Goldenrod growing in a big clump down by the road. I love this splash of yellow that comes late in the summer.

Thistles in bloom – they’re fascinating to me, quite sculptural in their design.

The Rose of Sharon bushes are in bloom. I’ll take another photo today, as the second bush just started to bloom this morning. There are more flowers than ever this year, though I had to knock Japanese beetles off some of the buds yesterday. As Don said, “the gift that keeps on giving.” And these were  a gift from my friend Noble’s garden. I was visiting his wonderful garden some years back. He had designed a sort of arch consisting of several Rose of Sharon bushes. He gave me two cuttings to take home with me, and now, several years later, they’re really thriving. They are in the memorial garden, just in front  of the trees at the back of the house, and this splash of pink is most welcome.

It is beautiful out there. I’m really proud of what I have created over the past 20 years. We’ll be here 21 years at the end of this month, but I didn’t plant anything until the next spring. (Except for the boxwoods, they were planted soon after we moved in.) I gradually added new garden beds on the other side of the house, and a couple of garden beds in front of the corral. I planted the lilac. I added hostas to the little beds in front of the shed. Created a secret garden. And this year has been the best yet in terms of display.

In my nomadic theater life, I mostly lived in apartments. We rented a house in San Diego, and I added a small garden just outside the kitchen. We rented when we first moved out east, and I added a small garden at the side of the cottage. In both instances, I got the permission of the owner, but I had to be cautious and contained with my planting. But my dream for years and years had been to live in a little cottage of my very own with lots of gardens. That didn’t happen until I was in my fifties, and when it happened, I could barely contain myself – having to wait 9 months to plant anything was a challenge, for sure.

They are not manicured gardens. That doesn’t work here. What works is using perennials that self-seed. The David phlox, all of the coneflowers, the yarrow, the bee balm, the crown vetch – all self-seeders. I’m sure I’m leaving something out, but my goodness, my initial plantings have paid off! That, and leaving wildflowers that pop up be. Because they’ll thank you and give you the gift of even more wildflowers. And they’re so beautiful!

After more than 50 years of waiting, gardening here has been one of the greatest joys of my life.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

It’s May. Finally.

We had some light frost last night, but we’re in the clear from here on in. It’s another lovely sunny day – tomorrow will bring rain – so I’m going to take advantage of it and do some potting. I need to see some flowers on my porch!

I managed to clean out the remaining garden beds yesterday, so that’s done. Such a relief to have completed that task – there’s much more to do around here, of course, including another round of mowing. This time, it will be all of the property, including the back forty. But we’ll do that in stages this week.

Betsy, I’m going to take your advice and wait and see if the Annabelle hydrangea comes back. I so hope it does. That section of the garden, which is the area on the far side of the porch, has the hydrangea, a big, overgrown spirea, and a rose bush that has been driving me crazy for years. The spirea has started leafing out, but there’s a whole section of it that’s damaged from the same snowfall that damaged the hydrangea. If I was Monty Don, I’d probably take it all out and start again, but I’m on a budget and I can’t quite give up on things at this point, even though it doesn’t look very attractive over there.

Hostas are coming out of the ground, as are day lilies, peonies, Solomon’s Seal, sedum, and clematis. The lilacs are in bud. I’ll take a picture of them today.

So today will be the day that I try out my little potting area in the shed. I’m anxious to see how it goes – will it be easier than working on the porch? Or just different? I’ll let you know.

Stay safe.

Happy Sunday.