Welcome to the Jungle!

I spent two hours outside yesterday working on the yard. Mostly, I gave my flowers some much needed TLC. There were a lot of dead blooms and leaves that needed to be cleared away. I also feed them once a week and they were past due for that. The verbena is trying to make a comeback! I haven't watered them in over a week now. One pot has a single healthy plant. The other has three or 4 and is still trying to produce blooms. I continue to frustrate the plant's efforts. It just isn't healthy enough to be pretty. I am feeling more hopeful about the recovery of both pots, though. You see? It pays to have faith, hope, and patience!

My rose bush is doing well ~ sort of. It wants to bloom - there's evidence on every stem - but this morning I had to severely prune two branches due to a return of the dreaded black spot. This means I also cut two potential roses off of the bush. It's a sad, sad thing to have to do, but it is for the best in the long run. There are still six buds or pre-buds on the plant, and to be honest I'm thinking that's probably 3 too many. Fewer buds on the plant at one time makes for larger blooms.



I have a front flower bed that has varigated liriope, oxalis (shamrock!), and impatiens in it. Usually, the impatiens do very well. They like it dark and damp. The bed is north facing, which provides the necessary shade. There is little in the way of drainage so usually the soil stays moist to the point of growing moss. However, it got overly hot and dry early this summer. The impatiens is struggling. There's no need to fear, of course. I watered them well yesterday - laced with food - and I'm sure they'll do fine.

While I was weeding the impatience my perspective got skewed a little. I noticed the tall healhty stems on the plants and thought about how to a bug they would look like trees. Further, from a bug's eye view the flower bed must seem huge. It was then I noticed that the home for my impatiens was teeming with life! I saw active, moving rolly-pollies (I know! Unheard of, right?), crickets, spiders, and ants. They have their very own bustling community going. I felt like a road builder, tearing down their "trees" in the name of progress and remembered how upset I used to get when Weyerhauser would swoop down and deforest an area. I disturbed as little as possible. Soon, the impatiens will do a better job at weed control than I ever could, but I will go back to observe my own personal insect city again. It was intriguing and enlightening. There really is always something larger...and smaller...than ourselves, isn't there?

When I came in I had to laugh at myself. Andy mentioned the heat. I had to pause because while I do not mind if an unintentional pun pops out of my mouth, I cringe if I start to sound cliche'. In this instance, I really didn't have a choice. The heat really wasn't all that bad. It was the humidity!

~Happy Gardening!~