Yardward!

FINALLY got around to raking leaves. This whole search for employment with monetary compensation is driving me insane. It's amazing what people call "jobs" these days. Ugh. So, of course, when raking leaves, neighbor is happy. We had quite the nasty leaf collection going on in the front yard. I kept hoping the wind would blow them all into other's yards, but as luck would have it, the wind turned against us and we were the recipient of all of the neighborhood's leaves. I feel like a shelter for the adrift.

So we raked them all up and in a fit of "what am I going to do with all of these" created a leaf wall, a la the HGTV Living Wall. It's not as nice, and I'm still deciding what to plant on it. Phlox? Echevaria? Passionflower? Moonflower? Sweet Pea? Nasturtium? All of it? It's over in the side yard. I just know I do not want to plant ivy. Unless it's not english. An ecological threat, according to our government. And yet it is still sold in nurseries. Crazy.

Alternative plant suggestions include Allegheny pachysandra (Pachysandra procumbens), American or common bittersweet (Celastrus scandens), trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans), Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia), passionflower vine (Passiflora lutea), Dutchman's pipe (Aristolochia macrophylla), and native wisteria* (Wisteria frutescens) -- * but not invasive non-native like w. sinensis or w. floribunda.