The English Maximalista

Traditionally, the birthstone for the month of April is diamond. Apparently, Mr Maximalista did not get the memo, because for my birthday this year, he did buy me some rocks. Just not of the sparkly variety. 

Instead, I was treated to… 14 tonnes of salt-and-pepper marble and granite! Somebody sure knows how to woo his wife. Who said romance was dead?!

Our 5-year wedding anniversary is approaching, with wood being the traditional present for that milestone. Judging by the salt-and-pepper rocks that just got delivered, landscaping appears to be the theme for 2026, so I can only imagine that Mr M thinks TREES will be an acceptable 5-year anniversary gift.

I think I need to have a serious conversation with my husband about my expectations…

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You may have noticed that I don’t post too many blogs about gardening. That’s not because I’m not interested or engaging in it (I am), but because for the past 18 months we have been focusing mostly on the interior of the house.

Granted, the exterior looks presentable, if rather bare. We do have several new seating areas that we regularly use, weather permitting. And we have tried to do a little bit of planting, with varying results.

Having spent many decades in Wisconsin, we naturally have oodles of experience gardening in the Midwest, where the climate is humid and the seasons are extreme.

Here in Colorado, however, the climate is very different. Dry. Windy. Over 300 days of sunshine. Combined, all of these conditions have created a massive learning curve for us, as far as horticulture is concerned.

For instance, my rhubarb — which had survived two previous house moves — sadly did not survive our move to Colorado; similarly, the majority of the succulents I have purchased here — which should be suitable for this climate — have also not done well.

Last Summer, I started poaching native plants from other parts of our 2-acre property, transplanting them to the cultivated spots in our garden: those have done spectacularly well, and so I shall continue splitting those and moving them around, since they are flourishing. Plus they look really nice.

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Last Autumn, I ordered some bulbs online, which I then planted in our back garden. Happily, the daffs, alliums, and tulips did well this spring, although the Asian lilies did not. (Unsure why not?)

Here is a photo of my very first tulip! I was SO excited about it!! I took some artistic license with the image, by messing around with the sharpness settings on my iPad, and I love how it turned out. You can read more about my photography in this recent blog.

As is a common complaint from all gardeners around the world, our weeds are also flourishing! We have A LOT of saltwort in this region. It is woody, hardy, extremely prickly, and grows in great abundance.

In order to help combat it, we (carefully!) dug it all up, then put down some heavy-duty plastic, which we have since covered with the aforementioned rocks.

The previous homeowner had done the same thing, using reddish stones. Mr Maximalista and I decided to incorporate grey and white stones, since that is more fitting with our aesthetic.

I have also gotten into the habit of “harvesting” the shale that blows off the top of the mesa in front of our house. The wind blowing down from the mountains is extremely violent, literally lifting these flat white rocks off the hillside and onto our driveway; the rain also carries sedimentary treasures for me to pick through, and use to decorate the garden.

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As with all gardens, our endeavours are arduous and long-ranging. Both of us are working full-time and, despite our flexible schedules, have to pick our battles, so to speak, when choosing which home projects to tackle. There is only a finite amount of free time, which we want to spend wisely. 

Hopefully, now that the interior of our home is [mostly!] decorated, we can spend more time working outdoors. I’m picking the right moment to inform Mr Maximalista about my big ideas for a new bocce ball court… watch this space!

Lots of love,

M xo