I discovered, this
year, that I like to weed.
I use to go out and weed
for an hour, two tops, weekly and that would be my contribution to the
maintenance of my flower beds. The weeds
outshined my flowers.
This year is
different. Almost daily, I go out gloved*,
with hand spade firmly in my grip, and weed for hours. It is difficult to stop, but I force myself
to move onto other essential tasks.
Weeding is no longer a chore, but a FUN and satisfying activity. The
result is perennial beds that are more specific to fragrant and/or showy blooms
rather than obnoxious and overbearing weeds.
This is a novelty for me. Besides,
when spending the time removing unwanted vegetation, I can look about me at any
time and relish in the flowers that are in bloom on that particular day. I do not miss any changes. Every few days, the prominent blossoms
differ. I love color. I love fragrance.
I love flowers. I love to weed.
For the past few
days, we have been static in a rainy weather pattern. Weeding is on hold. The upside is that each and every one of my
plants relishes the abundance of rain. Lush
is an understatement. Normally, we experience more drought-like conditions and
my plants are usually meager, at best.
Good rain, during the
growing season, is almost an anomaly.
I look out often from
the windows around my house into the gardens.
I see healthy green foliage throughout highlighted with splashes of
pastel and bold color. The myriad of greens
exhibited by all the diverse leaves, the many hues of flowers, the varying textures
of the hardscaping and the ever-changing lighting, layers of sorts, all combine
to form a magnificent and complete image.
Today, I enjoy dark purple salvia, airy gaura swinging in the breeze, deep
orange and squash-colored daylilies, lavender spiderworts, and many other
colorful flowers…my eye-candy.
And, the best part of
the luxurious plantings is that it is all desired. For a change, the weeds have not dominated my
gardens.
I no longer, at least
for the moment, have to pretend that the weeds are not present. Or, that the weeds are actually a prized
perennial.
Quite frankly, in all
my years of gardening, my garden has never looked so good, even with three dogs
traipsing directly through many of my flower beds.
The winning formula…weeds
eliminated + abundant precipitation = vigorous perennials and a very happy
gardener…me!
*A note about
my gardening gloves… I use to garden bare-handed because gloves were cumbersome,
hot and short-lived as holes wore quickly into the fingertips until a friend of
mine gave me some great gardening gloves - they fit like skin, have reinforced
fingers and palms, and I barely realized that I am wearing these gems - no more
dirty hands and nails, no more broken nails - just easy weeding with
comfort. In reality, I have abused these
gloves and they hold up extremely well to my abuse.
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