Me-anderings

My kids tell me that my blog is too “meandering” (or is it ME-andering!) and doesn’t indicate that I know what I’m doing in the garden ….. does anyone? Isn’t the whole point of having a garden so you can grow and learn? Spouting all the Latin names is tedious except when you’re trying to acquire the precise plant that you want, and – besides, that doesn’t make you all that great a gardener.

Today is the start of the Memorial Day weekend, for the record. In the garden, it’s time to cut back the flattened daffodil foliage, stake all those poor iris that should have been staked before the heavy rains sent them sprawling, and to rogue out all the Chinese lantern that is taking over the undergrowth. (David really likes them when they turn orange, but we’ll still have an abundant amount after all the yanking!) The lilies are coming nicely, the big hibiscus have finally broken dormancy, and the first blooms are on the shrub roses. The self-seeded larkspur are fluffing along nicely – as are the thread-leaf coreopsis, and the aster and chrysanthemum are calling, “Pinch me! Pinch me!” Peony buds are swelling. As a matter of fact, I remove some of the side buds so all the power will go into fewer blooms…that still leaves plenty.

With several back-to-back warm days, the soil will finally be warm enough for the annuals to enter the mix. These prima donnas aren’t ready to perform until there’s plenty of warmth for their little bottoms anyhow, but I guess I’ll slide some in now. Certainly I like to get a jump on the morning-glory, for I can hardly wait to see that ol’ friend again.

With all the rains earlier this week, the weeds have been easy to pull, and we’ve got the best of them…for the moment! The thistles were satisfactorally big, the poison ivy still identifiably shiney, and the celandine poppy in full yellow dress. The faster the annuals can fill in, the less we’ll have to worry about the “second coming” of the weeds. It would be a real boondoggle to talk about gardening without the weed references, because that’s the worst problem for me. Sure, the bugs’ll get some stuff, and the bunnies and deer take their cut, but the weeds don’t deserve any quarter, as far as I’m concerned.

I’m always happy when the eryngium and the poppies get saved in the great thistle purge that goes on now…their leaves are so similar. To me, it’s astonishing how those sneaky-pete weeds choose exactly the plant patch to grow in that most resembles their leaf structure!

Did everyone know that poison ivy used to be listed in the catalogues as a plant to grow in the garden? This was back in John Bartram’s time, when he was sending plant listings back to England from the Colonies. He touted it as having a pleasing red autumnal color and as being easy to grow. Ha!