Stamped concrete patio reveal

A big part of our Summer of Spending Money has involved the addition of a patio to our backyard underneath our deck. The goals behind this project were basically three-fold:

1) Come up with a solution so that half of our backyard is no longer a mud pit.

2) Increase our usable outdoor living space.

3) Provide a safe outdoor space in which Baby Awesomerod can play.

The third item wasn't even on the list when we first began investigating this project in the spring, because at that point Baby Awesomerod was not in the picture.

Here's what our backyard looked like at the start of the summer...

As we started exploring our options, we had to make one crucial early decision between two options: stamped concrete or paver patio? We got estimates from several different companies. Three of the companies install only paver patios. The fourth company, and the one we wound up choosing, installs only stamped concrete patios.

Before we settled on our decision, though, we investigated the pros and cons of both options.

Pros of a paver patio:
1) It's the more popular choice in terms of aesthetics, as stamped concrete is still relatively new to most homeowners; therefore, paver patios might have higher Bang for Your Buck when it comes to resale.

2) If an individual paver is damaged, it can be easily replaced.

Cons of the paver patio:
1) Weeds and other grasses can creep up between the pavers, meaning that weeding would probably be a frequent part of paver patio upkeep.

2) The sand between the pavers erodes and needs to be reapplied with some frequency.

Pros of the stamped concrete patio:
1) It's the cheaper option. Our stamped concrete costs came in at half the cost of paver patio estimates we received.

2) Stamped concrete offers tremendous aesthetic flexibility, as the possible design and color combinations are virtually endless.

This is the design and color palette we chose:

Cons of the stamped concrete patio:
1) If the patio cracks, the only way to repair it is to replace the entire patio (alternatively, you could suck it up and live with the crack).

2) The patio needs to be resealed every 3-5 years. This can be done by the company that installed the patio, but it can also be easily accomplished by the less-than-handy homeowner (thumbs point to us).

When all is said and done, each option involves maintenance requirements. Ultimately, though, the stamped concrete requires less maintenance, and it costs so much less than paver patios. The big con for the stamped concrete patio is the possibility of cracks, but because our patio sits underneath our deck we hope that it will be more protected from the elements. Time will tell.

We found our stamped concrete patio company, Creteman Concrete, thanks to a recommendation from our neighbors Joe and Laura. We liked the look of their patio, and we were pleased to see the stamped concrete estimate coming in at approximately $3,000 for our approximately 250 square foot patio. We also appreciated the fact that this company had the best plan for working with our slightly difficult backyard. Despite our yard's small size, there is a steep horizontal incline running from one end of the yard to the other. The change in elevation is a solid few feet, meaning that the paver patio companies were all going to build a wall to make the patio level, which would more than double the price of our patio. Creteman Concrete was able to take dirt from one end of the yard to the other to help make it more level. Additionally, it's easier to get the concrete built up level than it is to construct a level paver patio frame.

Our finished space!

The downsides to the installation process were three fold. First of all, you may recall we had to have our AC detached from our house while the patio was being installed. This was all, of course, happening during a particularly hot time of the summer. Second of all, it rained on the day our patio was supposed to be sealed. We were prepared for this possibility because Joe and Laura went through some similar rain delays during their installation, but I don't think I was physically prepared for an additional day with no AC. Thirdly, all the work we did last fall to get grass to grow in the backyard is now officially lost. During installation our remaining grass got torn up and there are now plenty of muddy patches once again. So, we'll be reseeding again before the frost sets in this fall. Still, if this is the worst part of the experience, I'll take it, because now we have an awesome backyard space.

Sad little patches of grass

The completion of the patio project corresponded beautifully with end-of-season outdoor furniture sales. Although this is the Summer of Spending Money and we're just about spent out, we decided that it made the most sense to go ahead and buy the half-priced furniture now so that we can enjoy the patio this fall and into next spring instead of waiting until the spring to find full-price furniture. We had little difficulty finding what we were looking for. We went with the Martha Stewart Charlottetown wicker collection on sale at Home Depot and bought the loveseat, two arm chairs and a coffee table. Interestingly enough, we found better prices in the store than we did on Home Depot's website, the one exception being the loveseat, which was only available online by the time we were ready to make the purchase.

This new patio fulfills all our requirements for increasing our living space while also providing a solution to the mud pit dilemma we've been battling as long as we've lived in this house. Now not only does way less mud get tracked into our house, but no mud splashes on the siding when it rains. I was hosing down our siding on an almost weekly basis, and it was getting to be ridiculous. You may also notice in the above photo that you can actually see the window looking into our downstairs. Finally! We have light in the lower level of our house. Getting rid of that shed made me quite happy.

