More tags.
I made one 6"x6" collage
on water color paper,
then cut it into 3 tags.
Garden Musings
I've abandoned the studio for a week of trying to get a garden cleanup in gear. I have help this time with removing some crepe myrtles that have been causing problems and some shrubs that don't look healthy--and trimming and shaping up other trees and shrubs.
I've been digging up and transplanting some plants and then having trouble getting the dirt out of my fingernails. Taking long breaks in between bursts of activity early in the morning and calling it quits by about 11:00 AM. The heat and humidity take a toll.
My garden choices have not always worked as well as hoped, and while I love my tickseed coreopsis, they have a tendency to fall and sprawl after a wonderful early summer display. The rest of the summer, my failure to keep them tended results in a sorry show.
 |
| Wikipedia image |
So...I've dug most of them up and kept only a few off-shoots that I replanted in pots until next year. I will decide what to do with them then.
I want something cleaner for the garden now. Less cottage garden, less complicated, less demanding. I've also cut back the golden ginger and will move some of them later and try to keep them in control.
Our summers come so early and last so long now (today will be another 93 degrees according to my weather app--and it is Sept. 25th!) that garden chores have become too onerous and unpleasant to keep up with for 6 months of the year. Time to consider a garden that requires less upkeep, yet still proves soothing to look at.
Reading
What I've enjoyed recently: The Chronicles of Christoval Alvarez by Ann Swinfen is a wonderful 7 book series set in the late Elizabethan period; The Lost Girls a debut novel by Heather Young; and End of Watch by Stephen King (not yet reviewed).
Hope everyone is enjoying the last week in September!
Goodness, still hot at this time of year? My sympathies...
ReplyDeleteWe do have long summers! :)
DeleteOhhh, I'm so sorry to hear that the temps aren't dropping in your area. Perhaps that will change soon. There's always this feeling, for me - at this time of year, of change. I'm starting to think in terms of the quiet days of fall and winter ahead and what I will do with myself. Pretty wonderful that I can think that way.
ReplyDeleteIt is a time of transition, and I'm ready for the changes. :)
DeleteWell, Jenclair, I don't know how you manage to get into the garden at all. I've given up almost completely. A couple of times each year Richard and I get into the flower beds and dig up whatever should not be there. My garden look is more overgrown than cottage. I don't even have a desire for a formal garden....that would be way too much. I tend to live with mostly volunteers, except poison ivy, bull grass (a big problem) or kudzu. We actually have to fight kudzu here! Anyway, here's hoping we get cooler temps this week as predicted--especially for you gardeners and the poor guys who work out-of-doors.
ReplyDeleteI used to love gardening, but I don't feel like keeping up with it anymore. I do fight some vines, but at least I don't have to deal with kudzu!
DeleteIt will get cold soon enough as far as I'm concerned and then I want heat right away again. So I'll not complain about our one more day tomorrow of 100+ degrees F. I'll take it over cold any day. Love your tags! All your gardening descriptions are exactly why I've never loved gardening. LoL. I love enjoying others people's gardens and letting them toil in them.
ReplyDeleteWe never have much winter, but I am really tired of heat and humidity. At least our temps have dropped from 100+ degrees, Annie! I still love a pretty garden, but like you, I would prefer to sit in the shade and admire someone else's garden now. :)
DeleteOh, I had the urge to have my garden cleaner..more defined this year. Less cottage garden for sure. Strange for me, because I love the Cottage Garden look. We were well on our way to cleaning up when my FIL got sick. So it's all on hold until next Spring when we figure out what to place in the spaces we will be cleaning out this fall. Terry says I can't kill a flower so I'll be looking for someone to share my plant with!
ReplyDeleteI have read good reviews on Lost Girls and have added it to a list of books I want to read.
xx, Carol
I've always loved the cottage garden look, but guess it is time for a change. I hate killing plants, too--which is why the garden got in such a mess. I'd just divide and move until there was no more room! Hope you will enjoy Lost Girls. :)
DeleteWe had enough heat and humidity up here as well. If it's just ole heat without the humidity-it's so much easier to take. But I really hate just sitting and sweating. If I'm going to sweat-at least I should be working hard or moving around-not just sitting still! Love your tags as always....I know my own gardens have shrunk a bit over the years. They are just do-able now with lots of ornamental grasses.
ReplyDeleteI have never been big on heat and humidity, but the combination of me getting older and global warming makes me even less tolerant! :)
DeleteI'm not ready for the snow and ice of winter, but I would like to experience some days in the 70s. Your tags are beautiful.
ReplyDelete:) I want 4 seasons, but I want them comfortable and with long autumns and springs.
Delete