My front yard sports a particularly troublesome area, where the grass grows reluctantly and the weeds exuberantly. And since I loathe grass lawns as ugly, water and chemical-intensive sins against nature, once the snow melts I'm ripping the sucker up and planting drought-hardy, flying-critter-attracting perennials.
I'm thinking Russian Sage, coral bells, several varieties of daylillies (notably 'hyperion' for its pale yellow flowers), purple coneflowers, two varieties of sedum, threadleaf coreopsis, maybe some liatris 'kobold' (though it's pretty weedy-looking after it blooms), cranesbill, perhaps cimicifuga for it's height and regal white flowers, yarrow, a goatsbeard to anchor the back of the garden, a whole bunch of spring ephemerals, daffodils, scilla and other stuff that I like but nothing that needs staking, deadheading, constant watering or chemical applications. Basically plants you could run over with your car twice a day and they'd still thrive. And some understory shrubs like witch hazels, serviceberries and viburnums.
My new GSO location has tons of projects calling for my attention. But I'm gonna start with what PLEASES me the most, not what NEEDS DOING the most. Shallow? Probably. Short-sighted? Undoubtedly. But the garden will wave 'bye' as I head out for a training ride and wave 'welcome back' as I collapse in the driveway, all while providing lots of porch-sitting, wine-drinking moments of contemplation. So screw the retaining wall holding back the hill that's about to slide into the pool. I'm puttin' in a garden.
One more thing I couldn't do in the Great Plains. I'm sure somewhere The Goracle is very proud of me.
iPod Shuffle: "Lips Like Sugar" by Echo & the Bunnymen, from "Echo & the Bunnymen." Before that, "All That Innocence" by Patty Larkin, from "Red = Luck."
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