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[SG] A bio of sorts

I was so happy to hear of this list.  We live in the house my
Great-grandparents bought when they were first married in 1920.  It is
very special to me even though it's very small with a vary small lot.  We
are very close to downtown St Paul.  My yard is mostly shade (I don't
think I get more than 3 to 4 hours of sun except for one small corner) due
to 2 very old trees.  My Grandfather's birth day tree planted 78 years ago
(by my great-grandfather), is a huge Cottonwood (the kind with the sticky
things not the fluffy things), and my great-aunt's (his sister) which is a
72 year old Maple of some sort.  It's a very strange species that I refer
to as a weeping maple because it's branches hang down. It doesn't change
color in the fall at all, they just drop.  Weirdest maple I've ever seen.
Needless to say, I've got a very dry yard.  I've been planting hosta all
over the place, mostly around the base of the Cottonwood.  I was worried
when I divided one hosta into a hundred or so individual leaves with roots
last year, that it would be too dry, but this spring they came up just
wonderfully.  The type I have are the old fashioned narrow-leaf variety
that my great-grandmother had planted about 40 years ago.  I just keep
dividing it because it is the focus of my garden because it is so old and
rather rare now.  My grandmother brought me a container of varigated hosta
that I'm going to use to frame the hosta around the tree.  I haven't a
clue what to do with the maple in the back yard.  We have destroyed 2 lawn
mowers because of the roots sticking up, and nothing will grow except
dandilions. I'd stick with those, but my daughter is severely allergic
(hives, rash, bloody nose, eyes swollen shut).  I'm thinking of just
making the area directly around the tree a walkway/sitting area with
pea-gravel and encouraging the Lily of the Valley and hosta around the
edges.  At the same time, I'm turning my front and side yards into gardens
as well (too small to bother mowing, especially when we don't have a lawn
mower anymore).  I was rather worried what my neighbors thought of it all
because last year when I did the left half of the yard since it looked
rather weedy to me, but I overheard some of my neighbors raving about it
about how beautiful it looked this year so I decided to go ahead and tear
up the other side of the yard. Well, that's the gardening bio I guess.

 I work for the Library and have wonderful access to books (my other
addiction), just no time to read.  Weird hours prevent me from working in
the gardens as much as I'd like, but I do what I can.  My youngest
daughter is 9 and spends time with me in the garden... her job is to
rescue worms and suggest where plants should go, and gather up weeds I
throw.  When she gets bored she also sprays me with the hose. :)  My older
daughters are 16 and spend most of their time drawing and writing, only
helping if money is offered.  My husband is an internet trader and helps
around the yard if I can get him off of the computer long enough.  He does
most of the house keeping and child rearing, since I'm the moneymaker in
the family. He is also considered disabled (Tourette's, MPD, and
bi-polar), but is a wonderful wife and mother and perfectly content to be
a stay-at-home dad.  :)  That's the personal bio.

  --<-@ Coni @->--
  <conin@visi.com>
 St Paul, Minnesota
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