When next spring rolls around, provided we have the energy and the funds (which will hang in the balance until we adjust to life with Baby Awesomerod) we plan to add some hanging plants as well as some larger potted plants to line the section of the patio that has the steeper step into the backyard (see the lefthand side of the patio pictures). For now, though, this space will be a great place to enjoy as the weather turns cooler. I would definitely recommend stamped concrete patios and Creteman Concrete to anyone considering this option!

Summer bucket list

For the last two years it seems that some of my high school students have become obsessed with the concept of the bucket list, devising senior year bucket lists and summer bucket lists like there's no tomorrow. Today marks the end of week 1 of summer vacation, and we just got back from six days at the beach. I can cross two items off my summer bucket list:

1) See wild horses.
These were spotted while driving on the beach in Carova, North Carolina. I guess that's actually two things I've never done: driven on a beach and seen wild horses.

2) Get Maxwell to swim/overcome his fear of the water.
It all started when Max was about six months old and Matt threw him into his parents' beach house pool. Since then, Max has been terrified of water, and he especially shows it when he runs around the pool, furiously panting and generally acting like a maniac. Something snapped this week, though, and Max just jumped right in and started swimming laps. He still hasn't achieved a calm attitude about water, but he is voluntarily swimming, so that's a start. For your viewing pleasure, here's an 18-second clip of Max swimming with me, complete with me weirdly cackling at the end.

This is all well and good, but to keep the organizational focus of this blog, you've probably guessed that the 20+ list of items Matt and I compiled that we plan to complete this summer really involve boring adult things, like home improvement and furniture purchasing/rearranging. I've divided our list into things we need to hire someone else to do and things we can do on our own.

Let's start with the complicated tasks real professionals will be doing for us:

1) Add lighting and mirrors to master bathroom.
Last summer's addition of nicer lighting to the upstairs hallway bathroom made us realize that we needed to upgrade the master bathroom, too. We will be using a similar style light fixture as the one we installed last summer, but this time it won't be as easy. We purchased two smaller fixtures that we plan to hang over two new mirrors we bought. The only problem is that this requires cutting holes, patching holes, and rewiring, things we cannot accomplish on our own (we can, however, paint over the holes left behind).

Additionally, the shower in our master bath is painfully dark thanks to the angle of the ceiling and placement of the one recessed light, so while the electrician is here (ideally tomorrow) he will also install a second recessed light directly above the shower.

2) Add a backyard patio.
Although the grass we planted in the fall is thriving, the space underneath our back deck is a glorified mud pit. The soil is uneven and eroding, the dirt bounces onto the house every time it rains, the dogs track all kinds of dirt into the house, and the 250 or so square feet is generally wasted space.

After getting four estimates and weighing the pros and cons of a paver patio versus a stamped concrete patio, we chose the stamped concrete patio option. Our deposit is in. Now we're just waiting on HOA approval, and we hope this task can get accomplished sometime during July.

3) Fix the toilet in the lower level.
This is one of those items that has never worked correctly the whole time we've lived in our house. One plumber looked at it; Matt and various male friends looked at it many times; we need to finally get this settled.

4) Fix wobbly ceiling fans.
There are three in our house (dining room, guest room, master bedroom) and all of them wiggle if set on anything higher than the lowest setting. This obviously defeats the purpose of a ceiling fan.

5) Get carpets cleaned throughout the house.
We've done this a few times ourselves, but we found a reputable company and a good enough deal that the cost of having someone else clean the carpet is almost the same as what it would cost us to rent a cleaner and soap ourselves. While we're at it, we'll have them clean the downstairs sofa and loveseat where Max and Doc spend about nine to ten hours each day we're at work.

Then there are the items we can handle ourselves:

1) Empty backyard shed and transfer contents to garage.
This shed we inherited from the previous owners takes up a lot of space, blocks the window in our lower level, and isn't really something we need. Once we Craiglist/throw out/consolidate items, everything we actually need will fit in a corner of our otherwise underutilized garage. We've already agreed to give the shed to the owner of the stamped concrete company that will be installing our patio. We're just happy for him to take it off our hands.

2) Buy actual bed frame for master bedroom.
Seriously people. We have been living with an el-cheapo metal backless frame for years. Time to upgrade to something with a soft headboard.

