Morning Glories and Roses

My home for two years



I lived in a 915 square foot, 2 bedroom apartment for 2 years before I married my husband.  I really liked the apartment but was ready to get into a house.  We had a particular neighborhood in mind, a subdivision less than 10 minutes from work (and my apartment) that had nice homes in our price range, so every weekend we cruised through making note of the houses that were for sale (which were few and far between at that time).  Occasionally we would stop and look at what we could see through the windows or make an appointment to take a look inside if something caught our eye.

One Sunday we decided on the spur of the moment to take a ride through the neighborhood and saw a sign announcing an open house that was going on in "our" neighborhood.  We stopped in to take a look.  The house was very large, almost 2700 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 3 baths, 2 living areas, a large kitchen and a formal dining room.  Then we stepped into the back yard and that pretty much made up our mind. 

There was flagstone covering about half of the yard with a koi pond and fountain which was very soothing.  There was a wrought iron fence and archway with a gate that divided the flagstone from the grass.  The patio was covered and enclosed on three sides providing privacy and shelter from the weather, but there was a space with a patio table, chairs and an umbrella out in the open, should the weather be pleasant enough to enjoy without as much cover. 

Koi pond to the left (a few years after we first moved in)

Over the years that we have lived there we have tried out several different looks, particularly for the archway and iron fencing areas. 

Morning Glories --- which were a "runaway" success!  So much so that they took over

everything so we pulled them and tried going with Knock-Out Roses instead (below)

Our Knock-Outs from a couple of years ago---they, like the Morning Glories, took over

everything (see below) and so we have cut them way back to allow some of the other plants

around them (and under them) to flourish a bit more. 

I loved the Morning Glories and sometimes miss them.  They will make a reappearance one day I'm sure.  I've got plenty of possibilities to harvest seeds due to my yardman's decision to "help out".  One day I decided to end the Morning Glory craze and I pulled down all the dried up vines which were covering the arch and also a trellis over my koi pond.  I had them all pulled down and in the middle of the patio, ready to stuff into those biodegradable bags that the garbage men pick up.  About that time the yard crew showed up and they said they would "take care of it".  I gladly turned it over to them---only to learn later that they pushed that huge pile of vines and pods and seeds out into the back yard and mowed them up!  At first it seemed like a good idea as the piles were gone and I didn't have to worry about setting bags out in the alley, but that fall I realized what happened to those piles of dried up Morning Glories.  They had been spread throughout the back yard and hedges and it appeared that they had all taken root!  The entire back yard was covered in Morning Glory vines.  Thankfully, they are easy to pull up as needed and what I don't get, the yard guys mow down, but to this day, nearly three years later I have an abundance of Morning Glories that take root in the back yard and up under the hedges and against the fences, so they could easily be transplanted if necessary. 

We spend nearly every weekend on that patio and additional time during the week when the weather is right.  We can sit out there through pretty much any storm and catch a great lightning show if we are so inclined.  We've even added a bar and ceiling fans to the patio so only in extreme temperatures do we have to forego sitting outside.  Sitting at the bar gives us a perfect view of the flowers and the koi pond and sometimes it's hard to go inside!