Garden Update

Summer has arrived.  It has gotten hot, and if I am working in the garden it is in the early morning or late evenings.  In the evenings however I seem more likely destined to provide a supper feast for hordes of biting insects, so morning remains my time of choice. I almost pulled that calla a few weeks ago, having forgotten that I had planted it, and still not used to living in an area where it would come back.  Now I am happy.  It is like a little hidden gem which I see every day when I check the mail.  It may eventually be dwarfed by the shrubs and have to be moved, but for now it is a happy surprise.

The daylillies that were planted last summer are doing well and blooming profusely.  And the hundreds of daffodil leaves are finally dying back, and disappearing behind the daylilies, so my front yard is once again looking a little more kempt.  But the simple truth is that my flower beds really push the boundaries of being neat and formal.  Truthfully, the main front bed, close to the house, has crossed the line.

I am rather content with it, however.  It is definitely my garden.  I am more content since I have cut back the dandelion flower stalks you see reaching up through the roses and pulled and dug their roots as best as I could.  Never suppose there is not some plan in plant habits.  Both dandelions are rooted right next to, in fact pressing up against and deeply entangled within, the roots of the two roses.  It is a constant battle to keep them contained while neither killing the roses or ripping my flesh to shreds. Otherwise I love the ways the flowers wander throughout each others territories, making a tapestry of color and shape.

The side yard is still not fully planted.  There are a few bare areas remaining, as I have allowed myself time to assess the light and let the yard evolve.   The blueberries will be ripening soon.  The crepe myrtles are not yet in bloom, and I'll probably put in more daylilies simply because it is a long bed and I love them so. But I won't really know until I actually plant, and then, until I see how the plants settle into their spaces. 

Hiding in the back of the stand of lilies and daylilies to the front of the crepe myrtles is this Martagon lily.  From the street it rather disappears into the brick, but to anyone walking or sitting in the yard, it glows.  Seeing it feels like a secrete pleasure.

Which remind me that the agapanthus planted in the front is about to bloom.  At the moment it is still small, but I recall from New York that it will take a few years to reach full height, at which point it will no longer be dwarfed by the low azaleas, although it height-wise it will blend in with the hydrangea on the other side, which also serve to protect the agapanthus from winds.  Never mind.  I will enjoy the resulting combination of blues.  Last year the agapanthus never grew visibly larger than my index finger, but I know it was growing an extensive root network.  I was thrilled to see it come back, am thrilled to see a bud.

I'm a little further behind on the back flower beds.  We've had two good rainstorms lately and the unfinished walk is a sea of clay mud, as are the upper beds.  The wet makes some areas easier to dig, but it I also slippery and treacherous on the hill, and I can't work on the beds without being covered in clay.  Hopefully that will all be fixed soon.  I don't think Tikka minds much.  The weeds give her more shade to hide beneath.