So I went outside carrying a couple of cardboard boxes to recycle them and was struck by the wall of heat and sun that is today's weather. "Oh my!", I thought, "I'd better water some stuff, in spite of the recent rains. Just as soon as I carry in all the cans from the curb." As I carried in the blue recycling tub, I thought to go get the rest of the boxes from the basement, but I steeled myself to go water instead.
A few minutes spent with the hose allowed a closer contemplation of the weed stricken mess that is my garden this year. A volunteer tomato was towering over my box of yellow flowers. I deliberately skipped the tomatoes this year, in an effort to rotate away from the persistent fungii and diseases that plague tomatoes in this climate, so that had to come out. I grabbed the yard waste can and tossed in the tomato, and then kept going in that side bed. That was full sun, and brutal even at 10 a.m. However, I had noted during my watering that most of the corner by the street was still in shade, and every day when I come up the road I wince at the weeds that have proliferated there. Weeding that corner was actually on my list of necessary tasks, so I dragged the can along out to the street.
I've planted thick daylilies along the north side, and they have successfully out-competed just about everything else; the weeds start where they peter out. The things that have really taken off there include the cardinal flower vine with its wispy foliage and hummingbird magnet scarlet flowers. I planted it a few years ago, and it has successfully seeded itself around, and by October it could overwhelm everything else on the corner if I allowed it. It's from Mexico, and I'm surprised it's hardy enough to survive. I'm ambivalent about it - so I pull it out some places and not others, and so it will never be gone.
Other things that come out always are sweet clover and lambs quarters. There are a few mulberry trees that are easy to get when they are this small. There are many miscellaneous grasses, and they don't belong in that section. There weren't many dandelions, but there were a couple of baby english ivies, and there are some things I'm not sure of. I have planted only sparsely there, and it's a very harsh environment. My big box store chrysanthemums are thriving and I actually pinched them several times by the fourth of July, when it's time to stop pinching. Volunteers I leave include
Verbena bonarensis, and
Salvia lyrata, which I planted elsewhere and which have moved themselves there via seeds.
I moved systematically around the corner. I think of the weeds as moisture thieves, and so when I can't get the roots I think its never-the-less worthwhile to pull off the above ground vegetative mass. When I was done, the can was nearly full and things looked only marginally tidier. From a short distance away, before it looked like a solid if untidy mass of green. Now it looks like a sparser untidy mass of green. But when I'm close enough to distinguish what I am looking at, as the confusion resolves itself in my brain to individual plants of known kind, it makes me much happier to see good plants and to not see bad plants.
A full hour later, with sweat pouring down my face, I decided it was long overdue to take pictures. As I watered and looked at some details earlier, I was surprised to see more blooms than the impression from a casual distant view. I put the weed can away and went in. "Wait, maybe I should grab those boxes from the basement now...". Danger! About to lose focus! "No, pictures now, but I have to wash my hands before I grab the camera." Blessed cold water! "Look at the dirt on my face, maybe I should should grab a quick shower before taking pictures?" NO. "My goodness, salty sweat is rolling into my eyes, maybe I need some serious energy drinks?" Just a quick glass of water from the tap in the kitchen, and then off to grab the camera. Once I'm outside with the camera in my hand, lean over to pluck a weed I missed before. "Danger! I'm about to sucked back into the vortex. Focus. Literally. Get that camera up to your eye and see what you can see." Once I've started taking pictures, I'm good for many before a distraction can drive me in a different direction.
So I got a small amount of long overdue weeding, and a little bit of documentation done. I had to fight off several different distractions, but I got it done!
