Snip and Clip the Creation Garden

 

 The white and the Sweetheart Caladiums were a bit grassy, so I trimmed them all today with scissors. More photos soon.

I have been gradually cutting the grassy wisps from the new flowers at the foot of our front porch. Sassy often sits just below us as we talk, drink coffee, and toss her treats. She has dug up a bulb or two, probably by sniffing, and found some Milkbones she neglected. Rain has not been an issue.

One day a memorial was created for Christina. Ranger Bob came by and made an area at the entrance of the porch for her photo from the cemetery, plus some unicorns, and Caladiums.

Christina loved Caladiums and had me buy the little nuggets every year. 

I was waiting for a delivery and Sassy wanted to enjoy the cooler evening air, so we went out together. When she was warm, she bulled her way back into the house.

I sat on the concrete driveway and snipped away with ordinary scissors. Electric clippers cut too much too fast. I felt like a barber cleaning up the garden, a few strands at a time. 

Weeds do not like to be trimmed. Their advantage is elbowing (or grassing) aside the big plants. When I snip them low, their dried up remains help fertilize and deny regrowth to some extent. Many of my plants have rapid growth, Joe Pye most of all. I had to cut enough Joe Pye to let one rose get some sun and bloom even more. Bee Balm also tried to make another rose disappear underneath its aggressive growth.

Christina found my first eight roses on QVC ($8 each, freight included). She wanted rose fragrance at the door. Later she decreed that the front yard be all roses. Everyone loves Hummingbirds, so they were featured in many plantings - Hostas, Joe Pye, Clethra, and the feeders. Butterfly plants are usually good for Hummingbirds too, and bees love any plant they can mine for food.

I should have Monarch butterflies this year, since some new plants are for breeding Monarchs-alone. The Butterfly Garden (the sunniest part of the property) has two Joe Pye Weeds, at least one Butterfly Weed, Bee Balm, Violets, and I hope a few other plants. 

The backyard gardens are multiplying, as long as they are relatively care-free. Team Hagar moved Hostas from the Rose Garden, where they were roasting in the sun, to shady areas. Hostas have four or five areas for growing now. The new Joe Pye Weeds look too tiny, but they will be aggressive and shooting up next year.

My biggest advance this year will be Scarlet Bee Balms, popular for attracting Hummingbirds. I have several places for them to thrive, including next to the porch.

This is all accumulated labor, and well worth it. God's creation is visible everywhere and makes a little work so much worthwhile. I enjoy hearing people ask, "What's that?" and "What is the name of that rose?"

So far, no real damage has appeared from Japanese beetles. 

Daisies for the Moms

 This photo shows the Shasta Daisies as they started to bloom, a tree trunk with a solar light on it, Joe Pye growing to the right, Mr. Lincoln in the upper left, and Hostas at the top center. The white plastic comes from rose collars, which are being used to protect roses while filling in the mulch.

Sassy is the great socializer on our cul-de-sac. The children love her and know she is gentle. She went out for her afternoon walk and went immediately to the boys playing outside.

They had a great time with her, and she went back inside. I wanted to trim some grassy weeds back, so I soon had an audience. All three boys wanted to know about the flowers, the battery powered trimmers, and everything else.

I asked, "Do you want some flowers for your moms?" Two or three of the mothers were helping with the yard sale. I clipped a bunch of daisies for each boy, and they ran back to give their prizes to their mothers. "Tell her I love you," I said as they took off.

They ran back just as quickly, grinning and saying, "She said thankyou."

Sometimes I have roses to give the children, but the drought has been relentless. The Japanese beetles do their share on the blooms, though far less than last year. The conversations are priceless.

Like Sassy, the children can walk through the garden without harming the plants. Even the young Hostas are perking up and showing their colors.

Sometimes, when I am working under the big Crepe Myrtle, a cat will walk by after visiting the Cat Mint, or a rabbit will walk past to visit another yard. When birds are nesting in the Myrtle, the parents warn me to go away, as the robins did earlier this year.

 Cardinal Caladiums are under the Crepe Myrtle for extra color. They are late to unfurl and grow their leaves, but well worth the wait. On the ground are the Myrtle flower petals fallen from the first bloom and the energetic grassy weeds. I was trimming the grass when the boys arrived to ask questions. I will add more mulch to suppress the weeds.

Here is the red Caladium set off by white ones, with a side helping of Hog Peanuts in the upper right. Hog Peanuts improve the soil by fixing nitrogen.