As you dudes know, Matty and I have been hard at work making our backyard inhabitable. Over the past several weekends we've ripped out the hot tub, trimmed back the deck, replaced rotting trim, repainted the trim, REPAINTED THE ENTIRE BACK OF THE HOUSE MYSELF NO HELP FROM MATT, installed sun shade, and planted some green things in the grass. For the very first time ever in my life.

Because this is only a partial view of the yard, I'm calling it a sneak peek, because that's what a sneak peek is, a preview. ahem, another blog.

Oh, this is also a before and after

Here is a nook at the back of my house as of last week. Before we took the hot tub house down I had never even ventured into this part of my yard. Once it was exposed I realized it needed serious work. First, Matt replaced most of the trim, I started doing some spot painting to fix dings and damage but quickly realized that I needed to repaint the entire thing. Had I known this from the start I probably would have repainted my house a new color but, as it stands, it's the same old green just so fresh and so clean clean.

Once the house was ready I was ready to put plants in the ground.

I've always been pretty good at keeping potted plants alive but never before in my life have I planted something right smack-dab into the earth.

I did 2.2 seconds of research online and half listened to Erin as she dished out advice, hopefully that was enough to keep these babies alive.

First I spray painted an outline around the semi-circle I wanted to dig out (hello, my genius idea!) then I dug about 1.5 feet deep. I then poured in alternating layers of native texas mulch and the dirt that I had dug out. I mixed as I poured so everything got tousled. Then, voila, I threw in some plants.

Here's what I planted (all plants are texas-weather friendly):
lily of the nile
fortnight lily
Canna lily
Stella de Oro Daylily
Australian Canna Lily
Bamboo Muhly (not bamboo) (also the coolest once it gets big)
Plumbago

The rocks that are outlining the little garden actually came out of the ground when I was digging. We've got a ton of limestone around here and while it's a pain to dig it up, I didn't have to spend a dollar on edging

If I'm a really good plant mommy, one day it should look like this Texas landscape. You know, in like a week or something.

Ever since the backyard demo, which, sorry, apparently I can't stop talking about, I've been mildly obsessed with plants and gardens. The lust I normally reserve for interior design porn has temporarily been redirected and I now find myself looking longingly at well manicured lawns and big fat texas gardens. Because I swear on all things holy that this will not become a landscaping blog and I want to give you what you're here for I've got a roundup of plants indoors. Yes, I want them inside now too. Basically, I want to do all my interior decor shopping at the Natural Gardener.

These are my favorite plants in today's roundup. If anyone knows what the hell they are, pretty pleeze speak up.

Plant party on the right there is coming in at a close second. It sorta kinda looks like the world's largest rubber plant, but I'm pretty sure it's something else. Any ideas? This is the part where I admit that I don't really know anything about plants except that I really really like them. Oh wait, I do know a lot about succulents, which are strangely absent from today's roundup.

I went back and forth on whether or not to post this one, after all, that wee plant is a bit sad. However, he really stands out in this room and I thought that was what was most important. Non?