I have truly enjoyed having a snowy winter this year. I've made snow men, thrown snow balls, and taken tons of beautiful photos. But now I am done with winter weather.

Because it's March and that means Spring. The crocuses are blooming and the daffodil leaves are 5 inches high. Tulips are peeking out. And I'm seeing some mystery bulbs coming up too. Don't you just love flowering surprises!?

Yesterday really gave me a case of "Spring Fever". I spent the day at the Nashville Lawn and Garden Show. Oh my! I am so ready to dig in the dirt. The show is held at the State Fairgrounds (which I heard yesterday has been sold for development!! How sad it that!!!). There was building after building of landscaper displays, flower shows, garden clubs, and booths selling yard pretties and gardening equipment.

Some of the landscaping displays had ideas that I will modify and use in my yard.

I have several display stones in my yard and I love this presentation. I know just how I'm going to use the idea.


This rustic pergola is perfect for our fire pit area. And I shouldn't have too much trouble finding the cedar logs in areas they are bulldozing for building on. Have chainsaw... will cut!

This idea with the logs will work for up there too. When they eventually rot, it's cheap (free) and easy to replace.

Isn't this the cutest little display idea? I'm seeing something like this in front of my shed.

I just love this sweet little sitting area. I have several places where I could use this idea.

This fountain garden is a bit European formal for my home but isn't it elegant?

This checker board of ground cover mosses is such a neat idea. It can be modified to so many different designs.

There was a lovely orchid display and 4 or 5 booths selling them. I love orchids but don't think I could keep them alive. I have to settle for silk orchids and photos.

Another display was of beautiful and unusual floral arrangements.

This one was different!

This tropical arrangement made me want to book a cruise to Hawai'i!

Now this feels like SPRING! I could do something like this. The base is a wide clear bowl. Then the blooming branches and tulips are in individual clear glasses set in the bowl. I think the flowers were held in place with clear glass stones.

Pretty as a picture!

Traditional. Love the orange and purple.

This one makes me think of an old abandoned farm house.

Love the orchids and feathers!

This one caught my eye.

And I just couldn't resist snapping this photo! No one was going to tell him what not to do!!!

Centerpiece of our bird garden

One of the areas I’m working on in our yard is a butterfly and bird garden in the front yard. At this point it’s mostly in the planning stages. I marked out a border this summer but since then have decided we need it to be larger.

However, we have already made some purchases for it. We just recently found this beautiful handmade bird feeder on the road out to the highway. The builder is a carpenter and makes them from scraps from his jobs.

I think he did a great job!

One bulb at a time...

Today I planted my first daffodil, and kept planting until I had put in about 100. King Alfred, Salome, Pink Pride and Old Fashion Mix.

Today was my first action in the landscaping of our yard. We now have a BIG yard... with so much potential it's incredible. But it's also a big yard that is overgrown, rocky, with bad drainways. It is a little overwhelming. We are definitely going to have to use "The Daffodil Principle" on it..."One bulb at a time, by one woman..."





The Daffodil Principle by Jaroldeen Asplund Edwards
Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you must come see the daffodils before they are over." I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead. "I'll come next Tuesday", I promised a little reluctantly, on her third call.

Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and so I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn's house and hugged and greeted my grandchildren, I said, "Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in the clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see bad enough to drive another inch."

My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this all the time, Mother." "Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm heading for home," I assured her.

"I was hoping you'd take me over to the garage to pick up my car."

"How far will we have to drive?"

"Just a few blocks", Carolyn said. "I'll drive. I'm used to this."

After several minutes, I had to ask, "Where are we going? This isn't the way to the garage."

"We're going to my garage the long way," Carolyn smiled, "by way of the daffodils."

I sternly told Carolyn to please turn around.

"Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience."

After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church I saw a hand-lettered sign that read "Daffodil Garden." We got out of the car and each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. We turned a corner of the path and I looked up and gasped.



Before me lay the most glorious sight. It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it over the mountain peak and slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns -- great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, saffron, and butter yellow.

Each different-colored variety was planted as a group so that it swirled and flowed like it's own river with its own unique hue.
There were five acres of flowers. "But who has done this?" I asked Carolyn.

"It's just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's her home." Carolyn pointed to a well kept A-frame house that looked small and modest in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house and on the patio, we saw a poster. "Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Going To Ask" was the headline.

The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs," it read. The second answer was, "One bulb at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet and very little brain." The third answer was, "Began in 1958."

There it was, The Daffodil Principle. For me, that moment was a life changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who more than forty years before, had begun one bulb at a time to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountain top. Still, planting one bulb at a time, year after year had changed the world in which she lived. She had created something of indescribable beauty and inspiration.

The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration. That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time -- often just one baby-step at a time -- and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time.
When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world.

"It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it "one bulb at a time" through all those years. Just think what I might have been able to achieve!"

My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. "Start tomorrow," she said.

Today I planted my first daffodil...