green furniture

What a spectacular weekend. Roxie worked on her tan, Theo protected the estate from evildoers, and I got a lot of work done in the garden.

The big project involved some relatively simple rearranging. My grandmother Ruth always used to say, "Plants are like furniture. If you don't like where they are, move them." So there.

Over the last couple of years I've attempted to invest in more perennials (mainly to avoid spending a fortune on annuals every spring). Some of them grew better/worse/different than planned, so now was the perfect time to move things around.

Here's a "before" image (note Theo proudly performing his self-appointed guard duties).

And after several hours of digging, planting, changing my mind and re-planting (I don't have an eye for design by any means—It's one of the gay genes with which I was not blessed), and finally mulching, here's the result.

OK, so it doesn't look dramatically different right now. But it will . . .

There's a new addition, just visible in the lower left-hand corner above. Roses have never been a strong suit, but it's a new year, right? This Mister Lincoln is one of the most popular and hearty hybrid tea roses, and hopefully it will look something like this later this summer.


And the Pope John Paul II clematis, formerly in residence along the back fence, has a new home on the west side of the garage where I hope it will be happier. Here's what it will look like in a month or so.



Roxie didn't look much darker, but as far as I could tell no evildoers had invaded Theo's well-guarded territory.

Gardening sure is exhausting.