The North Side

Last weekend I did a couple little projects to spruce up the north side of the yard. The projects were my favorite kind, the kind that mostly involve shopping.

First, I added a short path leading up to the little shelter we call the Vine House. The path is made of five round sandstone steppingstones that I found at Esposito’s. (“They’re hand-cut!” the cashier told me.) The path curves through the powder-puff plants with their ferny leaves and pink flowers.

Clay pots galore surround the Vine House, and I filled them with fresh pentas I got at Home Depot. The pentas were brilliant red, hot-pink, and majenta, and before I even got them all planted, a hummingbird came to visit.

Next, I turned my attention to the bed around the main house. Near the big Meyer lemon, there was an ugly weedy spot that had been bothering me for months. I stared at it for a while and finally I decided on the perfect replacement for the weeds: a bird bath, flanked by a couple of autumn ferns. I love autumn ferns. They’re so tough. Plus, with their bronze-y plumage, they kind of remind me of plump, fluffy, well-feathered chickens—or maybe turkeys.

So I went to Tallahassee Nurseries and picked out a cool bird bath whose pedestal and bowl were encrusted with three-dimensional concrete shells—clam shells, conchs, and chambered nautiluses, all the treasures of the sea. I came home with the bird bath and the two autumn ferns I’d been dreaming about and got everything arranged under the lemon. When it was all in place, I spent some time admiring my new additions. I floated petals in the bird bath and took tons of pictures.