another thing...

... that I had on my list for the workers who came to spend the weekend: getting some projects done in the yard. Apparently it is very gratifying to get out the ladder, climb up on the roof with the blower and blast all the leaves that have fallen from overhanging trees. It's one of the things C. does each time he comes to visit. The man likes to be helpful, and I like to know there are not creatures residing in the trash that accumulates from season to season as the leaves and twigs fall. C. is actually the one who discovered an urgent need for a new roof, when a limb pierced the shingles on the back side of the house. Fell off a branch at the right angle to benefit from gravity and go straight in: through the shingles, tar paper, decking and into the attic.  How unlikely is that?

There are several things I hope to get done tomorrow: doing some trimming and planting. I have had a couple of large Styrofoam pots for a while, intending to plant some small holly bushes received as a gift. The hollies are deciduous: leaves drop in the fall, but hopefully they will keep red berries.  They have been in pots, planted in the ground, with plenty of mulch to survive the summer heat, get some size on them as they were very small when they first arrived. The big pots are half full of Styrofoam chunks so it would not take fifty pounds of soil to fill them for planting, making them impossible to relocate. I unearthed the holly plants and got them planted yesterday. Expecting the soil will settle down into the cracks around the filler and more will need to be added.

There are a couple of places along my frequently traveled route where these trees grow, very inconspicuous as drivers pass by. But in the winter when most trees are bare, and even the occasional deciduous  volunteer holly has shed greenery, the bright red berries lining the limbs are so pleasing to the eye, quite noticeable if you are paying attention to the landscape. I've been so enamored with those slender grey limbs, and colorful fruit, I have stopped more than once along the right of way to do a little trimming. Bringing several limbs home to put in a vase and enjoy colorful berries for days before they begin to fade, wither and drop.

I am really looking forward to seeing them grow and get big enough to have those pretty red berries hollies will make that are so colorful in the winter landscape. Plus mine are portable so if the time comes to relocate, the holly plants can go with me.The ones I transplanted into pots will never get as big and glorious as the photo that was borrowed from a nursery/grower on line, but I still anticipate the berries that will be so delightful when the plants mature a bit. I know when you put things in pots you deliberately limit their size by confining their roots, so don't expect the ones I have will turn into trees, but will nurture and watch them grow.