When I am old and retired, I will have the time I need to have a beautiful garden.
This is what I tell myself most days.
Either that, or I will win the lottery and hire grounds people!
So far, though, I am not all that proficient with the little plots of land that are my garden. They are big; they are overgrown; they are weedy. I know there are things I should be doing but I don’t really know how or when or in what arrangement.
I plant things. I watch them grow.*
The kids and I have our favorites. We always plant alyssum, ‘cause it’s so pretty. We like the lamb’s ear, ‘cause it’s so soft. And we almost always include some snapdragons so that we can pinch their little faces and watch them “roar”.
This year my children wanted to plant a sunflower and so we did. How fun is that? He has been a very cheerful plant to come home to.
See? We drive up and there he is, a happy little sentinel at the ready.
Hey there, he seems to greet us. Did you buy me anything?
No? No cocoa mulch? No Miracle-Gro?
Oh well. That’s okay.
I should be so easy to take care of.
*The plant next to the sunflower is millet. We call it the alien plant because it grows and grows like mad—I’m thinking, at least a couple of inches a day in season—and then these big stalky things start shooting out all over the place. We get a kick out of watching it. (We do stay out of the way, though.)
Your flowers look beautiful!! I love the sunflower, he does seem to gaurd your home!
I love to garden, there are a couple women in our neighborhood that sell their perennial plants every spring for only $2-$3 each, I would love to get you some and plant them for you!!!
How fun! I, too, pick flowers based on their ability to make me smile when I come home. Maybe next year I’ll try a cheery sunflower!
I think your garden looks lovely.
Your home looks lovely, Margaret, not at all overgrown and weedy.
I feel exactly the same way about gardening.
I love that beautiful sunflower!!!
We’ll have to try that next year in our front garden.
I simply hate weeds, but worse, I had weeding!! What’s a girl to do??
Ebeth
It looks great..
THAT’S a weedy garden? Perhaps I should send you some pictures of ours…:)
Hey! How did you get your sunflower to look so good? I planted one this year and it was indeed beautiful….but then the finches came and pecked it away. And this stalk actually sprouted about 6 more heads…and before they matured, the yellow finches destroyed them.
Do you not have finches in your area, or does that flower happen to have a sort of built-in finch repellant?
A very good friend often reminds me that I am doing something much more important than weeding my garden right now. I am cultivating the garden of my children’s souls and so are you!
I do love a pretty garden ,but man it is WORK! In my old NJ house I was able to keep up, but her in AR, I have a much larger area to manage.
Someday my garden will get the attention is craves, but for now the CHILDREN need me … I can’t be everywhere!
*You sunflower is perfect. I really looks as if it talks!
I think sunflowers are my favorite flower this year. We have them all over the plce, no idea how they got there. Yor house is beautiful, btw.