Garden Bloggers' Muse Day--June 2008

I spy a blackberry vine. Can you find it? How many dandelions can you count? For more GBMD posts check out Sweet Home and Garden Chicago.

BACKYARD OPERA

I march through the yard with a hard eye,

yanking weeds, asserting a path,

incensed by the relentless advance

of honeysuckle and morning glory vines

weaving under everything like an insidious subtext,

determined to have their loopy, insensible say

even as I slash them back, seeking their polyphonous source,

my finite gestures meaning nothing to them,

as they know I will tire, drift back into the house

and forget our duet for days, even weeks,

letting them spin their tales, full of plot twists,

almost orchestrating my little bench into their melody,

so that when I finally cut back a spot and sit,

and the chimes pick up a phrase of wind,

it becomes clear I am just a half note of silence,

a pause in the longer song.

--Aleida Rodríguez, Garden of Exile, 1999

A hoe, a claw and a rake : Part I

This is the "before" shot of our potager. Last fall we thought the golden grassy stuff looked very cool. As you can see from these shots taken last fall, the grassy stuff was taller and fuzzier.

Whatever were we thinking? Hopefully it will pull up easily, but just in case, we are ready with our favorite weed whackin' implements. Curmudgeon has a predilection for the claw, while Wing Nut prefers the hoe. While working to clear the bed, we discovered that the Camellia around the corner of the house is blooming. Camellia fanatics out on the east coast are just in time to catch the American Camellia Society's annual conference Feb. 22-24 at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA!

Growing along the edge of the garden bed we found vines with bright red berries and violet stems. Wing Nut remembers the vines having pretty little purple flowers. No clue what these are! Any ideas?

Ribbon grass be gone!

Wing Nut prepares to tackle the ribbon grass.

One down...

... and one to go.

The ribbon grass in its new home.

The ribbon grass is replaced by rudebekia, variegated sage and a variegated hebe.

Here are the latest pepper pictures!