neurotwitch

garden mania

I am sore. My knees hurt, my back hurts, and I have blisters on my palms. And I am happy about it.

We finally got outside today. I planted a clematis that has been growing in a plastic bag for two weeks, ever since White Flower Farms sent it to me. I trimmed the rosebushes—looks like we lost one, but I’ll give it another couple of weeks. I trimmed away a lot of the wildness from the roses and the iris bed.

And raked. Trying to get the part of the “lawn” cleared up so we can rototill it so we can put some seed down and have a chance at actually seeing green there besides onion grass. A lot of small branches all over the place. Stanley started trimming some of the dead branches from the shrubs and something took hold of him since he just kept trimming and trimming the entire section. I was thrilled as it’s needed trimming for about, oh, five years or so. As he trimmed, I raked. And raked. Tomorrow we’ll have to drag all of the debris out of there. An unbelievable amount of brush.

We met our new neighbors today. They like our dog! They seem like really nice people and are planning to actually garden!

Stanley managed to mow about two-thirds of the yard. I wasn’t anywhere near as high as it’s gotten in previous years, but it was still about a foot high, lots of dandelions this year (I love the way dandelions look in the back 40). Here he is, mid-mow (click to enlarge):

My tulips are a little wild this year—and its seems like the yellows just opened and already they are blown. But the colors are just gorgeous (click to enlarge):

Several of the new ones I planted last year are in bloom (I took pictures of those with my film cameras). Not as many have come up as I remember planting—I attribute that to the squirrels. The fritallaria I planted in fall 2004 are blooming again this year—they’re pretty. And I wonder if this year the wisteria will finally bloom. I suspect not. I suspect I will never ever get to see it bloom. Lot of birds nesting in it this year.

We’ll work more in the yard tomorrow, after we get back from brunch with Helene.

Oh, I finally got the pictures I sent off for developing for my Holga—they came back and some of them are just extraordinary. Will scan those pretty soon to post.

Time to make some dinner.

<< Back to main