3) Buy/make dark curtains for master bedroom.
Something to match the new duvet cover would be ideal. The window treatments we have now are not blocking out that summer light (and we would like to sleep past 6 a.m.).

4) Buy smaller desk and sell old desk.
It's big. We need something smaller (and we generally don't need a big desk). Move new desk to main level.

5) Move bookcase from office to lower level.

6) Move table and chairs in living room to garage.
We never use this seating and we could use the added floor space.

7) Move contents of office closet to guest room closet.

8) Complete steps 4-7 before taking the additional steps to convert the office to the nursery.
That's right, people, we are procreating! I am happy to report that I am 13 (and a half) weeks pregnant, just having excitedly exited the first trimester. Baby Awesome-rod is growing up a storm and I am feeling great. We are absolutely thrilled by this otherwise unreal event taking shape. This is without a doubt the happiest time of our lives. We are hoping baby Awesome-rod will enter the world sometime around his/her due date of January 2, 2012. We'll find out the sex on August 15, the day before my 30th birthday.

Over the next several posts I will share pregnancy-related news before resuming the summer bucket list progress posts. I do not intend to turn this into a baby blog, but with a little addition to our family we will no doubt be making lifestyle adjustments, taking on new organizational projects, experimenting with new products and the like that I will have to report on here. I'll be back tomorrow to share what I did for an organized pre-conception.

Deck basil = OOC

Whenever something is out of control, Matt labels it OOC. Well, I am here to tell you that after just 8 days, the basil on our deck is officially OOC.

Here's the proof:
Last Sunday...

This morning...

In just one week, our two little basil plants are close to taking over the geranium and snapdragon I planted alongside them. Good thing I have another spare planter like the one pictured above. I may be using it sooner than I thought I would.

Moral of the story: our deck gets fantastic sunlight, and we should plant more herbs on it. By comparison, the other basil plants I planted in the herb garden last Saturday are virtually the same size they were a week ago. Our deck is perfect for basil!

Taking root

Although today's weather got off to a crappy start, I still decided it was time to plant the items we picked up on Thursday. Then, around 1 p.m., the clouds parted and the temperature rose about 20 degrees, and I knew that I had picked the perfect day to plant some new life into our small plot of earth.

I've told you before that I make no claims at being a gardener, but as I prepared our outdoor spaces for spring for the fifth year of living in our house, I realized that I have learned a bit. The most important lesson I need to keep in mind: always dig deeper than you think is necessary before putting new plants in the ground. I always forget about natural erosion and how even though a plant may seem too far into the ground at first, that plant will quickly grow and the dirt around it will diminish, leaving me with plants whose roots are dangerously close to the surface. Lesson learned!

I started with a quick planting in the front yard. Nothing spectacular. Mostly wanted to fill in the gap left behind by the evergreen that bit the dust thanks to our bagworm visitors over the summer. So, I planted some snapdragons and a Caradonna Meadow Sage, something I've never planted before but excites me with its claim that it will bloom throughout spring and summer in full sunlight.

The deck is always my favorite space to spruce up once the warm weather arrives. The sight of blooming plants on the deck makes it feel like a little oasis. Over the years I've come to appreciate the hardiness of geraniums, but I am also a huge sucker for hanging vines, so I thought I'd try out the sweet potato vine this year (because I am also a sucker for bright green leaves). One of our neighbors had some in a container on her front stoop last year and I thought it needed to be replicated.

I'm pleased to report that a number of living things planted last spring returned, including the "Goldilocks" lysimachia that I was not expecting to see return. Of course, last year I made the really stupid decision to plant clovers in two of my planters, and those came back, too. I decided to dig out the clover today while I was planting, but then I kept finding so many four-leaf clovers that I thought it would be seven years of bad luck if I ripped out all of them, so I kept a few choice clovers at the front of the planter. (And, as you may notice in the photo, many of the clovers that stayed behind are -- coincidentally -- four-leaf!)

I also took the planter I bought last year for the failed Costco hydrangea and used that of the basil container experiment (and the leftover geranium and snapdragons that I over bought -- whoops!).Thankfully, we bought a drill for our home back in December, and I used it for the first time today when I realized that one reason the hydrangea may have died (besides the fact that I generally have negative feelings about Costco) is the fact that I forgot to add holes to the planter last year. (Whoops again.) After using the drill today, I can see why people get a rush from power tools. Sign me up for more!

