Billy's green thumb

When we first moved to our house back in 2005, we loved that there were no trees in the front yard. Most of the homes in our neighborhood are on heavily wooded lots, which means they deal with more acorns, leaves, and bird poop than I care to think about. However, it also means they have much more shade to help keep their homes cool during the hot summer months -- and they have tons more privacy than we do.

So after about a year, Billy took his friend Jeff up on the offer to dig up one of the magnolia seedlings sprouting in Jeff's yard and transplant it to our yard. I was skeptical about how well that would work, but figured I'd sit back and see what happened. Billy decided to position the magnolia tree so that when it was full grown, it would obsure our front door from the street.

So that was in spring 2006. We are now full force into spring 2009 and we finally have buds on the magnolia! The first year (2006-2007), it really just took some time to determine whether it liked us. Then (2007-2008), it decided to grow a foot or two and thicken up some. This past winter, it began shedding leaves like a real tree ... and then today we discovered the buds. I think Billy and I were both shocked that the damn thing is finally blooming after three years of tending it!


I'll share more photos as the buds become full blossoms. I hope they're gorgeous since we've been waiting so long for them!