FINALLY, MIDSUMMER!

I've been working toward this since March: the time when our summer perennials begin their blooming! I see buds everywhere: blackeyed susans, coneflowers, mexican hyssop; daisies have opened, the zinnias are too. The hollyhocks are in full bloom. Our ten hardy hibiscus bushes are even sending up buds, with promise of another spectacular show -- one of my favorites! The roses continue their blooming, they must like the food I give them.

Best news of all (knock on wood) we haven't been overrun by japanese beetles. We decided to NOT put out the beetle traps this year; instead we vigilantly search for them (very few so far) and get rid of them one by one, via smashing or capturing in a baggie.

This is not to say all's been planted that will be planted. On this little piece of our planet, the campground owners continually come home from a shopping trip with "oh look what we found!" And they bring forth more perennials: several russian sage, and shrub roses that will grow to a width of ten feet, and a few other things. Here's my challenge, the one I love the best: where the heck do I put these things?? The two russian sage plants when fully grown will be about 4' tall and 3' wide -- each. Heck, there's just NO ROOM in the existing gardens! And the shrub roses? Who knows?

After studying different areas, I caved in and simply built a whole new little garden area for the russian sage. This will be a specimen garden, unlike the other gardens that dance with a wonderful mixture of flowering beauties of all colors, shapes, and sizes. As for the shrub roses: we just happen to have an appropriate area along one of our pathways that will accommodate a 10' wide shrub.

OK: I promise to take pictures this week!

WHAT THE HECK?!?

This morning I was up early, wanted to get to work before it got too hot outdoors; worked til lunchtime; had lunch, took a nap, went back to work later in the day. So far, so good.

I crawled into bed at 10pm tonight, with plans to repeat today's schedule. Then it happened: I lay there, sleepily musing about some good stuff in my life. One thought led to another, and yet another, things/people/events I'm so darn grateful for. I kept saying, in between these thoughts, "time to sleep now, let the healing begin" (I consider the dark sacred night a healing time while I sleep) but the thoughts continued. At 11 pm I got up, had a glass of milk, went back to bed.

At midnight I was up again. Still wide awake. Turned on my computer, did some surfing, and now it's 1:30 am, it's tomorrow, for goodness' sake! What the heck?!?

Oh, no --- can it be that FINALLY I've had enough sleep? Am I reaching the time in my life like my grandmother's, when she said she only needed four or five hours of sleep a night?? Please no, I really like sleep!

Panda, my little dog friend, dutifully followed me from the bed to the couch. She looks at me and wonders what's up. Is it morning already? It's still dark outside! I think this gratitude thing is backfiring on me, I might need to turn it down a notch? Nah, I think not. I'll just sign off here and work on my to-do list for today when the sun shines. If I'm awake then.

OOPS --- HOW TIME FLEW

MY BAD! For the past three weeks or so I got so caught up in planting, I didn't even think about blogging. One of my 'keepers' reminded me how behind I am. Time to catch up.

All the zillion plants we bought are now in the ground or in container gardens or in hanging baskets. All are doing very well -- I think because of the rain we've had. Rainwater is SO much better, the plants tell me.

Couldn't rest on my laurels, though. The owner reminded me that in his greenhouse he has a truckload of flats, all seedlings he planted earlier, and they're ready to go. Zinnias, Giant Sunflowers (the 8' tall kind), Mexican Sunflowers, Cosmos, Daisies, Marigolds, and a number of things that are no longer labeled (labels blew away). I finally got all that stuff planted this week. The unlabeled ones were fun to plant, and it will be fun to watch them grow, and fun to discover what they are, and fun to see if I planted them in the right place! I'm hoping they want a full-sun home, because that's where I put them.

Good spring rains is a two-edged sword: the plants love it and thrive, and so do the WEEDS. Much of my time has involved weed control, as in pulling them. It's not that I love pulling weeds, it's that I love the end result; but it's like housework, it's never finished. That's OK because I guess I like being on my hands and knees --- I have the callouses to prove it. My one weeding knee (the one I'm always using to kneel on) has a marvelous callous, also known as body armor.

Even though our perennials aren't in full bloom yet, the campers here are already raving about the beauty of the gardens. They ARE lush with greenery, and the annuals we've put in give the needed color, and we have an incredible variety of plants (see the April 4th post for a list). I tell the campers, please come back in midsummer and you'll see a REAL show!

What's next on my to-do list? A bit of tree-trimming: got to raise the canopies to get more sun onto some of the gardens. I wait for the gas-powered pole saw to be fixed, because I'm so ready to trim!