My First Foray Into Fall Bulbs

Did I ever tell you guys that I lack a green thumb?  Yup, I'm a plant killer (not intentionally, of course).  Last winter I grew a beautiful potted amaryllis and it grew super tall.  Unfortunately, it died because I forgot to keep watering it.  A couple of months ago I won a potted plant at a raffle and it died because I forgot to water it before Justin and I went out of town for the weekend.  With my plant track record you could imaging Justin's surprise when I asked him to pick up our free bulbs.


Crocuses and Daffodils

I heard about the bulb giveaway from one of the Capitol Hill blogs that I read.  It announced that the Capitol Hill Garden Club would be giving out free flower bulbs for planting in the Fall for bloom in the Spring.  The only catch is that you have to plant them in public areas (e.g.: tree boxes) or places that can be seen from the street (e.g.: your front lawn) and you have to live within the Capitol Hill boundaries (e.g.: Ward 6). 

Note:  Louie on the porch overseeing my work

Since I had never planted bulbs before (I saw my parents do it once a long time ago) or anything else for that matter, I thought this would be a cost-effective (meaning: free) way to improve my black green thumb while helping beautify Capitol Hill!. 

Me trying to put some elbow grease into it

Last weekend, after purchasing a bulb planter, I was on my way planing nearly fifty bulbs in front of our bushes.  There wasn't an exact method behind the way I planted them.  I guess I kind of made a zig-zag pattern with the daffodils and then put little bunches (about three per hole) of crocuses in between.  The best part is that daffodils and crocuses are said to come back every year!

After planting all those bulbs, my wrist was really sore (maybe I was doing it wrong?), but I can't wait to see what comes up at Springtime!

To find out more about the bulb giveaway for next year click here.

Fall Leaf Collection

Although I love the fact that our street is lined with beautiful maple trees, the arrival of Fall brings the laborious and continuous raking of autumn leaves.  To assist with the huge accumulation of leaves, the District schedules periodic leaf pick-up dates.

Below is our front yard covered in leaves:

Our yard isn't that big, but boy does it pile up with the leaves!  Here is some leaf-raking progress...

 


Afterwards we usually put the leaves in recyclable bags and put them in our tree box.  Piling the leaves in the treebox will suffice for pick up, but we're always worried that since we do not have a fence, the leaves may blow back into our yard :/ Better safe than sorry.





Here comes the city trucks to pick up the leaves...





And now our sidewalks are leaf-free until the next leaf pick up date.

How does your neighborhood collect leaves?  Do you put them in the large paper bags, too?  Or maybe you use a lawnmower or leaf blower to keep your leaves in check?