Thursday - 2008-0724-0300 - Rain - Chove sobre mollado; Monday - Heat; Monday - Ichiban; Monday - WalMart - Plants / Hedgehog; Monday - Home - Photo of Plants on Stoop; Tuesday - Heat; Tuesday - No Outings, Lunch; Tuesday - Plants, Soil and Planting; Tuesday -Planting and Power Digging Tools; Goddess of Plants

Rain - Chove sobre mollado Larger Image Chove sobre mollado on Flickr - Photo Sharing! by scaamanho.

I was silly enough to complain about the heat last week. It was 101 Monday.

Total blank

After lunch I needed to make a quick trip to WalMart for tea, cat food, plant saucers, paper towels. WalMart has a discount shelf that more or less moves around the store. You never know where it will be . I'll usually look to see if there's anything that catches my fancy.

And I saw a plastic hedgehog for $3. What was surprising was the degree of detail. The "fur" was made of tiny petals. I latched onto it immediately.

I also glanced outside at the plants section which was very barren. But I discovered a great find - a golden euonymus also for $3. Oh, and I also picked up the plastic saucers I needed.

Even with the heat, I planted the euonymus in a pot. Then I re-arranged the plastic saucers. And move everything around about a dozen times.

During the process of creating a foliage spot on the stoop, I've been trying to think of pots of different materials, sizes and designs. And with the plants, I've considered width and height, color, texture, all with an intent of creating a variegated style.

And the results have turned out very well. As seen below.

Plants on front stoop as of Monday 2008-0721

In a way this looks simple, but it's not. It involved finding a variety of pots from four or five locations. And a great deal of attention paid to the pattern of the plants from six or seven locations. Then hours preparing the pots, planting, re-planting, arranging, re-arranging, re-re-arranging. But I'm actually excited about the outcome.

Only 99.

Tuesday, I woke up early and thought of going to the retiree's lunch which I've not been too in months. I'm not enamored of such events because it strikes me as forced conviviality. The topics are who died, birth of grandchildren, trips, etc. Not my cup of tea.

Well, fate played its hand for I was so sleepy that I went back to bed and woke around 1 pm. Hence I had a piece of stuffed focaccia and a blueberry strudel muffin

The only big event was that I planted the two Pampas Grass plants I bought last week. The soil in the beds has proven difficult to manage. It is a combination of clay mixed with sizable roots. I guess the roots are the remnants of the displaced ligustrums. But I can't be certain.

I have to use a combination of a narrow, deep shovel, a typical broad shovel and a combination hoe/cultivator. But the roots were such a burden, I resorted to the best tools for such situations: the reciprocating saw. It's perfect for cutting through tough roots in seconds.

I wonder how many people have thought of using a reciprocating saw for this purpose. I've been surprised at the number of DIY programs I've seen where its use would have proven invaluable. One in particular sticks in my mind. The house flippers were working with a 50s house with two metal clothes line poles in the back yard. Very unsightly. But they discovered it was too hard to remove them, so the poles stayed. I also such poles, but I dug down about a foot, then cut the poles with the saw, and covered the area with door. Then I used the saw to cut the poles into smaller sections for the garbage. Sometimes, the garbage people will reject long, thick metal objects. I also cheated a little by placing the sections in black garbage bags.

I've now put five middle-sized plants in the beds being careful to surround each one with potting soil. And watering daily. I'm hoping they will survive and thrive.

Some weeks ago, I wondered if there was a power tool for digging holes. I was sure there was, but I was not sure what it was.

A trip to Lowe's revealed a gas-powered auger. But a closer look told me that the it comes in two components: the gas-powered engine and the auger bit, the helical drill. About the cheapest unit I could find would be around $300. And that price depends on the depth and diameter of the auger bit. What I need would have to be capable of going through compact clay.

I looked around on-line and found some cheaper versions, but some of the comments ask what would happen if it hits a thick root or a stone. Very good question.

There were also some ideal for planting tulip bulbs. But far too lightweight for my purposes.

It would be ideal if I could dig out about 18 inches of clay and replace with a more plant-friendly soil. But we're talking about something that would require a professional. I shutter to think what the cost would be.

Hmmm. Now what? I suppose my only choice is to continue what I'm doing and make sacrifices to Ninsar, Sumerian goddess of plants. I wonder what the sacrifices have to be.

(In Thursday - 2008-0724-0300 / Out - 2008-0724-2100) This entry was written in multiple settings.

Pax! Erin go braugh! Je accuse...