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| Yarrow has medicinal qualities and attracts butterflies. |
Sassy and I took our afternoon walk today - she was quite insistent. She is always betting on Ranger Bob being home and not off to work in the late afternoon. We circled back past the pit bulls, who barked their warnings. Sassy casually walked to the fence and muttered something outrageous, so they burst into rage and threats. Sassy trotted away happy.
She walked with me across the front of the Rose Garden, which I watered this morning. A scarlet Bee Balm is blooming in the middle of one Joe Pye plant, making me wonder how it got there. Daisies are getting ready to bloom. Veterans Honor roses are blooming faster than I have seen any rose except Easy Does It.
My neighbor across the street has put bushes along the sidewalk, somewhat like mine. They are often placed there in our neighborhood, probably to discourage shortcuts across the yard. Looking up toward our house, I could see various long-time planting scheme and roses gone wild. There is always a pleasant surprise in the mix. The rugosa rose is thriving, but they always thrive where planted.
The soi-disant Butterfly Garden was earlier a rose garden planted for our sainted neighbor. Later, it was an utterly ridiculous slug garden when I spent time, money, and water on hay bail gardening. Rotting hay being watered was a dream come true for slugs, devoted as they are to moisture and vegetative rot.
After cornering the market on slugs, I planted Hidden Lily, which bloomed and spread. "There is my green fence," I said mistakenly. The winters that killed roses were also effective against Hidden Lily; the last survivor failed to appear this spring.
Sassy checked out rabbit trails in the Rose Garden while I headed up to the Butterfly Garden. I have to be purpose-driven to view it, because that garden is the sunniest and hardest to reach.
One delight after another surprised me.
- The Chaste Tree, moved there during a drought, is thriving, blooming in the sun.
- Comfrey is loaded with blooms.
- Joe Pye is growing tall.
- Yarrow is super-large and healthy, so the flowers should be attractive to butterflies and beneficial insects.
- Shock - a Butterfly Weed bloomed bright orange where I thought it had failed.
- The open places seem to be perfect for laying down cardboard and mulch for some additional plants.
PS - Photos are hard to place right now because Blogger is changing all the tools again. I hope they come to their senses, because nothing is working better and some tools are gone.
