Today In The Garden

 This morning in the garden  started with frost and the uncovering of tender plant.  That was followed by sunshine and warm temperatures.  Carefully weeding out the dandelions and other unwanted plants from the shade garden is challenging.  When they are this close together it is nerve wracking.

Ed and I worked on the shade garden and the difference is stunning.  We just didn't have what it took to finish there.  Tired gardeners make mistakes.  We moved on to something else.  Ed did some mowing and watering.  I cut back many Clara Curtis chrysanthemums and a butterfly bush and pulled some weeds in the bed next to Ed's stone square.

I am pleased with the progress we are making.  However I can't help feeling that someone has pushed the fast forward button on the garden and our fast forward buttons are no longer working.  We had fun while it lasted anyway!

The War On Weeds

We have such a magnificent selections of weeds here.  It is hard to decide where to begin.  This morning  it was hot and sunny.  On a day like that I look for a place to weed that is  in the shade.  It might be war, but my comfort comes first.  Dandelions are a bit of a contradiction for me.  I love to see fields of those yellow flowers.  I know they provide food for the bees, but I hate to have them growing in my garden beds.  When they cross that line they are the enemy!  Seeds parachute in on the wind infiltrating when they are just a piece of fluff.  Tiny little plants are easy to overlook.  When they are established and put down that huge tap root, they are a formidable foe.  It's a  never ending battle, but we shall continue to dig them out anyway.

Some of our weeds are  perfectly good plants, if they were somewhere else.  This is a little oak tree complete with its acorn. It was likely  planted by a squirrel.  The tree providing the shade here is a black locust.  The nearest big oak tree is some distance away so the acorn has traveled some distance to invade my space.  Lots of other weeds were present: bindweed, purslane, quack grass... the list is a long one.

This is the WEED! I have been trying to eradicate this ever since we arrived here.  It has become a rare sight here, but today I was horrified to see six plants lurking among the other weeds.  This is ragweed, Ambrosia trifida L.  It is my policy to kill these while they are small before they can do their dirty work making people sick with their nasty pollen.  If you wear gloves and rip these suckers out before they flower you will be safe.  It is a public service to eradicate this weed.  Perhaps we would all be better off if this plant became extinct.  I suppose it might have some redeeming quality that I don't know about.  If it does I would like to hear about it.  Here it is on the most unwanted list and extinction within my territory is the goal.  When I see a ragweed plant , it is gone in a flash!  The battle is over for today, but the war will continue until victory is ours!

Garden Friends

We had  a frost this morning, but after the sun warmed thing up, Ed and I decided to go  to work on the bed down by the road.  We loaded up the tractor cart with all the tools we thought we might need.  It is a somewhat long walk back up the lane to the house from here.  Up by the house the garden is dust dry.  Here with the different soil there is still some moisture.  We worked at weeding and cleaning up the Siberian iris.  Ed transplanted some King Alfred daffodils.  There were lots of dandelions to dig out.  While I love to see a field of dandelions instead of a pristine grass lawn, I hate to have them growing in my flower beds.  It's a good thing successfully digging them out taproot intact brings such a joyful feeling of conquest.  Ed and I  had a great morning working together!

You can see that we have bluebird boxes located here.  Just the other day I took a peek to check on the residents of the bird house.  Sometimes I feel a little guilty about disturbing our house guests, but this time I was so glad  I did.  The box contained a dead tree swallow.  Ed removed it for me and as you can see the tree swallows are back.  They let me get very close to take a picture.  I was pleased since I have often watched these birds attack the neighbor's cat.  They are not afraid to buzz people either, but they paid little attention to us today. The second box is empty. The bluebirds seem to have moved on.  It is their usual pattern.  The insects that they need to feed their babies are scarce when we don't get much rain.  Last year when the drought period ended they came back.  Perhaps this year will be the same!

Lawn Chrysanthemums

I just came in from cutting the flowers off the lawn chrysanthemums. When the grass gets to a certain length they have to go. Yes, I know they probably look exactly like dandelions to you, and so they are.

Most of the world is divided into two camps on the issue of lawn chrysanthemums.


There are those who like them. Children frequently bring mom a beautiful yellow bouquet with a big smile on their face. They love to blow on the seed heads to watch the seeds fly. Adults gather the flowers to make wine and eat the leaves for spring greens. Others get their cameras to take photos of honey bees on the bright yellow flowers. Honey bees rely on these bright spring flowers for nectar and pollen. I'm on the bee's side, they are having a hard time surviving as it is, but I admit I dig them out of the garden, and as I said the lawn gets mowed.


There are those who hate them, and will go to any length to get rid of them. They want green lawns and will use chemical weapons . Those airborne seeds are looked upon like they were enemy aircraft on the attack.

So it's the Hatfield's and the McCoys. I guess the two groups will have to agree to disagree.