Coming upon the end of August, there is a great deal of beauty and success in the garden, but you have to see past the crabgrass. The many rainy days this summer have made the plants and flowers grow. Included in that is the plants and flowers of weeds. Worse than that are the seeds of weeds. I have a long list of hated weeds crab grass, mare's tail, French weed, quack grass,sedge, ragweed,... and I really hate it when they go to seed. When I get out to the garden I can lose all track of time. Every weed with seeds that I pull gives me a great feeling. At least I know those seeds will not get to drop in my garden bed. I load my trug then take them back to the place where we are putting the pernicious stuff. It's hard to walk through the garden without a handful of weeds. Sometimes by the time I get back to the spot where I was working, my trug is already half full of weeds.
All this sound tedious to some I suppose, but I love to pick a spot and go after them. It feels fantastic to look where you have been and see them gone! When I take a break and look up , the sky is a glorious blue. The pink hollyhocks are climbing for the clouds. Sometimes you see a hawk circle. Often the hummingbirds whiz past your head . I think they do it for fun. Butterflies and hummingbird moths look for flower nectar. Dragonflies look for bugs. For such a quiet place there is a whole lot going on all the time.
The red hibiscus are just beginning to open. Even with so many flowers finishing their summer bloom period we have late bloomers yet to come. Yes, there is a Japanese beetle inside the flower. I tried to catch him, but he got away. We have had too many Japanese beetles this year. I used to hate to kill anything, but I have grown to know the enjoyment of my gloved hands squeezing mating beetles into a brown pulp. I accidentally discovered that Japanese beetles that have been eating red bee balm make a red pulp. I'll be back to find out if hibiscus has the same effect.
I know I'll never get all the weeds, or all of the Japanese beetles, but I make a little progress every time I go out there. It feels so good!
2 comments:
I talked about weeds in my garden last week, and I promise I will weed. Tomorrow.
I agree Becky....my spring and summer have been spent not weeding due to surgery and so my garden will require a lot of work this fall and all next year to get a jump on all the weeds and volunteers. But i love the satisfaction too. And I absolutely go after those J beetles as it has helped keep number low. Happy weed and beetle hunting.
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