Monday, November 28, 2011

Winding Down

 Last year, just after Thanksgiving, I made a little pergola out of pruned branches.  This year I took it down and rebuilt it, this time as a line of arches.  All this shows is that I am not a builder, or a garden designer, but a putterer.  A tinkerer.

I do think it looks better this way, though, providing a line of vertical elements rather than just one block.  And it does make more sense for the plants beneath the old pergola, which seemed to resent the shade, and I resented having to step around the posts as I picked strawberries or weeded the asparagus.


More tinkering, this time with lilies.  These huge monsters were living under the magnolia and crepe myrtle trees on the east side fence.  They had to be held up with suspenders tied to the tree branches each year, and their blooms were hidden.  So I pried them out and planted them around the garden, some here along the vegetable garden fence and others at the base of Noah's swing set, along with some phlox that were crowded and shaded and unhappy up by the house.


Leeks, the last crop standing, aside from the woody herbs.  I think last year I used the last garden leeks deep in the winter for a leek and bacon tart, which was wonderful.  These may meet the same fate.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011