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| Look at the Buckwheat farm growing around the Crepe Myrtle. I overdid the sowing. |
'Twas a Springdale day. I took The Sass for a morning walk. She dislikes being brushed, so I finger brush her outside, usually sitting on a curb. She enjoys that and we see fur flying in little bunny clumps, perhaps the lining of a bird's nest in the near future. When we were getting up, an SUV was driving slowly toward us on Scott, which is a quiet street at 7 AM. The driver stopped and rolled down his window, "Are you OK?" Strangers are friendly and helpful in this area. On two separate occasions I was told to wait until they had the Town Car running. "You are NOT calling AAA!"
Later that day, Ranger Bob announced he would weed-whack the Rose Garden if I had plastic collars to protect all the healthy roses. In fact, I had a new box plus almost all the old ones. One ran away during a wind storm, but I got it back. "No more of that!"
So yesterday I heard the usual knock and went outside. Bob and PFC had finished their selective destruction of the garden. As I wrote before, the heavy rains and sunshine had boosted weed growth to remarkable levels, and the more mature Joe Pyes were 8 feet tall. But I had clipped most of the JPs at the soil level, so Bob and PFC had a relatively conflict-free area to cut down. It was done! All they wanted was cold water, hot coffee, and damp towels.
Sassy looked at me, triggered. She always gets a Milk Bone when Bob comes, so she had her bone and then set up her defense perimeter to keep us safe during the coffee hour outside.
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| I like giant Aliums (garlic) but most bulbs do not thrive here. Tulips are a disaster. |
Creation Garden Point Two
I have tried out many plants in the Creation Garden, which means our rabbits are the healthiest and most fertile in NW Arkansas. They have no toxins in their food and enjoy a wide variety of tender new plants, which I usually never see again.
They ate three Clethra shrubs over the winter. The magical tree, exuding sweetness and cinnamon, probably tastes as good as it smells. Cutting back the Pyes released the shrubs to the breezes that lift the fragrance across the yard and driveway.
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| Butterfly Bush does not do as well as Crepe Myrtle here. |
Summing up what can be handled, I decided that the garden is really vertical and can be weeded only by machine. That means:
- Roses
- Daisies
- Bee Balm
- Clethra
- Crepe Myrtle
- Joe Pye
- Hostas with their stalks of trumpet flowers for the Hummingbirds.
Except for roses, these are bully plants that protect and expand their territory by growth at the base and in their height.
We will put in an ocean of Daffodils in the fall. They will grow up in drifts and in spots between plants, but they will finish their cycle before the rest get going. Staying below, they will repeat this for a long time. Animals do not like them (yay!). Squirrels do not dig them up for storage elsewhere (double yay!). Daffodils are beautiful solo and in large drifts.
