It’s been a month since I began working on the garden, and there is still a lot to do. After a cold winter, it warmed up much faster than expected, with 80-degree days early on. As a result, I’m fighting weeds much earlier than usual. VMLP photography projects are on hold while I bring order to the weed-induced chaos. Even so, I did manage to land a Minolta Super Rokkor 50mm 1.8 LTM lens, without donating an organ, which is quite a feat.
Sometimes, things go your way. For me, one of those things has been buying plants. In years past, often I’ve had to settle for what I could find at the time. This year, however, I bought 80 plants, and all of them are exactly what I wanted. Having so many new plants creates a design problem. The cold killed off quite a few plants–none of the society garlic returned, two of the Gerber daisies are MIA, the tickseed is everywhere but where it should be, and the bee balm has followed the tickseed.
Because so much has changed, I have to redo the color map. Taking into account color theory and my impressionist leanings, I am given to purples and yellows, with touches of peach, orange, magenta, and mauve here and there. Of course, the coneflowers and black eyed-Susans will have their dedicated spaces, anchoring the west section of the yard. The black and blue salvia will be the centerpiece of the east side. If all goes as planned, there will be plenty of bees and butterflies in a few weeks. Then, once I have free time again, expect a summer of rangefinder madness and art (I’ve discovered watercolors).
