River House Diary

We were so busy moving into River House during prime spring planting season for Zone 8, I'm very late to the party. Local greenhouses and nurseries are sparse on the ground to begin with and those few we do have have depleted inventories now. So I went online to buy a couple things -- Oxalis and fall-blooming hardy cyclamen. Oxalis, also known as wood sorrel (top) and hardy cyclamen (bottom); courtesy Wayside Gardens and K. van Bourgondien Here's where they will be planted. Part of the beds by the front steps; personal collection The 'White Swirl' Siberian Iris I bought a couple of days ago will be planted behind the liriope on either side of the steps. The Oxalis and hardy cyclamen are very small plants -- only 4" to 6" in height and need afternoon shade in hot climates. I'm going to tuck them under the liriope for shade.

The no-see-um railings I love so much caused us to flunk the county inspection required to receive our certificate of occupancy. The fabricators were at River House correcting what turned out to be a minor issue due to a wrong measurement. And we received our certificate late yesterday. That sets off a chain of events — bank makes the final payment to our builder, our builder’s risk insurance policy gets converted to a homeowner’s policy. All that activity made Pete very happy. It means we are closer to getting our hands on the keys to the house. But for me, I got happy seeing so many pretty plants. Front foundation landscape; personal collection