the planting bug

My mom kept saying it would happen, that I'd discover the joy in growing things.  I didn't honestly expect it to, but she may be right.  I spent the better part of the last two weekends working on the front flower bed and the back yard garden, and I don't want to stop!  Whether or not I have any skill at growing things is still an unknown, but I have found that I feel a similar satisfaction to finishing a knit or sewing project when I put some plant in the ground, water it, and then step back to admire.  It's so fun. Very satisfying, indeed.

Today, I bought a spirea shrub and planted it by the mailbox.  Around the block from our house in Sugar Land was a house with a spirea beside the mailbox.  I loved walking past it in spring and summer when it was full of white blooms.  I remember emailing my mom a picture of it and asking her what it was.  Ever since, when I see spirea in a nursery, I think back to that one and remember how much I liked it.

Then we moved into this house with its horrible mail box.  Seriously, I call it the toddler mail box because it's huge, plastic, and made by Step2, the same company who made our choo-choo wagon!  It's really bad.  When I saw a spirea in Home Depot today, I decided to go for it--plant it by the mailbox, and maybe make me feel better about the giant plastic monstrosity by the curb.  

It's not much to look at yet, but it will be lovely when it's in full bloom!