It was day's end in the garden, and I was tromping about, bouncing like a pinball between the garden beds. That clump needs deadheading--those crowded seedlings need to be thinned out--those vines need to be tied to stakes--need to pull up more of the devil's-guts quackgrass--and is late July really too late to be sowing cosmos and zinnia?
Stop!
It's frightening how easily one can regress to Type-A behavior, even in the most bucolic of settings. Somehow I managed to administer the equivalent of a couple of slaps upside my head, and then finally I could stop and see: The garden looks great. So much is in colorful, healthy bloom, despite trying conditions of heat and drought. The back border, three years young, has filled out so much that I can barely make my way through it to garden in it without looking like I'm playing a game of Twister. All this, in my own back yard. This is what I need to store away to remember, six months from now, when I'm starved for warmth and color.
Newly blooming: Phaseolus coccineus (scarlet runner bean); Lilium orientalis 'Stargazer'; Veronicastrum virginicum 'Rosea' (Culver's root); Platycodon grandiflorum 'Fuji Pink' (balloon flower); Hibiscus moscheutos 'Kopper King' (hardy hibiscus); Echinops ritro 'Blue Glow' (globe thistle).
Good girl! Add a pat on the back to the slaps upside the head. And don't forget to take lots of pictures--not just close-ups but views of whole beds or sections of beds. Those will really help when you do your winter dreaming-planning.
Posted by: Kathy | July 24, 2005 at 08:26 AM
That's a great suggestion, which I should have no problem implementing, thanks to the help of my official garden photographer (aka Jessamyn).
Posted by: Chan S. | July 25, 2005 at 11:15 PM