This weekend is all about getting ready for the weekends after that.   I have guests coming next weekend and then I am headed to London for the Chelsea Flower Show the following weekend (I can’t be more excited!)  and then it’s memorial day and summer will have full-on arrived.  The pressure is on….the mulch must get spread, and the pea gravel must get out in place!

I have to also confess, the dream has died…I will not be planting a thyme lawn.  I am disappointed, but it came down to two things — availability of other options (few and far between and less than easy to acquire and research) and that the rain finally came and in less than 10 minutes (while the kindergartner was making his way to the car yesterday morning for school) I was able to take advantage of the perfect planting weather and turf seed the whole thing.   It’s done….maybe if the grubs come back again, I will re-visit the alternatives….but for now I am content, lawns where I live are perfectly reasonable ground cover solutions as they are happy to thrive irrigation and chemical free – and I have something checked off the to-do list.

• Love this idea for  Cheap Cheap containers made a lot more interesting (see burlap)
• We went crazy this week with discussion about Gen X and Gen Y gardeners over at Apartment Therapy.
• In a flashback to my youth (I remember an aunt recommending a soak in it for nearly every ail), who knew that epsom salt was good for even more things!
• I’m all about bringing fashion into the garden.  But the current trend for animal prints (see here and here) is a little  too jersey shore for me. What do you think?
• I wonder if I will catch a glimpse of the queen at Chelsea and what color will she be wearing?
• Someday, when all the my house projects are done, I will return to sewing…and this list will come in handy.
• In honor of Cinco de Mayo —  a excellent collection of Mexican Garden Inspiration.
• and — Stuff it with what you have….this Mexi-inspired portable outdoor chair is awesome.

 

Image: From Remodelista.  Hundreds of shopping carts full of plants being pushed down the street as Berlin’s community gardeners move the garden inside for the winter.  See the whole story here.