I’m thinking about installing aluminum edging in the back yard. Shopping online, I found reasonably priced aluminum lawn edging at YardProduct.com. I’d like to start with the side yard, and hopefully move on to the rear flower beds. Plans are to use asian jasmine ground cover for most of the area currently covered with a weed mat, while the side yard will feature variegated liriope as border/edging plants.
Winter cleanup and filling holes
With the mild weather this past Sunday, DH and I did some pruning and clearing of the front yards. DH took some shears and proceeded to prune the dead branches off our two myrtles. He also removed the unsightly canna leaves that frost had killed. I pulled and uprooted grass that had infiltrated and overwhelmed both front yard beds, and I’m happy to see that I will be transplanting some nandina and salvia volunteers to the rear yard this year. The fringeflower bushes next to the front door have doubled in height since they first arrived and are in desperate need of shearing, which will happen hopefully in early spring. I wonder if my mango calla lilies survived the winter and will put a showing this year? The muscari sprouts promise to bring some color the front yard when spring arrives. And while the Crimson Pirate daylily leaves have finally succumbed to the cold, I have no doubt they will return with warm weather. Now if only I can get hubby to apply some serious weed killer to the lawn.
I also hopped over to Home Depot to purchase 10 bags of topsoil to fill some holes dug up in the yard. I suspect Dash has attempted to burrow underneath the crepe myrtle in the side yard, exposing the root ball. It was a surprisingly huge hole, and I’m saddened to think of the irises that were lost. I’m also upset to find the remains of my zebra iris, Doe Z Doe, scattered in the side yard. The nandinas I planted and replanted in the middle back bed showed signs of damage (one was completely chewed/ripped apart). And if it weren’t for the planter loops I erected, I suppose the new salvia I planted may have perished. Did any of the zebras survive? I’m almost heartbroken thinking about it. Such is the plight of the gardener who shares their yards with dogs.
But the daffodils are pushing up through the ground and it looks like it will be a lovely show early in the year.
Hong Kong Royal resurrected?
It was only a few months ago that I discovered that Lucky House in Plano shut down. I enjoyed going there, chatting with the friendly ex-Hong Kong Royale crew laboring in that cramped location, which remained largely undiscovered. But yesterday I found a tip on the Chowhound boards that gives me hope. I’m looking forward to revisiting Carrollton and reviewing the new Hong Kong Royal off Frankford and Josey.
Gardening in the cold
January 15 in Texas usually means frigid temperatures and icy ground, but today I managed to step outside in the 55 degree weather to do some garden repair work. Yes, I was silly enough to do it in shorts…but I had a mission to get the job done before heading out to work.
After the dogs did their damage and uprooted one of the nandinas late last year, I went back to replant the other displaced nandina, and brought the spare nandina out of its pot to plant it in the gaping hole in the ground. The displaced nandina showed signs of chewing and broken stems…I’m hoping it might survive, given its hardy nature. I really should get some water on them.
The side bed showed some disturbance, the base of the myrtle had some dirt/mulch dug away from it. Dash, who always hides beneath the bushes here, has managed to once again crash through the makeshift fencing and drag the salvia microphylla around with him. I’m looking forward to trimming Hot Lips come February/March. I’m happy to note that the daffodil bulbs are sending shoots up, visible in the bare ground.
Hubby’s idea of laying down a weed mat around the flower beds is starting to look worse and worse. Without proper groundcover, valuable soil is slowly eroding away toward the back fence. I’ve been browsing the ClassyGroundcovers site for jasmine or other options to replace the weed mat. But it appears to entail a lot of work using the fast-growing jasmine, which needs a solid barrier to prevent it from spreading to the lawn.
I’m also thinking of purchasing some bare root Liriope Silver Dragons to use as a border plant in the side and middle beds.
That building is cursed
Chaucer’s Sushi and Grill
During the Christmas weekend, I met DH for dinner in Frisco next to Stonebriar Mall for an adventure in dining. While there were plenty of chain restaurants that set up shop in the mall parking lot and surrounding strip malls, there was always that one restaurant that seemed to close its doors every 6 months or more. Last time, this building housed an upscale steak house; today, it was Chaucer’s Sushi and Grill. Remembering that Chaucer’s had an Addison outpost we hadn’t yet visited since we last lived in North Dallas, I figured Chaucer’s might be worth a gamble.
Chaucer’s seemed to retain the elegant, formal atmosphere of the previous tenant, which meant adult, family-unfriendly surroundings. However, several plasma screens adorned the walls, tuned to sports and newscasts. A sushi bar was partitioned off the main dining room behind some glass, and for the most part, it was quiet and subdued.
Unfortunately, the service left much to be desired. I remember standing in the lobby for about 10 to 15 minutes, staring at an unattended stand. The hostess finally swept in, apologized, and led me to a table. When DH finally arrived to join me, our waitress took some time delivering menus and refreshments. And for a sushi place, the lack of non-Asian servers sounded an alarm.
I’m not saying that white people can’t sushi, but it’s a sure sign of Americanizing the menu. While there were no steaks on this Chaucer’s menu, many of the options seemed rather unoriginal and uninspired. Much of the “grill” options didn’t extend past the teriyaki concept. We did attempt a calamari dish, but the accompanying cocktail sauce just didn’t pair up nicely with the lightly fried squid. We asked the waitress for an alternate sauce, but she fumbled on the advice. We suggested the traditional mayo sauce that came with dumplings, which she obligingly supplied. After the appetizer, DH and I turned to the sushi menu for a challenge.
We ordered our traditional salmon sashimi, smoked salmon nigiri and mackerel nigiri, which upon delivery was executed wrong. The salmons got mixed up, but the sushi chef acknowledged his error and corrected it. Unfortunately, they didn’t deliver all the sushi at the same time as ordered, because DH makes it a point to eat his sashimi with all his rolls.
Nothing really stood out in the bevy of special rolls, though I will have to say 75% of my choices were too spicy for DH to enjoy. He did mention that he liked his tempura roll, but we both felt that one of their house specialties drowned in too much crunchiness. The lone standout happened to be their combo volcano roll, topped with shrimp, scallops AND crawfish. Again, it suffered from too much onion and heat, which left DH wishing for something else.
When we ended the meal, and the bill finally came, both of us wished we had hit up the Cheesecake Factory just across the street. We used it as a reason to escape the dessert options, since we had a somewhat mediocre dining experience overall.
My rating: stars
