They Left With Lorelei

Bulbarella is single handedly going to populate the entire county and beyond with Lorelei iris. Half or more of the visitors to the wild cultivated gardens eventually leave carrying some Lorelei. It is one prolific iris that blooms no matter what.

My part of the garden was toured first. It is still pretty much all green. The really big show starts when you head down the driveway of the ridge top garden next door.

Over there it is spring time floral abundance. Some geraniums.

The Phacelia bipinnatifida with a few rhododendron blooms.

We stopped to visit the Lady in Yellow.

The Phacelia purshii runs through it all. It has even escaped into the next county.

Bulbarella shows off her garden. She is looking an awful lot like her, lived just a few weeks shy of 103, father in this picture.

There were deciduous azaleas blooming.

Among all the rhododendrons.

And beneath the rhododendrons. Some of the rhodos are rather large.

And a nice viburnum that has produced an offspring which is on my list for relocation.

Multiple choice paths wander all through the garden. It was a very enjoyable tour.

And when they left I went on a killing spree. I had weeded and planted the roadside vegetable garden with tomatoes and peppers and had started weeding the hosta before they arrived. My intent was to finish weeding the hosta.

I finished that and ambled along doing a little snatch and grab weeding as I went. Then Bam! A full scale weeding frenzy took hold.

My target was the New England Aster. It gets way too tall, five to six feet, and falls over the very moment it starts to bloom. It wants to grow tall fast and forces everything else higher with it.

I don't try to dig it up by the root. I just grab and pull the stems and usually get a good piece of rhizome with it. Removing it gives everything else more sun and elbow room, hopefully keeping them more compact and less likely to fall over. It does keep the final height of the meadow a foot and a half shorter.

The visitors came and went. The gardens looked good. I can stand the mess on my newly whacked paths until the sun dries them up to nothing when the ultimate goal is worth it.

I foresee another editing binge in my near future. The New England Aster is on its way out.