I spent a good part of the weekend battling a formidble enemy. Â They look so innocent, even attractive. Â Neighbors share them freely. They appear on roadsides across the northeast, a happy sign of summer. Â The orange daylily.
A friend gave me some from her garden who knows how many years ago. Â And somehow they have multiplied in a crazy-quilt way, in places totally unexpected! Â And seemingly exponentially this year.
Ruthlessness is important.  I think I got the roots of many, but I’m sure they’ll rear their pretty heads again.  They’re tenacious. And the garden does look better without them — their random appearances were squeezing out  neighbors throughout the bed.
Have I banished them for good? Hardly. I still have some at the community garden and a small patch at the back of the garden.
A good part of the rest of the weekend was spent doing the many tasks that have been building up. Planting annuals and mulching the front beds. Â Pruning. Planting some climbing annuals strategically — hyacinth vine and antique sweet peas. Â Separating and transplanting coneflowers, lady’s mantle and astilbe to a bed at the entrance of our property, under the pear tree.
Despite all that got done, there is so much more. But I’m not complaining, It’s a pleasure that there’s just not enough time for most weekends.
This weekend’s highlights in photos below.
Jacob’s Ladder adds a delicate touch to the front of a border.
Peonies are late to bloom this year. This one’s just about ready and is tucked next to a Wiegela.
Centaurea, sometimes called Bachelor’s Button, adds a vivid blue for a few weeks in Spring.