As I moved on to the backyard, I discovered a couple more fun surprises. The spearmint planted last year actually returned this year! Grow, little man.

The scallion experiment of yore not only worked awesomely last summer, but it even added a fun twist when this twice-used scallion decided to return again. This is the scallion that refuses to die. I love that fighting spirit! And, you'll notice behind our little pride and joy that both parsley plants are returning to boot. I must have done something right last year.

Perhaps the greatest news, though, is that our grass we planted in the fall took root and is now in desperate need of a cut. (You can see where I trampled the grass today while planting additions to this year's herb garden.)

Gardening thought of the day: The other day I either heard on the radio or read in a book (it all gets muddled together) that earthworms only live two weeks, and they reach full maturity at day 4. Today as I was digging through lots of dirt and I kept uncovering earthworms, I kept trying to gently move them to another pile of dirt. After all, if these guys only have 14 days to live, might as well make it good.

Ready to plant!

We're back from vacation! Left late Friday night, got to the beach late late Friday night (but not as late late late as our friends who stayed with us at the beach for a few days). Got back late last night. After a day of lots of errands today, we returned home with these...

This year we scaled back a bit, knowing exactly what works in our front and back yard space, and knowing that we (I) just need a little patience to let everything grow in and fill out over the course of the spring and summer. I also tried to get flowers that will bloom through the hot part of the summer. Last year's snapdragons did incredibly well, so I'm banking on them lasting all spring and summer long again this year. We're also going to try growing some basil in a container on the deck in addition to basil in our herb garden. I'm curious to see if the sunlight on the deck is better suited for growing gargantuan basil than the sunlight in the backyard.

Something else that makes me happy about this year's garden center run is that we actually had a Groupon for our favorite garden center down the street from our house. Once we factored in the cost of the Groupon (on top of the savings afforded by the Groupon) we spent about $100 for this year's bounty.

I am most excited to put an end to this eyesore on our deck: (plus obligatory dog tail)

Yikes!!!

Looks like tomorrow's weather won't cooperate for planting, but Saturday should be just fine. Tomorrow will be a nice day to finish reading this month's book club pick (A Visit from the Goon Squad -- I recommend!), grade some papers (necessary evil) and get back to blogging!

Signs of spring!

Today's perfect weather meant it was time to take some photos of our pretty outdoor space, even though I didn't get home from work until 6:30. Thankfully, those late nights (remember, I'm at work at 7 a.m.) are coming close to an end.

I'm also thankful for spring...and our home....and life in general (positive energy day!). Now, a pictoral celebration:

Inexpensive hanging plant (from Costco -- although I won't buy flowers at Costco, I will buy plants)

The front yard plants in bloom are absolutely beautiful. I just wish they would bloom through the summer rather than just 2-3 weeks in the spring.

And the other plants we put in two years ago are really taking off (you can check out the front yard evolution here).

The only new addition to the front yard so far this year is the hanging plant. Next week we'll be doing some planting of a few more flowers and our herb garden. In the meantime, I am counting down to tomorrow afternoon when spring break 2011 officially begins!

Backyard redo: crossing fingers for grass

Back in April I was all excited about our outdoor spaces. Although our moderately sized townhouse gives us some outdoor space, it gives us only what I think we need: a nice deck, a cute-enough front yard with some plants and a tree, and a backyard that seems easy to deal with. Scratch that last one. In my experience as a child and now adult, backyards are a pain. When we moved into our townhouse, our little 18'x12' backyard was mostly mud. Some grass managed to grow, and I planted a successful herb garden.

Every spring or summer I kept trying to get more grass to grow, but I was going about it all the wrong way. With diminishing grass, our yard would get more and more muddy, and people and dogs would track more and more dirt into our otherwise-clean house.

After several years of trying and failing, I felt a little stupid. What was I doing wrong? Not enough watering? No, got that one right. Not enough sun? No, we get plenty of sun from noon forward.

Here's the real answer: I was always planting grass at the wrong time of year. I would plant in April, watch pretty little green shoots spring up, only to wither away during harsh Virginia summers. All this time, I should have been planting between late August and mid-October. By doing so, our grass would have a chance to develop a root system in the fall rather than the spring/summer, increasing the likelihood of grass returning next year.

So, yesterday, armed with this knowledge and a sense of urgency (gotta plant TODAY!), Matt and I visited two local nurseries, spoke to several knowledgeable employees to double-check our research, got our supplies, and got to work. In 80-degree October weather, we prepared our backyard.

