Come Sit In The Garden...

Snowball Bush

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It's funny. As soon as I have time I'm going to hold a contest. The winner will recieve a wee bit of art. The contest will be about looking back or forward. A once clear path or one with weeds, hovering roses and lots of "Creeping Jenny!"
I decided to share these UNEDITED photos with you because the last few days have been ROUGH to say the least!!! Kylie said something interesting the other day in a comment. I'll paraphrase because I can't remember in detail exactly what she said, but it had something to do with not being able to compete with "Suze's design aesthetics." I laughed. I laughed really, really hard. And here's why. For everything of beauty you see around this joint, there are 10 things that look like crap!!! NO! I'm not kidding. For instance, enlarge the photo. There's a dead vine to the right. I had to cut it back to stop it from growing into the attic. I have yet to remove the dead stuff. The weeds are insane. You see that?! The edging hasn't been done. Most of the roses weren't pruned.
See, no edging to speak of. Seedlings of privit growing 3 feet high to your right. Ivy that was never supposed to be there. A pink rose sleeping on the lawn because I was too tired to prune it and it went all floppy and top heavy on me. Is that what she's supposed to look like? No!!! Of course not. But doesn't she look pretty!!!
Looking out the master bedroom window last night. You might notice the windows haven't been cleaned yet. Look, I do windows twice a years. That's it. It's a lot of work and I don't wash them in spring until the rain has passed. I'm not lazy...technically the rain hasn't passed. It rained yesterday. No, I'm not kidding you, it rained!
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Front and center our new Maple tree. Yup that little weenie replaced our 60 foot Ash. *Suzy starts blinking really, really fast.* Yes, and that's Newman just to the right of the Maple under the slate heart. Right beside him is our goldfish. To the rear is the terribly neglected and unedited garden this year. I'm in so much trouble back there. To the left are about 50 rose bushes that still need planting. Unfortunately I have no place to plant them, nor the energy to figure out what to do. I'd hoped they'd just get up and plant themselves. I was terribly mistaken.
Ahhhhhhhh yes, the side yard to the north of the house. As most of you know, used to be all pea gravel until I got the lovely idea to plant around that horrible aluminum shed. Oh, it was so perfect in the beginning and then Dr. P said "Sit back, relax and watch the garden grow." The garden didn't, the weeds did and so did the Creeping Jenny. I don't mind the Creeping Jenning. In fact I LOVE IT!!! But the weeds? No. That path use to be about 4 feet wide until last year. My doctor killed my garden!!! But I'm not so sure because everyone who comes through the gate, particularly men from SMUD, etc. walk through the gate and go nuts. My former neighbors visited recently and were in awe (and they had the most beautiful home with landscape to die for). I'm rethinking my aesthetics. And no, I haven't uprighted that urn in more than 3 years. Oh, and the roses you see...well they're all "standards." Who knew!?

For some odd reason this combo works. A gorgeous pink Azalea with Anenomies. The Anenomies will be taller than the Azalea in a month and six feet by October, but somehow the two of them work it out. I have no idea how! Standard roses to the right of the Azalea. Yes, I know they look like strubs. Leave me alone. I do the best I can.

Well that's just the worst case of standard envy I've ever seen! Yup, probably what, six feet wide!!!??? I know it's absolutely pathetic. I can't get down the path without lifting a cane then wiggling under. And no, not to the Eureka rose, the rose across the lane!

What NOT to do with a standard rose! Also what NOT to do with a bird bath. Birds can't even find the damn thing let alone take a bath. Oh, and the edging. Please. Cut me some slack. I have too much to do!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, a much needed change. My two skunk fighting over food at the park!

My favorite bird. He's been with me for almost two years.

Back to roses. A Baby's Blanket standard rose completely out of control.

It's blurry, but the wind was blowing yesterday and this was the best I could do. My beloved hydrangea. This one is Endless Summer. It's about to bloom for God Sakes!!!!!

My favorite rose in the whole world. I have no idea what her name is!!! I'll have to work on that! This used to be a 4' wide path. She owns it now. And she isn't even planted. She's still in her container, but buried roots deep. I don't know what I'm going to do because she's happy.

Yes, the lovely Azalea. She's a keeper.

And Newman. I shouldn't have buried you next to the Maple darling. That slate heart is a constant reminder of all the stuff Mommy did wrong. Mickey was here when I posted your photo and I alerted him to it. He looked a long, long time. No, none of us have forgotten. Trust me. We love you as if it were yesterday. And no, we don't have a new alpha male yet. Oh they're still fightin' and scrapin' it all out. Thanks baby. Mommy needs this crap like a hole in the head.

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Love you all!

XO