if bulbs are your thing..

get some, and support nc state's horticulture honor society!

this year, brent and becky's bulbs are promising to donate 25% of their bulb sales to pi alpha xi, nc state's horticulture honor society. but you gotta tell 'em to send the money to us! simply visit their site, bloominbucks.com, choose nc state pi alpha xi, and then be directed to their extensive selection of bulbs and other merchandise. they have some bee-yoo-ti-ful varieties that are definitely worth a look.

money raised goes to help nc state's chapter of pi alpha xi. you can read more about the organization on their nc state chapter's site. as stated on pi alpha xi's national site, "the society promotes high scholarship, fellowship, professional leadership, and the enrichment of human life through plants." i support that! someday i'd love to be invited to join. in the meantime, buy some bulbs!

pi alpha xi is also holding their fall plant sale in a couple of weeks (sept. 25 - 26) at the j.c. raulston arboretum in raleigh. a portion of the money raised at the event is donated to the horticulture club! i'll be volunteering at the sale, probably sunday, so come buy some thangs.

also, on the other side of the world, sarah p. duke gardens is holding its fall plant and craft festival on sept. 25. (duke on saturday, state on sunday?) i went last year and really enjoyed the variety of items for sale. it was there that i was introduced to white pear soaps and lotions. claudia acosta, the brains behind the operation, was there to test her homemade body scrubs. how was it? let's just say there is a white pear lavender vanilla soap in the shower right now! for more information about the duke gardens fall plant and craft festival, here's a link to their site.

in the meantime, i've got four more days to go in this week of tests. one in landscape graphics, one in precalculus, one in biology, and one in principles of horticulture. and a presentation in biology lab. no joke. all i have to say is, thank you, andrew, for your patience with me at this time.

off to study now. BUY SOME BULBS!

jc raulston arboretum & nc state horticulture club!

sunday i was bummed. it's the weekend. andrew is home. jane is home. little buddy the cat is home. and i am home and we're all in the house, and we are supposed to be enjoying the day and hanging out before the work week begins again. but, i'm in the office. doing homework. i. was. bummmmed.

after a couple hours of work, the door creeked open and andrew stuck his head in.
"how are you doin?"
"fine," i said. i was not fine.
"what's wrong?"
"i want to do something fun."

he asked if i wanted to go out and walk through a nursery. yes i did! what a wonderful guy. upon further consideration, i suggested the arboretum. neither of us had been, and i had to go to do a class project anyway. it was beautiful. i brought the camera along:

i can't wait to go back. it was a hot day, and andrew's stomach was talking, so we headed out after about an hour. (lunch at jasmin mediterranean bistro on hillsborough. super good.) i want to learn about how to get involved and what kind of programs are offered. i've been stalking the website since we got home: http://www.ncsu.edu/jcraulstonarboretum/index.php. i highly recommend visiting. they also hold a plant sale in september, sponsored by the horticulture honor fraternity. i'll definitely be there!

last night, i attended the first nc state horticulture club meeting of the year. i really enjoyed it, and i am looking forward to the next one. the club goes on a few field trips each year to different gardens and nurseries. this fall they are going to ASHEVILLE (!) and in the spring they are going to THE NETHERLANDS AND GERMANY (!!!!!!). and they just roam around reveling in horticulture! i was geekin out last night. i prattled on to andrew and my mom and dad and to myself in the car on the way home. i would absolutely love to go, so i can't wait until the organizational meetings for the trips start happening to that i can find out more.

tomorrow is the first day of state's campus farmer's market. i am pumped.

the little pitbull helps plant iris.

this past weekend, the little pitbull helped us put some iris rhizomes into the ground in the backyard!

her name is jane.

mom rescued the iris from a friend's yard, and now we have a crop of iris rhizome split between us. andrew and i decided to put ours in the backyard, in a pine-strawed natural area that was already there.

this is an iris rhizome.

this is the future iris patch!

jane is helping.

finishing touches!

baby iris. see you next spring!

i've never tried planting bulbs, but i would love to plant more. we'll see how this experiment turns out!

bob: garden groundskeeper.

it's sinking in: i am no longer a full-time, 9-to-5, computer-and-desk job employee. it's also sinking in that i will no longer be receiving a regular paycheck. yikes.

in an attempt not to dwell on the scarier aspects of what lie ahead, i've just come back from a wonderful vacation with my friends at the beach, and i've got some cool things to share. my friend eleanor's parents live in wilmington, on the intercoastal waterway, in a beautiful house with a possibly even more beautiful yard.  i had the pleasure of staying there this past weekend and spend just about every afternoon on wrightsville beach swimming and reading. it was the jam.

in addition to the lush garden right outside the back door, we also visited the hanover county aboretum and airlie gardens. i am grateful for eleanor's patience while we visited these places: i took over 250 photos! every two feet there was something else to document, and i was so glad to have the opportunity to see everything.

today i've got some photos of the amazing retreat that is the yard of eleanor's house. seriously. i could live on the backporch with bob, the cat, who patrols the grounds. bob showed up a few years ago and, in return for some food, assists in yard maintenance and upkeep. he has the endearing habit of following you around the yard, and he finds great pleasure in bulldozing your face with his nose.

behold bob's kingdom:

view from the back porch.

after a beach rain shower.

and finally,  bob:

bob lurking.

bob stare-down.

tomorrow: the hanover county aboretum! complete with koi pond!

projects.

first blog follower! (thanks mom.)

andrew and i have big dreams - in life and for this yard. this is the first time either of us have had such a blank canvas with which to work and it's hard, not only to prioritize but, to have the time to think about prioritizing and then having the time to execute our plans.

we have lots of landscaping ideas in mind, beginning with plants that i've carried around in containers for years that now seek a larger living space in the ground. we also have some vintage lawn furniture we'd like to fix up, and then there are the weeds and the mosquitoes that we devise dark schemes for at night. (maybe that is just me.)

i've set my own short-term deadline for the first phase of this list: august 21st. on that day, i host a bridal shower in our backyard, and my hope for the landscape is that it will be pleasant and unoffensive.  there will be pictures. i'll keep thee posted.