Mayan, Gardening, Cold Stone Creamery, etc.

First of all, I have to tell you about my favorite place to get gardening information: Anderson's Seed and Garden in Logan, Utah.  Check out this Seed List and planting Guide. I also love their rooting hormone and their Myke.  I added Myke to the roots of all my trees and vines this year.  I add the rooting hormone once every week in a gallon of water.  Doing that little extra is just what I have to do to help my plants survive on this wind swept hillside.  It works and I love to see the plants grow.  It's great happiness therapy and it's helped me to deal with surviving cancer in a way no other hobby can.

Yesterday we went as a family to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple to photograph a family whose adoption of their son was finalized and ready for sealing to his parents.  Then we went to the Mayan for my daughter's birthday dinner.  We've never been before and we really enjoyed it. And yes, the food is better. We were able to see two diving shows.  In one of them, the divers jumped from the ceiling - gulp - and I though the top of the rocks was high.  We haven't been out to eat without someone else paying in a very long time. Maybe two or three times in the last year but part of that is due to food allergies. Sorry for the cell phone pic.  I didn't even think to bring my camera in.

After lunch, my parents called and told us they had some plant starts for us.  Couldn't have been better timing! They were working on their flower beds in the front of their home.  The bushes they have are beautiful.  And they had sent some runners out with plenty of roots.  So we pulled and clipped them - 18 of them and put them in a box.  They are vigorous growers so we should have full size bushes by the end of summer. I planted 11 on the back of the house and 7 up top near my new bare root apple tree from Anderson's Seed and Garden.

And then they had plenty of shasta daisies for us as well.  I think I counted 13 of those - and since that is my lucky number, I'm sure those things are going to grow into something amazing! And guess what? They hardly made a dent in that hillside.  I planted them where they would help control erosion in the steepest part near my rock wall.  At least there is plenty of room for echinacea and black eyed susans.  

You can tell from this photo where we ripped out the lemon thyme.  It smells so yummy and during the summer it's actually pretty with it's tiny delicate blossoms.  But it was taking over the stairs.  Don't be afraid to rip things out, move things around, etc. I know exactly what will go here.  It's growing out front and I LOVE it - it's sort of a succulent type plant and it has the prettiest pink blossoms all summer.  It's very hardy and fills in the cracks, but it doesn't take over.  I wish I knew the name of it.  I will either have to take a piece to the garden center to get a match or just transplant some.  It will transplant easily.

So we transplanted the lemon thyme to an area where it can be ground cover.  Eventually there will be trees in the area where we put it all, but for now, it just looks like we planted tumble weeds! BUT when it all starts to grow and fill in, it will be so much prettier than the weeds we had last year.

After planting we ate a light dinner and took our daughter to Cold Stone to redeem her coupon for free birthday kids creation!  Then it was off to bed. After such a long and busy day, I was ready for a good night's sleep. This week is going to be insane.  I'm going to need a vacation when it's all said and done.