Sunday, May 10, 2009
THUGS
I have been spending a lot of time on my hands and knees weeding(in between rain showers) with lots of time to ponder my gardening mistakes. It seems to me that of the top twenty, at least 15 of them have to do with planting a "weed". A thug that takes over and crowds out all others. Most of these have irresistible charateristics that I adore, so I thought I could overlook their faults. Or, perhaps, I ignored their questionable backgrounds thinking it would not happen to my garden, like the Salvia guaranitica 'Black and Blue' I planted in the South garden. In the beginning I fretted that I would never get those incredible blue flowers to survive our cold wet winters. I fussed and created a well drained soil, planted them next to the South wall for winter protection, and waited anxiously for them to return. I was ecstatic when they came back the first year, and then the second and oh look, the clump is getting larger. Now I am looking at them spreading across the landscape wondering if I will leave one standing when I am finished ripping those large, black, potato like tubers out of the ground. There is the paprika Yarrow that I put in to add a splash of color. Ugh! I am constantly knocking that back into a respectable patch. Did I mention the Verbena bonariensis? Oh, and what about that Valerian officinalis? I am rushing to extract the seedlings now, because once they start to bloom I know my resolve to eliminate them will fade with their aromatic blooms and my garden will be on its way to becoming a Valerian monoculture.
I am starting my spring plantings, looking at some of the selections I have chosen, I know that I am in the process of repeating my mistakes, but the foxglove shaped flowers of Rehmannia elata are so delightful, I am sure I can prevent them from ruling the world.
I have friends that have a knack for being attracted to the wrong man, for me it is a propensity for plants that just are not right for me and bring me heartache down the road.
I fear I am doomed to continue replicating these transgressions.
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