Flush from physical exertion

Let's face it: I'm a slug. A couch potato. A desk jockey. So tonight I can actually feel that I am flush from working in the yard. Much like the feeling after a good workout.

It rained this afternoon but mercifully did not rain this evening when I got home. The sky was dark and gray and the air cold but the fierce winds and rain held off. So I did what I had planned to do: finish planting the north wall border. Very intensively, crowding those little planties together. I know that as they grow some of the smaller ones will lose out but that's OK. The idea here is a solid mass of growing stuff in lovely colors.

There are orange Asiatic lilies and orange dahlias, pink dahlias, pale yellow snapdragons, two Spanish lavenders and three roses (a pink Meidiland, Peace, and Miss American Beauty). A white salvia and a pale orchid pincushion flower, crimson dianthus and even darker red sweet William, red verbena, a couple of calibrachoa (small flowers like miniature petunias), and probably a couple of other items.

I also put three cleome (spider flowers) at the base of the jasmine. The color and shape seem like a nice complement to the jasmine blossoms.

There are still about thirty plants waiting in my kitchen to go into the yard. You need not wonder what I will be doing with my Friday night. Saturday will probably involve pruning, deadheading, mulching, tidying, and taking photos. Sunday I am just going to enjoy it all with a friend who is coming to brunch.

A nice soak in the tub is coming up shortly to wash off the dirt, compost, and blood (there is no beauty without sacrifice).

Yes, I have been manic about the yard for the past couple of weeks. It is one way to get a slug to accomplish something. Sluggitude will return soon enough.

I can hear the rain resuming outside as the wind drives the droplets against my windows. Drink, little plants, and thrive!

May the beauty of nature touch each of you with joy, peace, healing, and delight.

--the BB