Courtyard Happenings

Our courtyard is pretty much finished, there are only a few small details left like rerouting down spouts and installing a drip system. You know boring stuff that only helps it function better. So we still have important things to tackle with the courtyard. We only now have realized just how bad the down spouts are. We knew they all came down into the courtyard, but we never get rain here and it never mattered before. Now that we have beautiful plants filling up the space we see just how big the problem really is. Last week we got a half inch (yes half an inch) of rain and it drowned the courtyard. We had plants completely under water and we had mulch floating from one side of the courtyard to the other.


It was fairly stressful. We had to even put a board over some of the plants because they were getting pummeled by water from one of the down spouts. The rose bush next to the house took a beating, but there wasn't much we could do. So at some point we will be getting to that issue.

The other issue that we realized over the last couple of weeks that needs addressing, is the lack of a drip system to water the plants. Now that we finished planting the courtyard and front area, watering has become a chore. It takes me between 30 and 45 minutes every morning to hand water everything. We have also been watering 2 times a day to help establish all the new plants, so it takes a lot of time out of the day.

Add those to our To Do List.

There are some other exciting and odd things going on in the courtyard. First is that the rose bushes are flowering more vibrant and larger roses. We think this might be due to them finally becoming established but I happen to find it odd. This is the same rose bush and the color seems to be getting darker.

I dont have any problem with this because I happen to love the dark peach color flowers that the bush is now producing.  I am pretty much in love with roses now.

Things have been growing so well in the courtyard.

It's amazing how much these plants have grown in a month. I have decided however, that I am not a fan of foxgloves. It might be too hot here but their flowers don't last long. Those are definitely not making a return to the courtyard.