The history of the eastern side of Iten's Acres is in some ways like most of the rest of my property. Not much was there when I arrived six plus years ago to make it home. What I mean by the eastern side is the area from the corkscrew willow (mentioned in Chapter 1) back to the bog surrounding the pond. A third of this area--the twenty to thirty yards or so that "hide" Aaron's house from my land--does have a hedge of sorts. There is a beautiful pine separated from the "hedge" by a few feet and then a row of mostly pine trees with an abundance of brambles in front of and beneath the trees. The brambles do contain a myriad of everlasting sweet pea vines with gorgeous pink blooms (odorless) from late May to mid-June. (I have no idea how they got the "official" descriptor "everlasting." And they are non-native plants, but beautiful nonetheless.) I have tried to introduce some other color to the brambles with modest success. I have just introduced a few of the common orange daylilies along the front--one of them bloomed this year already--and they are all doing well. I anticipate their spreading out to add color from mid-June to mid-July. They are hardy things. Just drive along most of the country roads here in Morrow County, and you'll see huge--and I do mean huge--patches of them, bigger patches each year. I also have tried to get some morning glories started here without much success, (Not that I'll quit trying yet). I think I had a couple purple ones this July. The problem, I believe, is that the area is shaded most of the morning--not exactly a plus for "morning" glories, eh? But you know the old adage: "If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again." Don't mind if I do. Thanks.
I'm really not sure--not that it matters--if the trees and the thicket are on my property or Aaron's. It would seem that they are on the imaginary property line, but who placed them there is anyone's guess--Aaron's predecessors or mine? Who knows? (And anyone doesn't live here.) The only "boundary line" on the rest of the eastern side--from the willow to the hedge--is where Aaron has his manicured "city" lawn, and I have my mongrel "country" lawn. I was going to have a satellite reading when I first bought the acres to determine exactly where my property line was but when I found out how much the "service" would cost, I decided guessing was fine.
Aaron's new lawn is the extension of his new home. When I first moved here, Aaron and his family (minus little Gage who just arrived a little over a year ago) lived in a house trailer of sorts. But the first year I was here, it burned down. I was coming home late at night from attending a soccer game at school and behold! there was a plethora of firetrucks and police cars in front of my property and Aaron's. A couple of the firetrucks were in my driveway! I thought that I was going to be homeless after two months as a first time home owner. I would be dishonest if I didn't tell you that I felt relief when I discovered that the trucks were on my property in order to use my pond water to spray Aaron's house. Selfish, I know. But I did feel relief. The "all things work together for good" from all this is that Aaron who works in construction was able to use the insurance money to build himself by himself a gorgeous new home--and a new lawn. It helps to have talent, eh? I'd still be living in a tent.
Anyway, I digress. (That's for you Katie if you happen to be reading these.) The rest of the "east," as I already mentioned, was barren of trees and shrubs. Naturally, I immediately started my beautification project. Now, from the willow to the thicket I have two Rose of Sharon from mom's, a witch Hazel, two hibiscus, a peony, a flowering plum, a flowering almond, a redbud, a hawthorn, a regular willow, a white birch, and two river birch. Most of these will not reach anything close to maturity in my lifetime. They are Arbor foundation "babies." My gifts for who comes next.
The willow and the birches are, of course, non-bloomers. I put them here because the property along this side tends to be wet and soggy with the slightest rainfall. They are all doing fine and one of the river birch and the willow, especially the willow, are growing quite well. The beauty of the willow is that its leaves have a silver reflection to them in the wind. The bark of the birches as they grow will be quite distinctive and lovely as well, especially in the winter.
Some of the other things have started blooming already. The Rose of Sharon--double pinks, one of the hibiscus--white with a maroon center, and the flowering almond--a soft pink. [Advertisement: if you're looking for a shrub that blooms early in its life span, go for the flowering almond. It starts blooming its first spring even if it's only a foot tall--or less.] If the Lord blesses me with my three score and ten years--five more years--I expect the witch Hazel--yellow, the peony--purple, the flowering plum--white, and the other hibiscus--who knows?, to all be blooming each and every spring and summer in their proper times. Beauty from April to September! Can't wait!
And I am adding a small--miniscule--flower bed over here this fall. Would you believe an iris bed? Surprise! Surprise! With some room for some annuals from mid-May to frost--probably marigolds.
Hmmm. I thought Chapter 2 was going to be quite short. Ahhh well. I enjoyed telling it. Hope you endured to the end.
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