For every fragile petal blossom, there is a potential for powdery mildew; and anyone who has ever battled that particular blight knows how devious that little fungus can be. If it weren't just too cute, I would be tempted to say that fungi is no fun-guy; but I won't.
There is a delightful little plant called variously a Golden Jenny or a golden creeper, but either way she is a dandy. Tiny little perfectly round leaves on long, trailing vine-type stems. Wonderful little plant for the "spiller" portion of potted arrangements.
Oh, you don't know from spiller? Well, the garden geniuses tell us that most larger potted arrangements need three kinds of plants for balance and appeal: a thriller, a filler, and a spiller. As might be gathered from the name, the spiller is any plant that tends to trail over the sides of the container.
Yeah, well, the creeping jenny is great for that, but she is also very apt to get stepped on as she creeps her way along unnoticed crevices in the garden. Then you have a bruised and wounded jenny - no cheer there.
However, blights, bugs, and crushed stems are child's play in the war on garden chaos, when compared to the ever-present weed.
Weeds are omnipresent, omnivorous and back-breaking in their sheer numbers and tenacity. If I had had half the staying power of a weed back in my twenties, today I would have easily read fifty thousand books, speak twelve languages, and made a kajillion dollars.
I mean the things are just unstoppable. Period. You can spray them, crush them, starve them, shrivel them up, attack them with a root puller and drown them with weed killer. (Save your money - they drink that stuff like Kool-Aid.)
Go ahead. I dare you. Just try and get ride of them permanently. No, wait. Before you maim yourself in the attempt, and along the way break your own heart, let me save you the trouble.
IT CAN'T BE DONE!
So once, not so very long ago, I had visions of grandeur. I was going to become a gardener. Now I know how foolishly presumptuous that was of me.
I don't know how much of a gardener I have become. It is still early days. But I am fairly certain that I am well on my way to becoming an expert "weedener".
It is not as much fun - but it must be done. Some things in life are just like that. Guess I'll just have to deal with it.
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Hope your garden is merry and bright today - and that your weeds took a holiday. Until next time ~ Marsha
Our weeds did not take a holiday! Bob has spent much of the day outside, transplanting and weeding, while I'm inside stripping wallpaper border. Neither is fun, but looks good when done!
ReplyDeleteMari - I say work that "looks good when done" is work well done. Good for you and Bob!
DeleteWe're slowly getting our flowers back in shape. After the kind of winter we had I didn't think we'd have anything left but we didn't lose a thing. Unfortunately that also includes the weeds!
ReplyDeleteAlthough our winter was mild - only one snow and hard freeze - i still thought we would lose a few things. but so far, so good. And yep, that includes the weeds.
DeleteUgh- weeds!!! That's about all I grow well. I'm a weedener, too.
ReplyDeleteThe sisterhood of the weedeners! Onward, I say.
DeleteWe don't have much of a garden - all we have is a front porch and a long narrow patio. We try to fill it with colorful flowers and lush greenery, but every so often there is something that fails. I can't keep a maidenhair fern alive to save my life. But it's all so beautiful to look out on after the work and weeding is done, so we just keep doing it.
ReplyDeleteIsn't that the truth - it is the lure of how wonderful it is "going to look later" that draws us in.
DeleteI agree wholeheartedly you can never stop the weeds. I have found sugar cane mulch is doing a fairly good job. My time in the garden is dwindling due to old age and laziness. My garden is suffering from the lack of care. I wish I was rich enough to employ a gardner. Then I think the exercise is good for me.
ReplyDeletediane, I am right there with you, "old age and encroaching laziness" - wonder if that is what they mean when they refer to a "losing battle." :)
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