Miscellaneous: A Little Garden Project

A little garden project: I wanted to hide the air conditioner units behind the house from view, so I built a frame to surround them on three sides and added reed fencing. A modest improvement. It will look better when the new wood has weathered a little. Before and after photos.

 

Miscellaneous: Martin Amis

I was sorry to hear that Martin Amis died last week. He was only 73. He was one of my favorite modern authors. I especially enjoyed Money and Dead Babies. Strewn with flawed, tragic characters, the latter struck me as having an almost Shakespearean depth. RIP.

Plants I'm Growing: Peonies

Peonies and German irises were the centerpiece of my grandmother's garden in Dayton, Ohio – a garden that later, when I lived in the house, I was mostly responsible for taking care of. I've always associated these two flowers with her. When I moved to California (from Tokyo) 22 years ago now, I planted both. The irises do fine here, but peonies need a colder winter than we usually have in Santa Rosa. While the clump of peonies I put in always comes up in the spring, never has even a single bud appeared – until this year. Winter weather this year was cold enough for long enough that the peonies bloomed for the first time, after about 15 years. Four large, pink blossoms.