Stern Task Master

There hasn't been as much activity in the blog as I'd like, but there has been activity in the garden. With his unblinking, green glass eyes, the clay tile lizard has been overseeing it all from a sunny spot between the ajuga and the ranunculus repens. The ajuga was rescued last year from the lawn. It was ground cover around the old house. The old flower beds were razed and turned to lawn and ajuga came up every year, but was mowed before it bloomed. Last year I dug some up and put it in the flower bed, where, as you see in the second photo, it is thriving. The bees love it because it blooms so early and there are so few sources of nectar then. Bumblebees in particular seem drawn to it. I love it, because it's attractive and crowds out weeds, but is not overly aggressive.

The ranunculus is not a dense ground cover, but spreads with loosely thrown runners and offers cheerful yellow bloom that takes up after the daffodils fade. I'm happy to let it spread wherever it will.

The third photo above shows the drumstick allium that I planted last fall--and the sad state of my flower bed. It's much less weedy now, as I spent quite a bit of time on it this weekend. I hoed and pulled and planted and moved things around. In addition to the work on the flower bed, I planted several rows of flowers in what I hope will become a cutting garden. The cutting garden is back by "Gourdhenge," the timber structure in the background of the allium photo. A variety of sunflowers, zinnias, cosmos and other old-fashioned flowers went into the rows. If they do well, I plan to sell bunches of them at a local farmer's market this summer. We shall see!

At any rate, the work outdoors leaves little time for blogging, and much more remains to be done. Packets of seeds, tomato and pepper plants, and bags of mulch are all over the house and patio, begging silently for attention. Eventually, the bulk of the work will be finished. I can sit with my feet up and enjoy the fruits of my labor. For now, though, it's almost overwhelming.

Oh, the green-eyed garden lizard is a stern task master! He cannot follow me into the house at night, though. I'll sneak a little writing in here and there as time permits. Cheers! Lizard, Ajuga and Mid-Spring Garden View Photos by JulenaJo.