Author Archives: Julie Riebe

2015_Day 211: Pink is for pretty darn perfect

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I’m constantly amazed at the colors of the flowers in my backyard. Today it was the pinks that made my day. It was one of those days — work was busy and exhausting, only to come home to find that husband and daughter had left for their night jobs without taking care of seemingly simple tasks. No one likes chores (why would they right?), but it seems only fair that everyone share the load. Well, not this week in this house. A little bit peeved, I stepped outside to find something to distract myself with. It didn’t take long. Continue reading →

2015_Day 210: Cabinet update – color changes

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I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the photos of the custom cabinet we’re having built out of reclaimed wood. It’s unbelievably gorgeous, even if it is a different color than I had originally thought I wanted. Husband and I went out to Pavo Real Furniture last Saturday to get our first in-person look and talk to owner Jim Pfau about the color. Continue reading →

2015_Day 209: Peppers get room to breathe, grow

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I didn't see the pepper at left until I cleaned out tomato bushes.

I didn’t see the pepper at left until I cleaned out tomato bushes.

When I planted pepper seeds in March, I knew they were pretty close to the tomatoes and might get overtaken. I didn’t feel I had much of a choice though because my garden consists of four 4-foot-by-4-foot raised beds. There just wasn’t a lot of room. Continue reading →

2015_Day 208: Purslane pretty and edible?

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It’s not like I go looking for new flowers all the time, but when I do see one that catches my eye, more often than not, it seems to find its way into my shopping cart. That’s how this pretty succulent called purslane came to be mine. Continue reading →

2015_Day 207: Making room for pumpkins

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Three pumpkin plants now share a raised bed with several green pepper plants and a few marigolds.

Three pumpkin plants now share a raised bed with several green pepper plants and a few marigolds.


I’m not used to pulling dried-out tomato plants out of the garden until September or even October, but three that were well past their prime got the boot today to make room for several pumpkins. I had intended to be out in the garden by 7:30 or 8 a.m. to beat the hot sun (forecast high was 97), but as usually happens on a Sunday morning, I was feeling a bit lazy. I finally got to work a little after 9 a.m., and the sun, she already was a wee bit warm. Continue reading →

2015_Day 206: Just another pretty face 

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It’s no secret I love flowers. That I fall in love with new flowers all the time. Lately it’s the vinca, a flower that’s supposed to tolerate heat well. So far, it’s lived up to the hype. And I love the way the flowers open. So symmetrical. So precise. So…pretty. Continue reading →

2015_Day 205: Gonna be a green weekend

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Doesn’t matter how hot it’s gonna get this weekend — the tomatoes need transplanting. There’s about a gazillion of them in peat pellets, so I’m gonna have to whittle them down to just a handful. Continue reading →

2015_Day 204: Cleaning out the zinnias

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Before deadheading and cleanout.

Before deadheading and cleanout.

Not sure how much of a difference it made, but I deadheaded and cleaned out the zinnias and cosmos in my three-tiered flower bed tonight. The hope is that the flowers will be tricked into some new growth. Whether that will actually happen with temperatures between 95 and 100 for several weeks remains to be seen. But I’m giving it a try. Continue reading →

2015_Day 203: Peppers and pumpkins, oh yeah

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A little green pepper.

A little green pepper.

It’s itty-bitty, but there’s finally a green pepper on one of my pepper plants. Actually, it looks like there are several, although only one really looks like a pepper. I first saw flowers on the plants last week, four months after they were planted. Then I saw the flowers in the dirt a day or two after that, and I’ve never planted peppers before, so I didn’t know if that was good or bad. Continue reading →

2015_Day 202: Unexpected pleasures in hot summer sun

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IMG_1833I hadn’t been holding my breath that the poppies in my flower bed would ever actually get flowers on them, but I was okay with that because the poppy leaves were a nice contrast both in color and texture from the gazanias and petunias also claiming a spot in the bed. So I was a bit surprised to see two yellow poppy flowers had bloomed during the day. Continue reading →