One if the neighbors from down the street stopped by the other night to ask me if she could buy some of my ferns. I have a big bed of bracken fern in front of my house on the left side of the porch. The neighbor said she drove by every day and just loved how they looked. This year they are 3 foot tall or more and are drawfing the Sum and Substance Hosta, which is the only thing you can see besides them. They do look nice, I have to admit. The thing is I fought for years after moving here to get rid of those ferns- which just kept spreading. It's a partly shaded spot and I wanted rhododendrons and hostas and astilbe. They never grew well, however, except the one hosta, and finally I let nature work it's own plan. Same thing on the other side of the porch- only on that side it's common daylily - they just can't be totally removed. I did manage to get lots of spring bulbs and large oriental lilies planted there. The oriental lilies do great there, the daylilies shade their feet, which they prefer and they grow tall enough to get above the daylily foliage before they bloom. I used to cut and pull every spring but by fall the daylilies were back better than before. They do look pretty good when in bloom- after that they look ratty. Some day I will get that bed re-worked for good.
I wasn't dressed to go out into the garden when the neighbor stopped by- I had just taken a shower to remove all the dirt from earlier gardening, so I told her I would dig some ferns for her if she stopped by the next day. I knew there were some spreading to other areas I could dig.
I went out early the next day and dug some for her and put them in a bucket, but she hasn't came to get them and it's been a couple days. Maybe someone warned her how invasive they could be.
I noticed out by the pond today, in a flower bed I have basically abandoned because it's too far from the house and the goats used to eat all the flowers every year just as they got ready to bloom, that I had some beautiful white iris and big pink peonies in bloom. Right through the grass and weeds, pretty as a picture, they are blooming. I don't have any white iris left up by the house either.
I have comfrey growing everywhere too. People still want starts of that every so often, even though I warn them it's like a plague. But the bees and butterflies like it, so I let some grow in the back of my butterfly garden.
I went into town today to pick up a prescription and get a salt block for the sheep. While I was gone 3 of the dogs got out and when I came home my husband had nearly killed himself trying to save my chickens. He got himself out to the barn in his wheelchair and got the rooster scooped up and threw him in a stall, but one of the dogs went right over the wall to get it again and he fell trying to get into the stall. Then the other dogs cornered my Henny outside the barn and he hurried to save her. He was very upset when I pulled in and hurting. I got everyone put back in their rightful places and Henny looks like she will be ok- the rooster is up and walking but hurt so we will see. Steve is doing ok too. All I have to do is leave this place for a minute.... The dogs are really being buggers right now. We have 3 females in heat and the stud just won't stay in his kennel, no matter how many times we fix it. He climbs, digs, tears apart things, you name it. He has six foot tall walls of strong wire, a wire covered floor and every gate chained shut but he manages to escape. And this is a short legged Jack Russell about 12 inches high. If he would stay in the yard with the girls once he's out it would be one thing, but no...he has to lead escapes for further adventure.
I hope I can get to this blog a little more often. Why not look at some of my new gardening articles? You can see them at www.gardenandhearth.com/plant-guides.htm
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