Saturday in the garden

I spent most of the day in my garden. This picture is the fern-leaf peony I wrote about in a previous post, the one I almost put in the compost pile. I've had it for years and this is its first blossom. The whole plant is about a foot high and the flower is maybe five inches across. It's a beautiful deep red. Here is what I did in the garden:

• Trimmed the junipers on the hill in front
• Cleaned the dead stalks out of the coneflower beds
• Pulled about forty miles of artemesia roots out of the back of the garden. This is the plant that my neighbor said was not invasive, but is.
• Pulled out a bunch of false sunflowers
• Transplanted a few things to the hill by the sidewalk where most things won't grow
• Cleaned up the monarda
• Pulled grass out of the daylilies
• Fertilized the new shrubs
• Took out the shrub in front of the house that looked dead and probably was
• Planted all the house plants in pots so they can live outside for the summer
• Took a truck load of plant debris and grass clippings to the compost pile

I only stopped because we had a couple big claps of thunder then a couple hours of rain, often and on heavy with huge drops. All the garden work was a big job and I took a short nap when it was done. We cooked a couple hot dogs on the grill with portabella mushrooms and Vidalia onions...and of course, had a beer on the driveway. What a nice Saturday.

Regis says the titan arum is blooming!