You may recall that back in the Spring I volunteered at the Butterfly Plant Sale at Texas Discovery Gardens and purchased a seedling of a Senna Alata, also known as the Candlestick Plant. My plan was to plant it in my parkway, but I needed it to get a little bigger before I planted it out in a sea of grass. I was afraid it would be too small and that it would get lost and trampled.
For a few weeks now it has been plenty big to plant, but I'd since decided that the parkway wasn't where I wanted it, and I couldn't decide where it put it. I had an epiphany this weekend -- my front bed to the right of my front steps.
That particular bed is one that I have not yet worked. I'd added a few plants along the very front, but really didn't go a great job of re-working the bed, loosening and amending the soil. I thought ahead enough yesterday morning to put a sprinkler in it to soak it down and soften the soil to make it easier to work. And then.... I broke this out for it's maiden voyage:
Ta-da! My new Mantis tiller! Red gave me this for my birthday, and it's all red, shiny and new. It's been living in my dining room since early July. (Long story, don't ask.) Anyway, it was liberated to the outdoors and now has a happy home in my gardening shed. But oh! It made prepping the bed a total cakewalk. It's electric, so it was no muss-no fuss. Who knew??
I loosened the soil, added some Bed Prep (Redenta's) and mixed again. Then I made a hole for the root ball, put a few earth worm castings in the bottom. Set the plant in, and then alternated layers of organic compost and earth worm castings, and then watered it all in really well with rain water. Voila!
Here's what it should become -- isn't it pretty?
