Day #158 The Case of the Disappearing Hosta

Remember back in the fall (Day #27, November 7, 2010) when my handyman, Mark Hensley of All Things New dug out the roots of the azaleas I didn’t want (since the flowers can result in toxic honey) and took them home to plant in his yard?

Well, it turned out that he accidentally dug up a hosta that had grown amidst the roots of the azaleas. You know hostas—come late in the autumn, those leaves die back and disappear.

Lo and behold, when Mark came by this quarter, he brought me a big pot with my hosta in it. The shoots surprised him when they started their springtime sprouting.

Mark could have so easily kept the plant, and I never would have known the difference. I would have assumed that it had been destroyed in the azalea-war.

Integrity. The Mark of a good person.

BEEattitude for Day # 158:

       Blessed are they who prepare a home for us bees, for we shall settle in happily and brighten their days with our buzzing.

One thing Fran is grateful for right now:

       My dependable car 

http://www.franstewart.com

Day #27 My azaleas will have a new life

Well, my handy man came by today (Saturday) to dig up the azalea roots that had stymied me. If you'll remember, I cut them down to prevent my bees from gorging themselves on toxic azalea nectar, but I was left with huge masses of thoroughly entrenched roots that my poor shovel and I couldn't get anywhere with. So, my handy-dandy handyman, whose business is called All Things New, came with his son and dug them up for me.

I figure that was quite a sacrifice. Look what I lost:

I tended to be happy when I was sitting beside the azaleas in the spring. I even color-coded my turtleneck to match them:

But Mark is taking them home to plant in his yard. They get a new life! I'm not a murderer! His yard is, he assures me, farther than five miles from my house, so I won't have to worry about my bees eating these azaleas or any of the others that, according to him, cover his yard from one end to the other.

Not that many of my neighbors have azaleas, either. In fact, in the spring, my yard has always been the one really bright spot in the neighborhood. What on earth am I going to plant that can take their place? If you have any ideas, I'd appreciate them! They have to be plants that thrive in Georgia, though.

BEEattitude for Day # 27 :

       Blessed are they who save plants (even if we bees shouldn't eat them), for they shall live surrounded by beauty.

More than one thing I’m grateful for right now:

       The men who cut down my dead trees Friday, the inside plumber who installed a new (NON-LEAKING!) toilet Friday, the outside plumber who will come on Monday to replace the old blue line from my water meter to the inside of my house, my son who helped me shred up a driveway full of dead azalea branches Friday. People (not things) are what matter.