Garden explosion

I'm having a very good year in the garden.  I gave everything a good early feeding and it certainly seems to have helped.  I can't help thinking about my Mom as I walk through it.  I'm sure she would have enjoyed seeing the pictures.  Her garden with all its order and my garden with all the chaos, and I think we both envied the other just a little bit.  

I've had that 'how long has it been since I called' moment already.  And, we watched a TV show where someone died in a hospital and I 'needed a moment'.   And, I got a sympathy card from my work team that made me tear up because they were all so sweet.  And, I talk to Rob about it a good bit, sharing memories and stories and getting his thoughts on dealing with it.  The only thing I'm struggling with is calling my Dad.  Our conversations always came at the end of my calls home, after my Mom had talked about everything she knew.  And, it's weird to call just to talk to him.  I'll adapt.  But, it's weird.  

The first tall daylily was this yellow one.  There's another yellow that has a more ruffled leaf that I'm waiting for.  

These Siberian Iris came from New Hampshire.  We saw them in front of an antique store and the owner offered us some, so we bought a trowel from him and dug a few up and brought them home.  It took years for them to naturalize and for us to find the right spot, but Rob is getting a really good show this year.  

Coreopsis.  What a bright yellow flower.  

Indigo spires.  This came from the neighbors composting bin before the collector got there.  Some of my best plants have, but I have to remember that someone is getting rid of it for a reason and keep an eye on how prolific it is.  

The aluminum chair on the left was Linda's and after she passed, we built a little patio to sit it on.  It's a great place to sit in the shade and look out over the yard.  And, plants love it there.  

I can never resist a picture of the path through the garden.  It's a lot of maintenance, but it's so nice threading its way through the middle of the wide bed.  

A profusion of daylilies.  And, still plenty of unopened blooms.  It's going to be a very good daylily year.  

This purple salvia is the plant that taught me to be careful about free plants and how prolific they are.  These gave serious effort to conquering the world from my back yard.  They reproduce from seed and root and after about 3 years, they were EVERYWHERE.  Now, I pull them like a weed and keep them confined to small areas where they make a big statement.  

Last week was so busy at work.  I had big projects that I needed to get caught up on.  Missing almost 2 weeks of work tends to do that.  It was a struggle but I think I'm through the worst of it and all my documents have been sent to others to review.  Of course, my boss will wait until the last minute and then create a crisis...because he does.  Every.  Single.  Time.  This week, I have another whole set of things to do, but I hope to do them without feeling like I"m catching up.  

La Diabla (she devil) is growing like a weed.  She's mostly white with a few black dots, so we named her Dottie.  And, she's in those teenage months when she just needs to run.  A lot.  Not going anywhere, just in circles.  Just for the sake of running.  Just watching her tires me out.  I'm trying to break her of napping in my lap every day while I work, but she's just so dang cute and it's my favorite time because she's still and quiet and not ripping something up.  (her official name at the vet's may be 'Dottie don't eat that')

The power went out yesterday at 8am during a strong wind thunderstorm.  Trees broken all over (fortunately not here).  We'd been to the grocery and I had started some cooking to fill the rainy morning.  It didn't come back on until 2am.  And it rained all day so I couldn't play outside.  After the refrigerators started to warm up, Rob set up the generator and we got to watch a little TV in the evening.  I sat in a sunny window, listened to a book and knitted most of the day.  A day of rest had to be forced upon me.  

Everybody have a great week!  Find things to enjoy.  Don't wait for rest to be forced upon you.

Lane