Feeling slow...
Speckles
Usually I wake up on a Thursday morning full of energy and rave on about how I love Thursdays. I am still loving this one, but I'm feeling a little slow.
So is Speckles my stray cat, who slept the night in his cat basket, but is moving very slowly on the verandah this morning. He is extremely hissy, even more than usual. Hope he is OK.
The plan...
The plan is to change into gardening clothes, then deal to more of the Iris Chengdu before the giant hedge trimmer arrives. Then - who knows? Have my morning coffee, probably watch the machine for a while, then pull out more Iris. It will be a very repetitive day.
Lunchtime...
The hedge trimmer man snuck in, and my dogs didn't even bark! The air is fragrant with pine smell, and (oops) flying pieces of Leyland. I did watch it whirring and trundling along. Quite mesmerising.
The Hedge Trimmer
But I couldn't actually work on the Iris patch, which was within range of the debris. Instead I cleared the non non-invasive bamboo (aargh!) from the lawn and garden behind the Stables.
Late afternoon...
A late afternoon revelation. Noisy, too. I DO NOT LIKE Iris Chengdu. I DO NOT LIKE the way its rhizomes have spread, and I DO NOT LIKE the mess of dead stalks which make up over half of the vegetation. Don't be seduced by the flowery photograph below. Last year it didn't flower at all.
Iris Confusa Chengdu flowers
So, slowly, with spade and bread-knife, I'm going to remove it all. I will not rest until every last rhizome is burnt. My hands will get very achy. So be it. Sorry about all that noisy textual shouting up there!