Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Another ‘invasive’ wildflower that has been around here for years and has never become invasive – purple loosestrife. I really love it. It usually lives down by the road where the culvert is. It likes damp areas.

The knapweed that I pulled the other day is right next to the big garden bed. From there it could easily take over the bed and, obviously, I don’t want that. Theres’s a lot of it on the edges of the property and down near the road – more than I’ve ever seen – but those are the standard wildflower areas on this property so it can stay for the time being. It’s very pretty. Every year, the cast of characters in that area changes. Sometimes there’s a lot of goldenrod – not so much this year. Queen Anne’s Lace, loosestrife, New England asters (haven’t seen them this year) – sometimes more, sometimes less. And there’s a new cast member, this stuff that I can’t identify. It has tiny white flowers, mostly on long stalks, but it also becomes a vine (it’s the stuff I pulled off the bridal veil spirea the other day. It’s hard to keep track of it all. This year, because of my hand injury, that area became more than a bit overgrown. Don was doing the mowing. I would have mowed more deeply into it and will next year.

I will say that early autumn (even though it’s still technically summer) is the best time for wildflowers. It’s awfully pretty down there.

The garden beds are still looking relatively good but the coneflowers are getting a bit bedraggled, as well as some of the brown-eyed susans. There’s still lots of color, but it’s now September and the temps went down to the mid-forties last night so changes are on the horizon.

The season of flowers in bloom goes by so quickly.

We walked on the library grounds yesterday and were so engrossed in talking about the respective books we are reading that  we reached our goal very quickly and easily.

I’m missing my parents a lot lately. I miss talking to them. Yes, I tell them I love and miss them, but I never really get a response. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have long chats with loved ones who have passed on even though they are somewhere else? I’d love to talk to my brother, who has been gone since 1991.

My cousin Gordy (named after my dad) now lives in Florida except in the summer, when he travels to his cottage on an island in Lake Superior. He sent me the most gorgeous photo of the Milky Way, taken from his front lawn. I think I’d like to escape to an island. We have a standing invitation to visit him there, as well as to visit my cousin Eileen who lives on Lake Michigan. Money is too tight to travel right now, but I’d love to make that journey in the next few years.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

A pretty picture of a wildflower that has popped up on my property and on the edges of the big garden bed. As I researched it this morning so I could give it a name, I discovered that it’s a version of Knapweed, which is invasive and can keep other plants from growing.

Uh oh. I guess I know what I’m doing today.

But, it’s lovely, isn’t it?  Why do lovely wildflowers have to be invasive?

Sigh.

It’s Labor Day and a strong cold front came through yesterday, which means we woke up to cooler temperatures. Finally! I did some mowing yesterday but it was very humid, so I ended up only mowing a third of the front lawn. More mowing today. And I guess I’ll be yanking this weed, as well.

By the way, I had a nice chat with our neighbor yesterday, catching up on all the news. I had been pulling yet another invasive plant that was vining itself around my bridal veil spirea. In the course of this chat I discovered that their lawnmower isn’t broken. (I didn’t bring it up.) No, she’s just been “too busy” to mow, even though they have a rider mower. I’m talking grass that is more than a foot high. Interesting…

As to Labor Day: My dad and brother were members of unions. My husband is a member of three unions. (I wish there was a union for what I do, but there isn’t.) We support all laborers and honor them on this day.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.