Commentary

Here's the text to go with the photos below.
1. House from across the street.
2. Row of roses along the 26th Street (western) side of the house.
3. Square bushes along the front (northern) side of the house turn out to be camellias, I realized.
4. Fruit tree covered with pink blossoms turns out to be peach. The plastic on the branch is because the branch cracked and it is healing and he (the man who made this garden) didn't want the tree to get infected.
5. Close-up of peach blossom.
6. An herb that he said was good for the stomach. Anyone recognize it?
7. Closer-up and further back of a bush that looks familiar to me, but I don't know what it is. Is it buckwheat or some other faux grain?
8. Mystery herb. 9. Mystery tree.
10. Row of aloes. 11. Big bunch of calla lilies.
12. View of back yard from southeast corner of yard, with garage and shed in view behind Justin.
13., 14. Two shots from the same spot, facing the house.
15. This is the rhododendron "tree" whose pink blossoms featured in a previous post as mystery flowers.
16. This mystery tree (followed by 17. a picture of its fruit) is close up to the house.
18. View of the backyard from the driveway gate. House is on the right, garage on the left.
19. Justin in front of the driveway gate. It's not a home without a big iron gate, right?

Please identify any plants you can!

Not featured, but I have to mention again, two lemon trees (full of fruit), several robust prickly pear cacti, a patch of calendula, lots of bolting cilantro in the beds as well as bolting radishes, a few random pots of plants, like a big purple wandering-jew (what's the right name for that?) and mint. There are also two tallish hot pepper plants, the kind with the little upright peppers. The sellers' agent, who was showing us around, warned us that they are very hot! She also said that the man said the peaches are really delicious, and she vouched for the nopales herself, which they had given her on various visits.

My visions are grand and will take years to implement, but I think I've already managed to convince Justin that we can get some hens, maybe even rabbits if we can figure out what to do with them (could we eat them? Could we sell them to someone else to eat?). I'm imagining turning the front yard into a wild garden of California natives, drought tolerant and appropriate for our climate and locale. There are a few non-natives that I really want: bougainvillea, hibiscus or rose-of-sharon, and that purple-flowering tree that is everywhere around the east bay and blooms year-round. I also really like wisteria and jacaranda. Okay, so maybe those can go in the back with the vegetables and herbs.

We want to set up greywater from the washing machine, which will be housed in the garage and easy to set up for graywater. It would be great to also do greywater from the showers, but that'll be slightly more complicated to do.

There are so many things to do! We're not really going to do much until this summer, which I will have off. That is when we will do interior painting, and pull up the carpets. (We lifted it up in two of the closets and saw the hardwood underneath, as the sellers told us it was.) It's tempting to paint now while it's empty, but (a) we don't have any spare time, and (b) it's rainy and cold and we won't be able to leave the doors and windows open to get it really ventilated.

Also looking forward to solar cooking again, in our sunny driveway or in the middle of the garden, maybe even in the front yard. That'd get the neighbors over for a chat, right?

As you can tell, I'm really excited--not just that this process is finally over, but actually excited about the particular house we bought. Thanks to everyone for your supportive words during this ordeal!