No Theme, Just Stuff

I did one of my favorite things yesterday. I wandered around the yard really looking at things. Here's what I found.

The lamium Florentine is in full bloom. Which reminded me that I have to go salvage some. My next door neighbor pulled out a lot of garden last fall and threw it over the hill. His wife died a couple of years ago, the gardens were her's and he just didn't have time to care for them. He threw the stuff over the hill in the back, and the lamium is loving where it landed. I need to pull it all out, as I guess it could be considered an invasive species in "my" woods.



I managed to identify the "mystery shrub" that was just budding a week ago. It's wild honeysuckle. I seem to have two varieties. The more common is the white.




But, there is one stand that is the most beautiful shade of pink.




I stood for a while and looked at my "what am I going to do with this" spot. It will not grow grass and the young man who mows for me can't get in there with his mower to knock down the weeks and the lilac shoots. Maybe I need to make a shade garden. Those old lilac trees, by the way, were planted by my Grandmother, in the 1920's, when they first moved into the house.



I admired the plants I potted yesterday. I've got the smaller pots that go on my back steps to do today.



Isn't this pretty? It's just some strange kind of bunch grass that is growing in my front yard, under the linden tree. The seed stalks and heads are so delicate and feathery. It's in another spot where regular grass won't grow. That linden tree is dense, and not a ray of sun gets through.



I love my shade garden. It was the first garden I planted, after I had some old, woody evergreen shrubs pulled out, and I realized that, with the plants I have added this year, it's done, except for the lady's slipper that is on its way to me right now. I just need to let it mature, and maintain it.





Last, I took a good look at the sheep sorrel, that Marnie so kindly identified for me. I wondered why the heck I was wasting time and energy pulling it out. It's pretty and far better to look at than the pine needles under the tree. It appears to like it there, and it can easily enough be contained by mowing. So, I have a new ground cover, and all I have to do is let it spread.



Last weekend my neighbor was out with the weed killer. His new girlfriend was so pleased and asked me if I wanted him to do my yard, too. I said "no," quite emphatically. I love my weedy yard. Not only are the plants in it endlessly interesting, but, every place I dig, I find earthworms, doing their job. And, there are birds on my lawn, eating the insects that munch on the various plants. I wouldn't find that if I put poison all over the place. I wouldn't trade my rag tag yard for the world.