Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Things I ignore....

There are parts of my garden I never pay any attention to. I might give them a glance now and then and think, "I ought to do something about that" but I never actually do. This first tangled mess is off to the side of my front porch. The ground slopes away here and nothing I like ever grows successfully in this spot. So the volunteer morning glories have taken over, backed by the obnoxious 4 o'clocks. The morning glories are not Heavenly Blue so I despise them. I'm not sure what those tall spikes are in back but I do remember planting a Mock Orange here once. Surely that's not it, my nose would know.

Then there's a bed of Snow in Summer, or is it Snow on the Mountain? I'm never sure till I look it up, but I don't really care either. It's also called Bishop's Weed. Which fits in perfectly with the theme, since that's Yellow Archangel in the back. One of those plants you wish you'd never laid eyes on one time and thought it might be a good idea. It's not. At least both these culprits are confined in this bed and any seedlings that escape promptly get mowed. In keeping with the religious theme this is also the final resting place for a succession of gerbils, pet rabbits, and cats over the years. I guess this is actually the burial bed - no wonder I ignore it.

Okay, this is a little embarrassing and I swear I'm going to cut this volunteer hollyhock down soon. It's starting to swat at my car as I drive into the garage.


I could pretend this corner looks pretty good at times, but that wouldn't be true. There seem to be volunteer bushes growing here, though the huge pussywillow in the back was planned. I have to admit I never thought that stick of a plant would get so big. I used to plant tomatoes in a couple of wooden barrels that you can barely see but I kept forgetting to water them so I quit.



Here's my biggest disappointment of the year and much as I'd like to ignore them they're front and center and I see them every day. My gauras - Whirling Butterfly. Remember how pretty they were a couple of years ago? Age hasn't improved them and nary a bloom in sight this summer or last. They'll be history in the fall.




In the back yard I have this 12 foot square that used to be a sandbox for Dear Son. He's 30 years old now. Nature has taken over. She apparently thought that Russian Olives would look nice here and also a huge weed that gets about 6 feet tall and has sticky burrs and woe to anyone who brushes up against them. I felt really bad for this phone company guy who had to get his ladder in there the other day. Well, I didn't know he was coming, did I? Hope he didn't trip over a rotted wooden post with a martin house on top that I know fell over in there a couple of years ago.



One day last spring The Dubious Gardener sent over a tree man to trim some limbs and while he was at it "tear that ivy off the house". I might have been more upset about that except I accidentally tore part of it down last year and then the rest of it started falling down. I hardly ever walk around to this side of the house and when I did the other day I was surprised to see Virginia Creeper taking over. It's not ivy and I'll soon be yanking it off the overhead phone lines but I might ignore that too. Wonder if the phone company man can?









10 comments:

Lisa at Greenbow said...

At this time of year I too have areas that I often wonder how they get into the condition that they are in. When it gets so hot I don't get out and keep up what looks so lovely in the early spring/summer.

Town Mouse said...

Hey, it's all green, which is more than can be said for many gardens here ;->

Carol Michel said...

So why would you cut back that volunteer hollyhock. It's nice to have the flowers greet you when you get home, isn't it?

Carol, May Dreams Gardens

Silvia Hoefnagels . Salix Tree said...

I enjoyed this post! My garden is slowly becoming wilder too. I tend to leave plants where they feel like growing a lot of the time. I keep meaning to re-do my front garden, but can't seem to muster up the energy to do it, it's such a big area!
I love those morning glories!

LostRoses said...

Lisa, I think I keep my blinders on and only see what's pretty!

TownMouse, we certainly do have green. Here it is August and everything should be sere and brown. That rainy June and July really was amazing here.

Carol, it thwacked me one too many times! It's gone.

Salix, glad you said that about the energy part. That's what I'm missing too, which makes me much more complacent about wild areas in my garden.

Diana LaMarre said...

Hi Lostroses,
I was surprised to see you were posting again!
It is amazing how our gardens go wild in such a short time!

Once I miss even a few weeks of weed maintenance, I am doomed for the entire summer.

Nice to have you back.

EAL said...

Even Bishop's Weed has its uses. I am thinking of introducing it to my root-ridden easeway bed. Glad to see your posts again; your garden looks wonderful!

LostRoses said...

Hi Zooey, I've doomed myself for certain areas of the garden for many summers! I've been enjoying catching up on your weeding efforts.

Elizabeth, I'm always for a good weed that serves a purpose. Sounds like Bishop's Weed is just the thing for your easeway bed. Thanks for visiting, and thanks for the compliment!

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Anonymous said...

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Green Clean