In Our Garden

Mr. Bunny :: volunteers that lived :: my veg patch :: marigolds :: beautyberry 

snapdragons :: the yellow rose :: the compost heap

We've been putting quite a bit of time in on the yard, even if the mosquitos try to keep us inside. The people we bought the house from obviously loved their yard and did well with it, but the house was vacant all spring, so part of our task now is reclaiming the property from the wild. I am trying to beat back the strongest things - the mint, the dwarf iris, the WEEDS - and I am trying to be wise regarding what to keep as homage to the people who established the garden and what to toss so that I may have my own fingerprints on the land.

We have found an underground irrigation system that takes water from the house to the road, but only two spigots are currently working. One is blocked and the other is non-existent and causes water to bubble like a spring from one of the flower beds. An unlikely "water feature" perhaps?

Aside from water, another thing we are lacking around here is four-season color. I find myself threatening the plants, "You'd better do something showy and impressive come spring or you're toast!" Several of them already have done something impressive (like show that they are PG hydrangeas, or bring in butterflies of all size and description) and others of them just sit there like twiggy skeletons, hungry for a bit of something that isn't just hot sand.

And that brings me to the compost. Julian rigged a compost heap for me, but I need to work hard collecting enough to fill it up. Even just in the past few days it has sunken down under its own decomposing weight. Keeping the mass helps keep the heat and helps it all work better, so I pile and I pile. (Note all those rocks that had to come out of the ground before the posts could go in!)