Summer Begins

Commencement was a week ago today, and at last I’m catching up on sleep while the stress-induced clouds are lifting.

From the garden:


This delphinium is in memory of my mother, who we lost two years ago May 12. Sage has also been added to the herb pots on the front steps, not only because she loved the scent, but to remember the amazing, sage-y cornbread dressing she’d make every Thanksgiving.

Fishing. Gardening.

Back from the annual two-week fishing trip last week. If we didn’t catch-and-release, we’d have eaten very well every day.

This week I’ve been catching up with the garden. The rudbeckia in the Death Zone didn’t do well. Only a few remnants left. However, seeds from last year keep popping up throughout the front flowerbed.

Planted this week:

Lantana: I’ve been told they’ll grow in concrete, which isn’t much different from the soil in one of the backyard beds. When we first moved here, I thought it really was poorly troweled cement. But after a couple of years of turning it over and adding soil conditioner, gutter gunk, and garden cuttings, it’s beginning to look like something resembling dirt.

Verbena: For the Death Zone. Often used in xeriscaping. So far, little has survived the DZ except Cosmos, and even they struggled.

Weigela Alexandra: In the space previously occupied by Euonymus Manhattan. They had been there before we moved in, and by late summer each year were consumed by scale. I spent a couple of days hacking them down and pulling out the stumps, but for a year the area’s been vacant. Weigela may be the answer. Low maintenance, resistant to disease, and with foliage that will look good against the brick of the house.

Every gardener has a philosophy, whether it’s stated or not. Mine is simple: Plants should be placed so they need as little care as possible. I like pulling weeds and doing minor maintenance like deadheading and pruning out dead branches, but I prefer plants to be in their natural shapes and in environments that I don’t have to interfere with. That’s why it’s taken a while to make decisions and get things in the ground. So far I’m happy with the decisions that have been made, and there haven’t been any dramatic disasters. The Death Zone continues to mock all efforts, but if weeds can grow there, something will defeat it.

Pictures coming soon . . .