Return To Weedtopia

It doesn’t pay to leave your garden for two weeks at the end of June. The weeds thought to act like mice do when the cat’s away. They’ve run riot out there. I’m sorry to see the plants I wanted to grow seem to not have that same desire to thrive. Don’t get me wrong: they’re all still growing, but… There’s a reason we have the saying “growing like a weed.”

I missed out on seeing all my purple iris in full bloom. The Shasta daisies on the north side of the house are vigorously blooming, but the ones to the east of the yard (mostly volunteers) are going to seed already. The columbine also seem to be finished with their blossoms. Since those reseed themselves with wanton abandonment, I’ve pulled almost all of the spent flower stems to prevent them taking over even more than they already have. The wild geraniums are also done for this year. At least all those plants still have nice-looking greenery. My daylillies from my grandmother are being overshadowed by the chokecherry trees the birds gave me. And grasses are invading the bed. I just can’t keep up with all the work that needs doing.

Dennis and I both appreciate all the rain so far this summer. He really didn’t have to run any sprinklers nor water all my houseplants that are summering outside. I’d left them bunched on the front deck, mostly in the shade, so they’d be easier to water. They’ve now been moved to where they’ll live until early September. We are loving all the green everywhere.

I definitely need to weed-whack the perimeter of my garden space. Then I can get the solar-powered battery hooked up to the electric fence. I have noticed, while trying to catch up on weeding, lots of plants that have been truncated by being munched upon. There are a lot of tops missing. When we returned from our Sunday golf outing, we found mama deer and her twins inside that fence. They’ll sure be surprised when that fence bites them.

Our Florida daughter and her sons are coming to visit us this week, so my next couple columns will probably be shorter, like this one. But I’ll do my best to get something sent in. I gave myself permission to not stress about writing while I was down there with them. I did really enjoy the roller hockey tournament - it’s amazing how fast those games are. And I enjoyed a long day with the family at Volcano Bay in Orlando. Ten hours at a water park was lots of fun.