Unfashionably Late...for Garden Walk 2013

'Landini', so dark the pink house looks white

I had planned these all to be in bloom in the borders and accent areas, but they all missed the show!

Maybe it would have been too over the top and given lie to the idea this is a real garden.  Now I can go back to dead-heading roses, and composting/mulching in place, cutting a salad and picking my sugar snap peas, allow my son to park his bike in the yard, and leave my hose out!

And, after my slightly overlong grass on the day of the show has recovered from a lot of foot traffic and the heat wave has passed; I will mow my grass and let it blow onto my lawn (as always!). Although, I was asked what I do with my lawn clippings.  (Sorry! I did not get a bag attachment with my corded electric lawn mower.)

'Algrave' brightening a spot by the pagoda dogwood

'Algrave'

Finally the liatris and daylilies

...and nepeta subsessilis,

Veronica 'Eveline' is starting to bloom, right foreground.

And, filipendula is finally in full bloom in front of my garden fence graphic.

More on my lawn, I did not weed and feed so I have a bit of  clover and crab grass.  It is still a fairly beautiful lawn.  I will keep hand-weeding the dandelions and plantain and be vigilant against creeping Charlie (which I presently have none, nor violets.  I will try to eradicate, by hand, the crab grass. 

It will get watered simply because it borders my beds.

I will maintain my bed lines.

I will continue to edit my borders, removing the right plant growing in the wrong place.   I will continue my war on "campanula horribilis".

Sunday on the Lawn

I confess. I don't care if there is crab grass or clover in my small amount of lawn. I do weed out plantain and dandelions by hand. I'm not the only one. My 80-year-old neighbor does, too. Luckily, this is not a big deal. I have very little lawn. It serves more as paths for my garden borders and small vegetable garden I refer to as a potager.

The lawn is lush this time of year and since I water the garden beds the lawn is watered en route to that goal. Also, as the borders also provide privacy they tend to place the grass in dappled light through the heat of the day. Unlike, the lawns of most of the United States, my grass never went dormant.

I used to ignore my lawn. It was NOT the garden. There is something about a narrow path of grass with a nicely cut edge that sets off a border and pulls everything together, even in a small yard like mine. A couple corners widen out and provide a space to sit or work on projects, but the lawn grows smaller each year. I sometimes contemplate taking out the small amount of front yard remaining on the sunny side of the yard and plant strawberries as a ground cover.

Not yet, though. I still enjoy these small patches of grass.

Cinnamon, my Faithful Companion, approves.