I’m so sure that someone is going to read this and get super mad at us and think we’re the worst people in the entire world for getting rid of this plant. And let me tell you that I feel terrible about it. But I had to do it. So if you want to try and root it yourself, everything we cut is out on our curb until Monday, so have at it.

Yesterday, on Kyla Brown’s day off, we did some spring cleaning. We didn’t get much done, but what we did complete made me super excited. We did some work in the yard, and I cleaned some windows that likely have not been touched since we moved in. I also reorganized my pantry/junk cabinet. It felt awesome to get some of that done.

The biggest thing we did yesterday was removing the oleander. Kyla Brown worked his butt off getting that thing out. Thing was huge! I’m assuming that it was really old, considering it’s size. And, during the super short period that it bloomed, it was really very pretty. And I understand that they usually don’t grow so well this far from the coast, so it was quite impressive.

But, sadly, it was poisonous. And with two very small children, I just didn’t feel comfortable keeping it in the yard.

Oh, and plus, did I mention that the thing was EFFING HUGE?!

It seems like I’m really hung up on this size thing, but I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen such a gigantic plant in someone’s yard. I mean, it didn’t grow tall…it grew out. And I didn’t even realize just how big it really was until after we got it out and saw the footprint it left.

What’s that, like a 10 foot diameter? I could go measure it, I guess, but that requires getting up, and I’m definitely not feeling that right now.

But it made me really sad to see it cut down. I thought about how someone must have taken great care in planting it and cultivating it to get it to take so well to the soil and conditions here. I wondered when, in the ninety or so years this house has been here, it was planted, and by whom. I thought about how excited they must have been to see it coming up, maybe like I am with my transplanted hydrangea. I didn’t cry or anything, but it did make me go into that quiet sad place.

Yeah, yeah, so you guys really are seeing my sappy side come out lately, huh?

But now it’s gone, and there is no going back, so I’m not as worried about cutting down history as I am figuring out what to do with all of this newly vacant prime real estate in the “almost full sun” part of our yard.

Answer: the bed frame!

There is this gorgeous art deco bed frame that was just hanging out in the back yard when we bought the house, and I completely fell in love with it. I wanted to see if we could get it sandblasted or clean it up somehow to actually use it in the house, but we determined that it’s just too far gone to go indoors at this point. Oh, and there is the whole “I don’t really want my kids eating rust” thing, because you know that’s what they would do if they had half a chance.

I thought it was obvious that we would use the bed frame as the back of a new flower bed, but I realized that it would work really well to hide the faucet and pipes that are right behind where said oleander previously resided. We want to one day put a vintage sink back there, and having the bed frame “walling off” that area would make it almost feel like an outdoor “wash room.”

That sounds kind of redneck, now that I think about it, but I still think it would be rad.

Anyway, I’ve already planted 24 gladiolus bulbs right in front of the bed frame, and I’m hoping to get a few flowers from other parts of the yard (that aren’t doing so well in their current homes), maybe this weekend. Then next year, I’ve got a climbing rose that my mom has been keeping for me that I’d like to plant right next to the frame, so that it might climb on up and look awesome.

I have no idea what else to put in there. I’d like some flowers that are in the pink/purple/blue spectrum, and maybe some that do cool things, like repel mosquitoes or help the soil…or maybe wash my dishes, since there might be a sink there soon.

So if anyone has any ideas, let me know. I’m new to this whole gardening thing, so I need all of the help that I can get.