Our house came with a hot tub and a really gross pool! The hot tub was right outside the dining room windows on the only concrete pad. We rolled that yucky mess into the dumpster right away. We removed the ugly privacy trellis as well. The first few weeks we just kept cleaning and cleaning.

After we said goodbye to the spider house, aka old hot tub, I just sat our potted plants around the concrete pad.

It is strange moving into a new home and not knowing where things should live. For a while, you just sit things somewhere until you finally have time to feel out where it belongs. I am still just deciding where I want things to live.

After we cleaned up the side yard and planted the hydrangeas, Pedar had drip ready for this area. I went to Green Acres and stumbled upon a water wise plant display and fell in love with the Rice Flower. I planted them in May of 2016.

I didn't buy enough at first and went back and got the last ones. The spot immediately looked cleaner without a bunch of cluttery mismatched pots. We weren't sure if we were going to like the hedge-ish look, but I love it.

Today! A little over two years later, the Rice Flowers has grown into a lovely hedge. They do shed their little buds, but I just use the leaf blower and clean up. I love the little white buds, they glow at night. It has a nice scent too, a little like rosemary, but really faint. I plan on adding more rice flower to my garden this fall. It has proven to be a hardy and generous plant.