Lemon Grass, Silkie’s Red Carpet, and more...

Ran two errands early in the morning. When I came back, I headed into the hot metal shed outside and brought out a small partial sack of topsoil I forgot was in there, a long-handled trowel, and a piece of green indoor-outdoor carpet that’s been in there for 17 years.

Lemon Grass

A friend blessed me with some lemon grass stalks from their bush on Saturday. I didn’t get them into the ground that day and by this morning, they were looking pretty sad. Went out front and marked off 6 spots - a yard apart, 3 on each side of the centered bird bath out front of my house. Took the trowel and tried to dig a small hole to plop a stalk or two in each. I could NOT penetrate that hard ground. With the wisdom that comes with almost 8 decades on this earth, I stopped and called a friend.

He stopped by this evening and dug 6 holes. Then I put 2 stalks in each hole, tossed a few cups of the topsoil in each, pushed the gravel and hard dirt on top, and watered each.

I am not a great gardener. I just liked the looks of their bush. So, I’ll give it a try. Including pics here of my layout. I’m hoping in 6 months, I can post a pic of 6 lush, full and gorgeous lemon grass plants.

I have my doubts, though. Online, it does say that pruning and moving should be done in the Spring. We are already in 90s and triples out here. Time will tell. Nothing to lose. And we all know I’m the one who can kill a plastic plant.

Silkie’s Red Carpet

Ok. Her “red carpet” is green. The cement is hot here, even in the evening. I noticed that when I moved the back steps landing mat down to the area at the bottom of the steps, she immediately adopted that little square. My goal was to spread the carpet from the side of the house to the edge of the driveway, crosswise, so she could easily walk across her “red carpet” to the area where she loves to lay her head on a tilted stone or a piece of 2x4 - don’t try to figure it out. She’s a cat with her own mind.

Because it was dusty from the shed, I sprayed it with the hose this morning when I placed it, secured it with a few bricks until it dried and flattened, and had her special model’s runway.

Which she has now chosen to completely ignore. The friend who dug my holes suggested I leave it there another few days. Will do. Cats often take their time adjusting to new things.

Rolling along...