Bulbs

This week I started to create next springs garden. I got a deal on bulbs! I need to choose them carefully, as I can only plant things that the deer don't like. It is bonus if the rabbits also find the plant disgusting, but that rarely happens. Seems however that neither deer nor rabbits are fond of daffodils or grape hyacinths--so each year I have added to my collection. I also bought some more allium, as they leave those alone too--smell like onions, but look kind of neat.

Each (used) house we buy, I wait anxiously for the spring to see what is planted. Don't know why I bother. There is never anything planted! NO bulbs, no hostas, no lilies, no perennials. Just the same shrubs that needed trimming when we bought the house. I am convinced that I am either a flower nut case, or we always buy "fixer uppers"--and people who sell these types of houses are not gardening types.

I have been fighting the battle of the creepy weed(literally) most of the summer. Think it came in with the mulch. It was there last year, but I didn't have time. This spring it got completely out of hand. It is similar to an "air fern"--but has these roots that form a system--so you have to dig it out. I have been digging all summer...Could be in China by now, except that this particular bed is huge! Every week I go out and assault the ugly weed. Now it only takes an hour or so, not an entire day, so I think I maybe making progress after three months, and know that I cannot ignore the ugly weed for even one week! While I have my back turned , the weed is creating something akin to the metro system under the dirt--and pops up down the line.

The dwarfs in Snow White sang that little song "dig, dig, dig, dig, dig the whole day long. I think they must have known about the ugly weed. I just hope that it rests under the snow! I am getting tired of digging.

So about half of the bulbs are planted, and it is only early September. I am feeling smug. Not like the year I bought a hundred bulbs and it rained for months, or the year that I picked out the pretty pictures and mail ordered the collection to "arrive at the optimal time for planting"--a much bigger box than I thought that I had signed up for, requiring many more holes that I wanted to dig in the chilly fall drizzle. I have lived and learned. November is not the best time to plant your bulbs (although the package will lead you to believe that this is possible!)

Tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful too. So, I will plant more bulbs. Then maybe I will stop for the year...Unless I find a real deal on a few hundred jonquil bulbs!