So much rain led to a beautiful weekend full of—what else?—weeding. The good growing weather was not lost on those opportunists. Weeds popped up everywhere.
I spent most of the weekend repairing damage to my oversized cosmos, Filipendula , and beebalm while pulling out the crabgrass and creeping Charlie that exploded around the flower borders. Every step around the gardens led to new projects and new ideas. The massive cosmos plants had stems an inch thick.
Some stems snapped above the soil surface and had a few stems of flowers still in bloom. I cut the heavy center stem and left the side shoots to keep blooming in place. I try not to dead-head all the cosmos flowers.
Those that are allowed to form seeds attract goldfinches. The finches improbably land on the seed heads and eat the seed, swaying in the breeze. I rescued the other flowers from the destroyed branches and popped them into vases around the house.
I also went after the beautiful stand of Queen Ann’s lace. This non-native, non-invasive wildflower has aerated the heavy soil under my spruce tree. I pulled it up by the roots, and I will clear the topsoil of other weeds this September before mulching.
I am hoping to plant some ornamental perennials that like some mid-day shade. Echinacea , Chrysanthemum , more Hosta , more obedient plant ( Physostegia ), and Epimedium would all do fine there. I will probably wait to plant until spring.
I uncovered a little spruce tree just starting to grow there. I put a flag ne.