We bought:
Five bags of McGill All-Organic Compost. (We used four of the five bags at $6.49 each.)

One bag of grass seed ($9.88), one half-gallon of Betty's Azalea Ranch fertilizer ($8.88), one bag of Greenview Grass Seed Accelerator ($9.88) and one Scotts Handy Green II seed spreader ($12.98).

I was a little concerned when I heard the word fertilizer. The folks at Betty's Azalea Ranch, a reasonably priced nursery in the area, make their own fertilizer, and they have an agreement with our county's water authority stating that their fertilizer contains an exceptionally low salt content (salt is apparently the worst environmental offender in fertilizers). We've never used a fertilizer of any kind before, so maybe this will make a difference, but I'm not thrilled about the concept.

Similarly, the Greenview Grass Seed Accelerator at first screamed environmental hazard. Turns out, though, that this product, which also helps keep grass seed in place while preparing to germinate, is made of recycled newspapers. Although some people, including the landscaping service that maintains the common areas in our neighborhood, put down hay to help protect new grass seed, this is apparently not the best option, as weed particles from the hay increase the likelihood of more weeds taking root where you're hoping for grass.

Armed with knowledge and equipment, we got to work.

The backyard: before

Close-up on some muddy patches

Step 1: Matt trimmed the existing backyard grass. Yes, we use a Black and Decker Grass Hog instead of a lawnmower because our space is so tiny. Although I've read complaints about the Grass Hog, it seems like earlier models faced a recall whereas ours has worked perfectly for several years. Yes, it's electric, so we plug it in behind our house and have no difficulties with the product.

Step 2: We filled our wheelbarrow with the compost and together shoveled a half-inch layer of compost over the entire yard. We did this to help improve our backyard's soil quality and also to even out some patches where soil has eroded.

Step 3: I used half a bag of grass seed inside the Scotts Handy Green spreader and aimed for about 4-6 seeds per square inch of backyard space.

Step 4: Matt used one-third of the half-gallon jug of fertilizer inside the Scotts Handy Green spreader and lightly fertilized the space.

Step 5: We spread the Greenview Grass Seed Accelerator by hand over the entire backyard. We used one full bag, and it was the perfect amount.

I wore gloves; Matt did not.

Step 6: I watered the yard.

Step 7: Now, we wait and water some more.

Will this seed survive? I certainly hope so. It also looks like temperatures the next 10 days should be conducive to germination, so we'll cross our fingers and hope this time our scheduling works out.

What killed my evergreen?

The answer? Bagworms!

When we got home from our European vacation and were greeted by a brown evergreen shrub in our front yard, I immediately Googled "What killed my evergreen?" and got the answer quickly. 

found here

A bagworm lives in its little silk pouch which it covers with foliage from whatever tree it has attacked, most likely of the evergreen variety. It sort of looks like it's part of the tree. Really clever camouflage that totally fooled me (I am a weak predator). In fact, when I first saw these little pouches appearing on the evergreen that died nearly a year later, I thought they were really ugly, so I started picking them off. Then I feared that they were parts of the tree essential to its growth -- some kind of weird, mutant seeds -- so I stopped picking them, and then they started multiplying like bunnies. They reach maturity in mid summer, right when they decided to destroy our evergreen once and for all.

A couple weeks before leaving for Europe, I said to Matt, "There's definitely something wrong with that tree, right?" He agreed as we watched it slowly turn brown. 

If only at that moment I'd Googled, "What is killing my evergreen?" 

If only I'd realized at the time how odd it was that these little pouches appeared to be moving and seemed to be able to fly through the air, showing up on our home's brick exterior or our slate retaining wall or one of our flowers. Now that I know these pouches were moving and migrating because they had worms inside them, it kind of makes my skin crawl.

So, the morning after returning home from Europe, when we could see in daylight the pathetic brown remnants of ourshrub, Matt's first home task was to dig up the evergreen and chuck it to the curb just in time for the day's trash pick up (he got it to the curb about 15 minutes before the truck carted it away!). Then we picked up some organic pesticide specially designed for dealing with critters such as bagworms and sprayed the area where the tree once stood and where it left in its wake thousands of bagworm eggs.

Now, over one month later, the area where that sad evergreen once stood is completely bare, but at least it also appears to be free of all bagworm remnants. We're waiting until the fall to plant something new in its place, most likely something of the evergreen variety. All in all, this was a good learning experience, namely, when something in the yard seems odd, it probably is, and I should Google it sooner rather than later. For what it's worth, I never liked this evergreen much to begin with, and it was the last piece of landscaping that survived from our home's previous owners.

