Weeds surround iris

For the past week weeding the garden beds has been a main focus of activities.  There are other important tasks, such as pruning and transplanting to attend, but catching the weeds now will save labor later.

This season weeding has proven to be as much an opportunity as a challenge, as it allows a chance to spend hours at a time listening to the birds and succumbing to moments of reflection. And sure enough, it is satisfying to see the results of of one’s labor!

There is another pragmatic and immediate benefit of this week’s weeding.  Mulch is scheduled for Saturday delivery and I want to inspect every inch of the beds to avoid stepping on or covering up emerging plants.

Cosmos Oct 16 2010

Lots of little seedlings were visible in the side garden yesterday, where last year’s largely failed project to fill the bed with annuals – zinnias, bachelor buttons and cosmos – occurred.

This combination should have been a sure-thing, but results were disappointing.  Some seedlings do appear to be zinnias.

Cleome June 26 2006

I will be on the lookout to protect any volunteering cleome (spider flower) as well, which in previous years had overflowed that garden bed.

The cleome’s flowers are so appealing that for a long time it did not matter the cleomes eventually obstructed the path and dominated everything else.

Cleome July 9 2006

Disciplining plants is not primarily important in my garden when they offer reliably luxurious bloom and color, but eventually I took action to suppress the seeds.  Now I hope a few of this old-fashioned plant survived.  Originally they were passed along to me for my previous garden by a friend who purchased seeds during a visit to Monticello.

Rain fell all night and at 7:15 AM it already is 56 degrees (on its way to 65).  More rain and storms are predicted during the day, so there may not be much chance to weed today.  It’s a sure bet the warming temperatures and last night’s rain will encourage even more weeds.  Will the weeding continue to feel more like opportunity than overwhelming challenge?