Hales & the Hacienda: I Tree You

Back in college, I had a friend who didn't like the words "I Love You". They just seemed to mean so many different things - from passionate love for another person to a simple liking for a breakfast cereal.

So she and her man decided to use a new phrase: "I Tree You". And when she decided she was really, really in love with him, she gave him a ficus tree. True story.

There was a time when I thought that was seriously goofy. These days, I want trees so badly (living in a desert will do that to you) that I can understand why that would denote passionate, unending love. This is why we spent so much time, effort, and yes, money on trees last year. We actually got quite lucky with a few as far as price, and we tried buying starts from Arbor Day.

This one is the best of the bunch. We got two sugar maples, and they sent us a free red maple, a forsythia, and two crabapple trees. One of the crabapples has a few leaves, much like this sugar maple. But really, they don't look so hot.

So we broke down last week and bought more sugar maples from Home Depot. Here they are:

The wicked strong stakes are because the wind here is unceasing and packs a pretty punch some days. Sigh, the wind is what I hated about where I grew up in California. I swore I would never live in a windy place. Watch out about swearing, it comes back to bite you in the butt.

Anyway, now I can look up into the canopy of a new tree. And truly say, "I Tree You, tree."

There are a few things that are bloomin' that are new, in case you were wondering where my regular Monday feature is...this is the only thing that is truly newly blooming. This is Potentilla (I mistakenly called my Sweet William that a few weeks ago), with strawberry-like foliage and a teeny little flower that is quite a surprise.