One of our non-pushy plants, a Flowering Quince.
photo by James Cummings/ photo edit by Pat

All I can safely tell you is that our garden areas used to be more organized, or so it seemed. Sometimes, we have made some mistakes, albeit lovely mistakes. One year, we planted Coreopsis, a beautiful, Daisy-like, all-yellow flower. They took over our entire front side yard.

We wanted a different look, so Jim created a garden with bricked pathways, loaded with bark mulch for walking paths. That was a good idea…while it lasted. You see, he was given the gift of Strawberry plants that were to be planted in a high tech plastic bag, to hang. The result was that the plants at the bottom got soaked to death and the ones at the top were barely surviving, so Jim transplanted them. They simply LOVED the area and have now spread as an endless ground cover, spewing over and into the walking paths.

The Tiger Lilies are another affair. There were some of these growing by the fence under a Mulberry tree. The tree was getting dangerous, with heavy branches falling off into our yard and the neighbor’s yard, with each passing storm. So it was cut down, no longer shading the Lilies. We discovered that Lilies LOVE sun. They proliferated and grew taller than ever, and yes, Jim had moved a few of them into the new garden area where they now grow as tall as Sunflowers. Ok, I do exaggerate…but only a little!

Another pushy plant is Blue Salvia. These are a tall variety and spread like wildfire. They are showy when they bloom, but they just “take over!” They overgrew an area where previously there had been Echinacea.

Right now, Purslane weeds are crowding out the carrot seedlings, in the vegetable patch. We will have to replant some seeds, soon. Perennial Sweet Pea plants, are spreading across the yard, and in one case, fighting with the Rugosa Rose neighbors for space. I could go on and on with my descriptions of the territorial warfare going on, right under my nose, in my own yard. Raspberry bushes have invaded the Siberian Iris patch. With all the rain, we simply have not done as much weeding as we normally do. Unwanted grass has turned into strands of hay before our very eyes. Things have gotten ahead of us, but the plants are happy, waging their own little games of warfare.

And, so it goes. These perennial plants will grow here long after I’m six feet under. That is unless this house is turned into an office building for lawyers who then will pave the yard for a parking lot. Suffer the thought! I can’t think about that for too long a time! Guess I’ll go take a walk in the garden and “smell the roses,” while I ponder the similarities between all growing species.
Pat

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 24th, 2007 at 12:50 pm and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.