WHAT MAKES ME HAPPY

Easter is over and I just finished planting a lot of plants in the yard; some along the driveway and some to enhance the  pine trees I planted three years ago to form a hedge that will obliterate the neighbor's house and extinguish the bright light he burns every night all night long for some reason.  My goal is to entirely circle this property with 50 foot tall pines, leaving only a narrow slot wide enough for my truck and boat to pass through. 

The rain fell gently but steady all afternoon and it felt good to dig and plant grasses and the few holly bushes I had.  Finally I called it quits and went up on the porch, popped a beer open, sat down in the fine rocking chair that Tom bought me, put my feet up on the porch railing, let my hand fall beside the arm on the rocker and found Shade's head.  Now, that's satisfaction.

I have always been a person who likes action and adventure, discovery and the entire process that brings all that to my feet.  I like to be on the move, the bike wheels turning, the boat moving down the river constantly searching for that perfect campsite.  I like to use the "stuff" I brought to enhance whatever endeavor I am undertaking.  It's fun.  I still like to be that way although I'm appreciating the adventures to be more gentle in nature but just as rewarding.  
So, here I am kicked back with my girls at my feet enjoying a warm, damp evening in the rocker just looking out over all my plants - and there are a lot of them.

 The above evergreen is a Thuja Wintergreen.  They are considered to be a hedge tree.  All Thuja's are hedge trees (pines).  These Thujas will grow to 40 feet.

The tree above is a Thuja Emerald.  It's just a bit different than the Wintergreen.  There is one other Thuja that I have and it is called the Thuja Giant and reaches heights of 60 feet.  I can't wait.  Thujas double their size every year which is a very desirable asset to me but the rule of thumb for fast growing trees is that they don't have a very deep root system and can be susceptible to high wind.   No sweat cause it will simply fall onto my neighbors house and hopefully break his all night, outside light.  Incidentally, the tree above was only one foot tall when I bought this place four years ago.  It's actually over seven feet tall right now.

I found this holly plant way down in the woods.  I don't know if the folks who owned this place planted a few plants in the woods or if the holly is growing wild.  I transplanted it here where it will be fed and nurtured.  It can grow how and where it wants.  This place belongs to the plants just as much as it does the dogs.
I like tall hedge plants.  I thought I'd try some tall growing ornamental grasses so I ordered miscanthus gracillimus and also miscanthus purpurascens.  These grasses grow to about 5 feet tall and each plant will extend itself out about 4 feet to the side.  I planted them so they join and form a solid hedge down beside the driveway.  

The plant closest to you is a box wood hedge plant.  The grasses line the drive all the way down to the thuja pine at the end.  Below:  box woods line the drive the other direction toward the road.   I can't wait for this stuff to grow up.  Again, the box woods will grow to about 5 feet and will join horizontally.  

 Above is another holly plant.  I forgot this one.  I planted it a week ago.  

The forsythia you see below came from the old Scona Lodge site on Chilhowee Lake.  I am proud of each plant because each one represents a glorious past and each resided on the premises of a fabulous castle in a fairy-book land long ago.  They were tiny sprigs and roots when I dug them up.  Look at them now.

 They are lush and green, vivid, alive, healthy and reflect honor onto old Scona and keep her memory alive as long as I live.

 Here's two more of those great Thuja pines.  I need to get at least 50 more and I have to get them next year at the latest if I want to see them grown into fine hedges.  I'm not getting any younger.

Next is a close up of the miscanthus gracillimus ornamental grass.  It's hard to believe that this will grow into a 5 foot tall hedge.  We'll see.

Below is a better shot of a box wood.  (hedge plant)

Below are climbing roses.  They have been trimmed back but are growing out like crazy now.  It's amazing how they just blast to life overnight.

And, last but not least - my pride and joy ---- the clematis.  This growth of clematis originated from three plants no taller than three inches.  I stuck them in the ground three years ago and just look at them now.

Their green color is beyond green.  The hue is unbelievably sensational!

 Look at the density of the foliage, how green, healthy and shiny.  These are WOW plants.

I walk among these plants in the morning at sun up and again in the evening at dusk.  I enjoy their company and their freshness.  These plants, and my dogs, are what's important to me.  Someday you too will understand this.  It's a life thing - a life lesson that is understood too late to enjoy it for very long.