But before I think about what to plant this fall, let's all take a minute to reflect on the sad life of a female bagworm: after she lays her eggs, she dies immediately.

How to spray paint (kind of)

About six years ago my buddy Zoe gifted me with a fun little metal bistro table and little metal and wood matching chairs. She thought I might like this hand-me-down for my one-bedroom apartment's balcony, and she was right. It was the perfect size.

Fast forward to home ownership, and that table started to look a little silly by itself on our significantly larger deck. We bought a full-size patio set, and the bistro table became a side table/glorified plant stand.

Updating this table and chairs has been on my to do list for about three years, but last week I finally got around to making some updates, namely spray painting.

Here's the table before...note the rust and gray-blue color that doesn't exactly match our bright flowers and umbrella on our deck.

So I read online about what to do, and every site I visited recommended investing in a wire brush to help remove rust. I am pleased to report that I used my DIY intuition to track down the wire brush section of Home Depot without asking anyone for help. I figured they'd be near the sanding materials, and there they were! I left the store with my $5.97 wire brush and two cans of Rust-oleum Keylime spray paint at $3.44 each.

I laid down a tarp and went to work trying to tackle the rust. It was not an easy task, but it was in the same genre as picking dried glue off the outside of an Elmer's bottle, something I loved as a kid, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. (Also, notice all the grass in the backyard! All but a couple little patches are completely filled in! VICTORY!)

But then it got old quickly. I hit a wall and I could not easily remove any more paint or rust, and my thumb really hurt from the injury Maxwell inflicted on me a few weeks ago. So I decided it was time to paint. After all, this table will spend its days covered by a giant planter, so I don't necessarily have to strive for perfection.

If you're new to spray painting, you should know that it's critical to keep the can about 6 to 12 inches from the surface you're painting. It's also important to move the can in sweeping motions, never keeping the paint spraying on one area for more than a second. Here's a perfect YouTube video by Rust-oleum that illustrates exactly what I'm talking about. (I couldn't believe there was a video out there about spray painting metal bistro furniture...)

A short time later, I had an almost new (and exceptionally bright) bistro set. Yes, the paint color is bright, I realize, and I am not convinced I love it, but it's better than how it looked before. That table was on its last leg. As my friend Zoe said this weekend when she was visiting, "That table was on its last leg when I gave it to you years ago." Well played.

I even managed to finally repot that hydragena I bought at Costco last month. Notice how the planter from Home Depot ($19.98) and the spray paint are the exact same color. It's made by a company called Southern Patio, which makes these high-density resin planters, and they've got some cute, summery stuff.

Now I'm ready for this latest cold front and rain to go away so we can eat on our deck, but at least we enjoyed it this weekend when company came to visit!

Unexpected flowers!

It's been a busy week, so maybe this happened several days ago and I just didn't notice, but I came home to a pleasant flowering surprise on my deck this afternoon.

Here is my "Outback Sunset" lysimachia when I planted it on April 3

And here it is today. I knew it would flower, but I didn't realize it would be this soon, and I didn't realize the flowers would be such a vibrant yellow!

Yes, the leaves have lost some of their luster, but these flowers make it OK.

Inexpensive hydrangea!

A few weeks ago when I was putting together the planters on our deck, I mentioned that I might like to find one more plant to add to our collection. I think I found that plant last week.

I have a thing for hydrangeas. I love how one flower can make a huge statement by itself.

I had green hydrangea in my bridal bouquet

and pink and green hydrangea blooms made up our low, rectangular wedding centerpieces

So, you can imagine how pleased I was last week to find healthy looking hydrangea at Costco. I know I vowed not to buy flowers anymore at Costco, but I have not sworn off Costco plants, and I've even had positive experiences with Costco plants in the past. Best news: this plant only cost $15, and I found similar ones at Wegmans for a whooping $40.

Right now Miss Hydrangea (I call her this because her tag was really cutesy and told me I could refer to her this way) is still in her original Costco pot, and I even left on the wrapping. I will decide on a better potting solution soon, but for now she is resting on this cute little chair on our deck.

One other note about this plant: Also on the cutesy tag there is a line at the end that reads "This plant is not edible" (their quotation marks, not mine). This definitely puts the tag in the running for items that need to be added to The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks, one of my grammar-snob favorites.