Plantaholica Incurablis

(here)



I've told you about my new favorite nursery, Pick of the Planet,  here before.  I've been there a couple of times this spring, but because of our miserable unseasonable spring weather, lots of the plants had their graduation to the retail space delayed.   I had my eye on a few things and went back this week when the graduates were ready for sale.

Enter The Problem - plant names.  I was looking for a few specific plants, but only knew the common name of one and none of the others.  You can picture the scene - hands waving, voice louder than usual (why do we instinctively talk louder when we think we won't be understood?), asking about "the little one with the red and green spikey leaves" or worse yet, "your web site says you have False Bishop Weed".  The clerk looked at me as if my mouth was moving but no words were coming out.

The staff here are serious gardeners, not just clerks who sell stuff.  They only speak Latin names - in the most friendly, helpful way, but "little spikey red and green leaves" is not in their vocabulary. 

I do know a few proper Latin plant names, mainly because Montana Daughter has a degree in horticulture and some it has rubbed off on me.  I understand that a plant can have several different common names, so one correct name can make identification easier.  I know that the first name, the genus, is like a last name, the name for the group of related species.

The second part of a plant's Latin name indicates species — the individuals within a genus that share common traits.  This word is  refers to the plant's appearance, native habitat or discoverer. For example, the dentatum of Viburnum dentatum means "toothed," which tells you something about the shape of the shrub's leaves - jagged like teeth.   But some of these names are so complicated, and my high school Latin is rusty! 

Turns out "red and green spikey thing" is Alternantha and the False Bishop Weed is Ammi Visnaga - just what I was going to say.

That the Alternantha on the right - a sweet little filler.  And the one in the back with the rosette leaves -  Piectranthus amboinicus - another unusual filler.

I also found this  fantastic pot there, too and can you believe it's plastic?  Plastic pots are light, so it's easy to lug them fully planted out onto the deck.  Problem is that so many of them are just plain ugly, but not this beauty.  Since it was only $9.00, I knew it couldn't be stone, but I had to touch it to be sure.  Love the faux stone look.

 

 

Back to the False Bishop Weed  ( I mean Ammi Visnaga).  I love Queen Anne's Lace and this is a cultivated version.  These are the plants I bought

 

 

and what I hope they look like all grown up:

 

 

I am an equal opportunity plant purchaser, but I love that there is a place to buy the unusual ones and get a language lesson in the process. 

 

Oh, I did make one purchase at Target on the way home - a bale of toilet paper.  Or, to those of you in the know, Latrina papyrum.

 

 

Austin ! (And a DIY fireplace surround upgrade)

 

 

 

Whoo-eee !  Austin, Texas isn't the fastest growing city in the county for nothing!  Just big enough, careful planning to save lots of space for outdoor fun, great river front,  fantastic  restaurants, bookstores and fun, funky vibe with just enough urban sophistication. It's the  first time I've seen so many boats (non-power only - it is, after all, "the people's republic of Austin"!) on a river that runs right through a city and there were  people paddle boarding on the river.  Plus there are swan boats and Duck Boat tours a la Boston.

 

 

And a statue of Willie:

 

 

 

Lunch at  one of Sandra Bullock's Austin restaurants:

 

And everything really is bigger in Texas - check out this chi-chi outlet mall in San Marcos.  Gucci, Tory Birch, Prada, Restoration Hardware - this is one F.A.N.C.Y. outlet!

 

 



 

 



 Enough play, though - we had some serious work to do first. Stacks of boxes everywhere and each one filled with a mountain of paper. 

 

 

There was outside work, too  Austin Daughter turned into Junior Woodsman, wielding loppers and clearing brush:

 

 

 

 

 

Isn't this a lovely spot for morning coffee?   We did sweep up all the debris, just not before I took this picture.

 

The previous house owners liked color, LOTS of color.  Austin Daughter likes any color, as long as it's white, so clearly there was work to do.  She had the walls and kitchen cabinets painted before we landed and the house looks so bright and airy.  But, there was this pesky fireplace surround.  She thought it looked like an explosion at the Fiestware plant.  SIL hated it - not surprised - all that chaos must set his math-genius brain searching for a pattern.  I kept trying to find the theme, or see the magic picture if only I could stare at it long enough.  Clearly it had to go.  We talked about options- chipping it out, covering it up and then I suggested my solution to nearly everything - paint the dang thing!  Brave Austin Daughter agreed.

