It is an exquisite Saturday morning here in Omaha and at this moment I can’t think of any place I would rather be.

We are still working on getting the yard and deck summer ready although it has been good enough for weeks now.  But, there are always things that need to be done.

After getting all my containers planted and looking good I’ve focused my attention on the garden beds and perennials.  We had to remove a lilac tree which was very sad for me and my Giant Phlox finally failed after struggling last summer.  This too was a small tragedy in the life of my garden.  I lost one of my beloved boxwoods in the front yard so that needed replacing.  What this did was open up an opportunity for some new plants.

  I’ve added 2 different Hydrangeas, Lavender, Veronica Speedwell, Primrose, Turtle Neck, Creeping Thyme and a bunch of stuff I can’t even remember.  Which poses the problem, how do YOU keep track of it all? Please help me with your techniques, I’d like to know. 

Most things I know by name, but there are a few things that I have previously planted that for the life of me I can’t figure out what they are called. 

Does any one know what this is called?  It is a lovely perennial that is purple on the back side of the leaf and I just love it.  In August it gets a yellow flower on a stalky stem.  I started with 3 of these and they are so prolific that I am now having to dig out and transplant.  

 I’m not a master gardener, I’m of the trial and error type.  If I like something I stick it in the ground.  There isn’t really any rhyme or reason to my garden and of course there are things I wish I’de done differently.  I tend to like a more random, surprise around this corner type of garden! Nothing is in neat tidy rows with the tall stuff to the back and the low stuff toward the front.  No, I have stuff in the front that should probably be in the back but again I like it’s randomness.  This year I have been moving a few things around, and I haven’t exactly gotten to the clean up part of the agenda yet.   

Yes my topiary and some of the boxwoods have been trimmed but I still have a couple of trees that need some pruning, we still need to mulch but I wanted to get all the new perennials in the ground first.

And then there is the Wisteria… 

that is taking over our pergola!  The Pergola is over the deck and the wisteria is what creates the romance and the shade from the western sun in the afternoon.  I put it in the ground about 30 years ago and I swear left to it’s own devices it would have consumed the entire house and the yard by now.  I have a vision of the husband and I sitting on the deck and having the tendrils wrap around each of us locking us in place only to be discovered a hundred years from now a bag of bone and ash!!!  Each year the husband hops on top of the pergola and hacks it down, but it seems the more he trims it the faster it grows.  He is 67 now and I don’t really want him up there, although he is in great shape it just scares me.  The weight alone has to be huge.  So last night we were talking about taking it out.  We both love the shade but I know in another few years we won’t be able to maintain it and then we have a huge problem.  Does anyone have any advice out there?  If we take it out then we have a problem with the sun.  This is definitely a solution that we need to be working on this summer as we are not getting any younger and I don’t want the husband jumping up on the pergola every time it needs trimming.

Well that’s it for now.  Thanks for listening to my gardening dilemmas!

Thanks for stopping

Shelley