Old forget-me-nots...
Forget-Me-Nots
Sitting on the house patio in the early morning. The wind is blustering about in the trees, and my coffee isn't even warm. My dreamy panoramic gaze sees nothing but old forget-me-nots which need pulling out. Then the ever-alert gardening mind starts listing all the things I should have done last weekend. Last weekend! That was ages ago.
Wednesday 29th October
Hmm... Not the way I'd choose to start the gardening day. And a quick word on those forget-me-nots. I've had to dump my current gardening clothes at the back door, since they are spotty with biddi-bids.
So Many Forget-Me-Nots
I have never, ever seen so many forget-me-nots in the garden before. I can't believe there are so many. My gardening companions - Rusty the dog, Winnie the puppy and Fluff-Fluff the cat - are covered in squillions of sticky little seeds. They are all long-haired furries, too. Anyway, the hoses are already on, and a visiting dog, Jenny (luckily short-haired) is arriving soon to spend the morning with us. So how about pulling out some forget-me-nots? OK, OK. Off to the back porch to get suitably dressed...
Two Hours later...
That wind is sooooo noisy. Winnie the puppy finds it a bit alarming, and keeps taking shelter underneath the wheelbarrow. Then one of the big dogs wanders past and she's up and off again. Anyway, we're inside for a bit of a rest (honestly, the noise is rather mean and scary). A thoughtful hostess, I have provided a dog day-bed for Jenny - it's underneath the table. So Winnie the puppy is sound asleep on it. Hmm...
Anyway, my deconstruction of the spring garden has continued successfully, and the front edges of several more gardens have been cleared of forget-me-nots. I won't stay inside for long. Let it never be said that the wind chased me away!
Winnie Loves the Water
Mid-Afternoon...
The three dogs have been so happy and busy together while I've been gardening furiously. More and more forget-me-nots have been ripped out and dumped. But there are still squillions left!
I've now cleared up the garden behind the pond, where I found a couple of rather sad rugosa roses, planted last autumn, completely smothered and shaded by the self-sown spring annuals. I hope they'll forgive me and start sprouting properly. They are both the pretty rugosa called Belle Poitevine.
Ooops...
Ooops. At one stage in the afternoon there was a suspiciously watery plopping sound - yes, Winnie the puppy had fallen into the pond. I watched her wriggle out near a garden gnome who was innocently fishing. Plop - into the water he went, poor chap, tumbling down into the murky depths. It was afternoon tea-time, so I delicately lowered myself into the cold water, past my waist, and poked at the squelchy mud with my toes. The gnome was eventually located by foot and rescued.
Needless to say I now have warm, dry clothing on. Winnie is sound asleep in her indoor crate, and the gnome is happily fishing again, as if nothing ever happened to him. Resilient and single-minded, gnomes...
Gnome Back Fishing
Now Jenny the dog has gone home, and I promise to go outside every half hour and shift the hoses. My clothes are far too clean to do any more forget-me-not clearing. And tomorrow I promise to plant things in all the garden gaps.
Thursday 30th October
Right. All week I've been flitting here and there clearing the forget-me-nots. I have not progressed to the next step - namely, barrowing in some top-soil and compost and planting flowering annuals etc. in the gaps. The lure of ripping out a new spread of little pretties has just been too great. And such poor discipline, too - leaving some in piles on the lawn, trundling others over to the dumping place only when I feel like a tiny walk. It is simply not good enough.
The Early Morning Walk
The new puppy is no excuse. Winnie is old enough now to listen to and understand the 'no' word, with respect to ripping out things freshly planted. And my clothing is no excuse, either. My bidd-bidded shirt and jeans aren't even going near the wash. I've decided to retire them as soon as the de-forget-me-notting of my garden is finished.
Fruhlingsgold Roses
But there are lots of lovely little things flowering which are great distractions. And the big roses, many of which are now in bloom, do tend to draw the eye up into the trees and away from the bare patches of garden. And the dried up, biddi-bid infested forget-me-nots!