 

We sanded it down to remove some of the shiny-shiny and then painted on 2 thick coats of oil-based paint (windows and doors open to let the bad smell and bad color juju out).

 

It took lots of paint and some serious dabbing into each little space between the tiles. 

 

 

We're pretty happy with the results.

 

 Before:

 

After:

 

 There is a better fitting screen coming!

 



I told you she likes white.  The kitchen cabinets got a coat of white (too much wood , too much brown before) and the bar light shades swirled with blobs of vivid color got switched out for some plain white ones.  So much nicer! And behold, the fireplace that is still a focal point, just  not a seizure-inducing one.

I'll be going back in July as Yaya to our first grandson.  I did try hiding in the agave plant, but decided The Captain had been home alone long enough.

 



(Please excuse the weird fonts, colors and sizes as I TRY to redo my blog template.  Clearly it's a work-in-progress.  Some changes work, some get lost!)

Road Trip Recap

Wow - I've been away from blogging for too long.  I wish it were easier to blog from my iPad -but sadly, it is a serious P.A.I.N.  so I avoid it.  Maybe I'll put learning how to blog while away from home on my "must learn how to do this" list!

Our road trip was a smashing success!  Only hiccup was that I thought I lost my license at LAX.  Texas Daughter announced that we wouldn't be able to drive through Arizona - without papers, they'd consider me "undocumented"!  Not to worry - license hidden in wallet and we were able to stick to our original plan.

I so love road trips. Flying is great for getting from Point A to Point B quickly, but nothing beats the freedom of driving wherever you want, stopping whenever you want and having drinks and snacks in the back seat!

There is so much amazing country between LA and Austin - desert, bizarre land formations with amazing colors, The Grand Canyon, funky towns along old Route 66.

 

Where else would you find The London Bridge but in the middle of nowhere in Arizona?  Talk about crazy - man-made town, man-made reservoir/lake with the stately stone bridge shipped over from London. 

 



We were lucky  to spend a night at El Tovar on the south rim of the canyon.  It's a great old western lodge with wonderful porches for watching the sunset over the canyon.   The Canyon is just spectacular and a real take-your-breath-away experience.  The size alone is hard to take in and everywhere you look there is another amazing scene.  It's hard not to gush on like a (gasp) tourist.

We took a leisurely walk on the paved trail around the rim - remember Austin daughter is about seven months pregnant!  The trail is perfect - right on the rim but no falling over the edge danger!
We got up early to watch the sunrise over the canyon and nearly froze in the chilly temperature and gusty winds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another "we're not in Kansas anymore" adventure - the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest.  The colors in the Painted Desert are so vivid.  White hills with red and blue layers - who knew?  Not sure what I thought the Petrified Forest was like, but it certainly wasn't masses of huge trees strewn all over - all turned into stone with amazing colors.

 

 

 

 

There are some funky towns along the old Route 66 - clearly clinging to the '50s glory days of car travel.  The Interstate by-passed the towns and their road side attractions, but the towns are still living in the '50s for the tourists.  Doesn't this cute woman look like she stepped right out of the 50s?

We hit all kinds of weather except rain.  There were parts of Arizona that were freezing - temps in the 40s with howling winds.  Then there the times we didn't need to be reminded we were in the desert with temperatures of 106 and were grateful to become acquainted with outdoor restaurant's misters.  The fine water mist doesn't soak you, but it does knock down the temperature between ten and fifteen degrees.  And I thought misters were only for produce at the grocery store!   Then at Cadillac Ranch - freezing temps and fierce winds- we stayed close to our car - too cold!!

Austin Daughter found great eats (how did we function before Yelp) and we sampled all kinds of Tex-Mex creations.  OK, there was also the room service ice cream delivery that capped off a long day of driving.

 

 



 

Next up- unpacking boxes and discovering Austin.