'TIS THE SEASON: FIRETHORN!

Several properties along our main road have massive old Firethorn, or pyracantha, shrubs growing out by their entries, and come this time each year, they put on a mighty fine show.

One of those shrubs came with our first house in Houston, and Dear Hubby just hated that sucker to pieces.  To pieces, I say!  The problem was, it had been espaliered on the side of our house, just a foot or two from our driveway, so he had to trim on it constantly, to keep it from scratching our cars each time we drove by.  They don't call it "firethorn" fer nothin'.  It left him a bloody mess every time he went near it.  However, the first time he saw these Hill Country specimens in all their blazing glory, and realized how magnificent they could be if given plenty of space and just left alone to do their thing, he had a sudden change of heart.

I think he went right out that very same weekend and bought a couple of small ones to plant on either side of our driveway entry.  Unfortunately, we were still just coming here every other weekend back then, and either the deer, the choking weeds, a lack of consistent moisture, or possibly a combination of all three, did them in before they had a chance to take off.  Each time I drive past that one pictured above, I find myself thinking maybe we need to give it another try.

Maybe this time, though, we should plant them further up the driveway, near our fire pit.  It would still be clearly visible to passersby, but at least our hoses could reach it there.

Hmmm...better yet...maybe we should just plant the dang thing IN our fire pit, since, thanks to our incessant heat, drought, and burn bans, I can count on one hand the number of times we've actually been able to light a fire in the silly thing over the past five years.  That way, each fall we could make our S'mores indoors, then just bring them out to the fire pit, gather 'round it, and "Ooh!" and "Aah!" over the berries!