Yard Work

I have been fortunate this summer and I recognize that fact. I began in the spring picking up my grandsons from school so that they could help me begin to get my yard and flower beds in order. I had used the last two summers to write and had not worked in my yard for what would be three years. It certainly was evident. The beds I had designed were a mess, some of them not yet even planted and finished. There were saplings growing up in them, getting so large that I left a couple of ten foot redbuds as part of one of the beds. 

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My grandsons were 11 and 7 at the time, and they were looking to earn some money to support their Poke-mon habit. That was fine with me. We negotiated and settled on a fair wage and the work began. They are both hard workers even though they are in a different skill category, but that is fine too. The rains of the spring put us a little behind so I began a search for some adult help.
I was fortunate to find a man who was willing to begin helping me in an area that had ivy, both English and Poison varieties, that needed to be torn our. He realized that he probably didn’t have the endurance to get the job done but he had a friend who could help. The two men together made a fantastic team and work progressed very quickly. I supervised, keeping the crew on task and headed in the right direction. I had them all take breaks as needed and often ran to the local Wendy’s for lunch.
It is now later in the summer. The kids are in school and the work has slowed down somewhat. There are still projects to be done and we are still working on them, albeit more slowly than we did in June. As I look out the window however, there are just some things that make me glad to be in this spot at this time.
I see hummingbirds sipping nectar from the Monarda. There are finches on the heads of the Queen Anne’s Lace and the Purple Coneflower. A pair of swallowtail butterflies flit around the old-fashioned Phlox. The rue is growing and thriving, as is the
butterfly week. The butterfly bush is in bloom and has survived for three summers in this “iffy” zone. Some of the daylilies are putting forth a second bloom and the daisies are in there neutralizing any clashing colors with their bright white attendance.
The beauty of an Indiana garden in August is something that just makes my day. 

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