Garden Glimpses : Late June 2007

Lately I have spent little time in the garden during the day, a combination of work being too hectic, and my allergies going crazy. This is the first year I have had noticeable allergies during the summer, usually it is only February to April. I suspect the cottonwood trees - at times the fluff is coming down so heavy, it looks as if it's snowing. It could also be grasses. Anyhow, I am very pleased this year to have gotten off those awful antihistamine pills, and instead have a really effective nasal spray (Nasonex) and eye drops (Patanol), which work quite well to reverse the effects, when I do go outside.

The last few evenings, I tried instead going out between dinner and putting the kids to bed. However, I now have over 20 mosquito bites on my arms, 10 on my legs, and about 5 on my.... well, let's say those little buggers bit right through my underwear!

So with the change in weather to occasional rain, my strategy has changed to visiting the garden between bouts of rain. This sure helps with the allergies. And today I needed a break from my work anyhow, so I was out weeding in full force. In a good session, I can pull a whole large clear garbage bag of weeds in one hour. Everything grows BIG in my garden. If the weeds were edible, they would all be entree size, not just side salads!

Anyhow, from a distance (which is what most visitors see), it looks like I am keeping on top of it all. Here is a view of the back yard, the Southwest side (double-click for a larger image):

...and Southeast side:

There is no shortage of projects in my garden. Yesterday I trimmed down many of the yellow Garden Loosestrife (Lysimachia punctata) which had flopped over. (This year, it appears an animal must have jumped or walked through it, it doesn't usually flop so much with just the weight of the rain). My project was interrupted by sudden and very hard rain, and I dashed for the house, with a small bunch of flowers to enjoy:

I am thinking to relocate many, if not all, of these cheery yellow flowers, to the outside of the fence, in my wild corner. Perhaps these vigorous and spreading plants will eventually outcompete the tall grasses and 5' high horsetails growing out there! If you don't believe me, take a look at these specimens:

Too bad those are not edible!

Moving back to the garden, here is a cheery patch of asiatic lilies:

And finally, to celebrate the first day of summer vacation, a photo of my son in his graduation hat (which one of the moms made out of construction paper), after returning from his graduation ceremony:
I'm not too much for making a bit deal about kindergarten graduation, but it sure was a cute ceremony. I look forward to many more - serious - graduations in future.

Horsetails in Heaven?

Every gardener has a "most hated" weed. The one that just doesn't go away, no matter how hard we try to remove it. For me, it is the horsetails.

I live on a hillside, in an area of former creekbeds. The city has, over time, diverted much of the water, but there is still plenty of underground water, and stories of natural springs in neighbours' back yards. While excavating, we encountered a small underground stream, which now runs through a few tons of gravel, under one corner of the house (deep under our crawlspace), and under our driveway. There is no sign of the water, except that one area of our driveway self-clears of snow and ice.

The soil here is clay, solid and unyielding to the shovel. We brought in some 8 or more truckloads of well-draining garden soil, piling it 6" to 12" deep in most of the garden areas. Into this rich soil, the garden and lawn is planted.

One of the native plants which inhabited this area is the horsetail. It is evident on the North side of our lot (front sidewalk), as well as on the East side (edge of a ravine), and the Southeast corner. Having survived since the time of the dinosaurs, I don't believe it is possible to completely remove it, only to manage it.

The horsetail, which I discovered underground a couple of months ago when I moved my espalier trees (along the East fence), and dug as many as I could find, is now poking through the soil. I tackled the front garden bed this morning, digging up about 50 shoots, trying to dig down beyond the shoots into the underlying root network, which is anchored in the clay subsoil. I see that it again showing through all along the East fence, and Southeast corner, so there are a few more days of digging ahead of me.

Last year, I did this same exercise twice in the growing season, each time when the horsetail shoots just cleared the surface of the soil. I believe there were some 200 or more shoots the first time I did this, so my efforts, although they seemed futile at the time, may be having some small effect.

I was musing today about whether there would be horsetails in Heaven. My friend and fellow (more experienced) gardener, Irene, believes that there will be roses in Heaven, but that she will be able to enjoy their beauty without the thorns. In the same way, I believe there will also be horsetails.

Do you remember, as a child, the wonder of gathering the spherical seedheads of dandelions, and launching all those little parachutes into the wind? My kids love to do the same, and I encourage them to blow them where they find them, not carry them home to do so! I also remember, as a child, walking along the edges of horsetail-lined ditches, imagining I was a giant walking through a miniature forest. Or imagining I was flying high above the valley, so high that the trees looked so small.

I believe that in Heaven, there will be a beautiful display of God's creation, as we already experience a glimpse of here on Earth. There will be horsetails, but they will not be seen as competing for garden space with other wonderful plants and flowers. The toiling we experience on Earth will cease. We will no longer toil to produce a beautiful garden, we will accept that all things are beautiful as they were created to be. The horsetails will have their own miniature valleys to inhabit.

Yes, in Heaven, there will be horsetails and dandelions, and we in newly-restored childlike wonder, will love to "fly" over them and blow them into the wind.