Monday, March 5, 2012

A stampede of weeds


Dealing with spring weeds is a lot like herding cats.

(An old video but still funny. One of those commercials that
no one remembers what it was for.)



Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Penny was plumb wore out after her dental cleaning. As you can see from the color of the fur on her side, she's been spending time sunbathing recently. She often asks to go out onto the back porch. The heat of the sun probably feels good to her bones.


Prissy models some weeds (and a daffodil) that defied the hay mulch that tried to keep them down. Prissy also got a teeth cleaning (the same day as Penny, and the first time in 7 years that she had needed a cleaning) along with the extraction of a broken tooth. Both cats still look a little ruffled.


A billowing carpet of Purple Lamium, Henbit, Crown Vetch and a tiny speedwell. (Chickweed too, unfortunately.) The bees LOVE this mix. I end up leaving quite a bit of it ~ about half ~ minus the chickweed, in the beds below the house. I do keep it away from the iris. Already I've pulled several wheelbarrowfuls from the big bed. Like I said, a stampede!


I've been clearing a lot of Bidens skeletons in the big bed and the bed next to the neighbor's pasture, but as you can see they're still in the new garden between the house and the big bed. In part because I just haven't gotten to them yet, and in part because just as the bees guilt trip me into leaving many of the flowering weeds, the overwintering and resident birds are still using those Bidens as cover when they feed and travel from the neighbor's woods to our wood's edge. White-Throated Sparrows, Song Sparrows, Field Sparrows, Chipping Sparrows, Cardinals, Ruby-Crowned Kinglets and Hermit Thrushes. It's OK, it's their garden too. :)


11 comments:

  1. I think your cats are precious. The little one is adorable! If I put out any wildflower seeds or seeds, the birds nab them all! Hope you had a good Monday!

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  2. What sweet felines! I love your property any time of year. Weeds are a fact of life and sometimes we have to leave a few for critters to enjoy. Your gardens will be bursting forth in glorious color pretty soon.

    Enjoy your week ~ FlowerLady

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  3. Sweetbay,
    The weeds are terrible already this year, the warm winter has been encouraging them. Chickweed and henbit growing to quick to pull it all.

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  4. I love seeing great sweeping patches of henbit right now, just not in my garden.

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  5. You are right, had no memory of what the Herding Cats commercial was trying to sell. It is a funny commercial.
    We have lots of spring weeds right now. I have been trying to pull a lot of them since our rain at the end of last week. There isn't much henbit around, lots of chickweed, and lots of wild geranium.

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  6. So many weeds, so little time! And I hate to think that all those flowering weeds mean more weeds next year!

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  7. Your title made me laugh as soon as I saw it, Sweetbay, and the video made me laugh even harder:) I think trying to corral weeds is about like herding cats at times. I worked out in the garden for the first time all spring, cutting back some perennials and trying to clean up debris. But the wind was so strong, I only lasted about an hour; afterwards, I felt like Penny and had to curl up on the couch, too:)

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  8. I don't like weeding either, but I am always glad I do it afterwards when things look better. There is one bed that is difficult to weed, and I get most of it and let the plants fill in and cover the rest. Your cats are adorable and look so very sweet.

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  9. I don't dislike weeding, it's just that there's so much of it to do. Gah! :D

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  10. Hello sweetbay; when I saw your title,I said to myself, I really can relate to this one. Yes, I am in the same boat at the moment; I don't know if there are more weeds and pruning to do, do I get slower, or is the garden getting bigger! The saying "one years seeding, seven years weeding, sends shivers down my spine, and I am out there every morning..the kitties look comfortable and I am sure great helpers with your weeding jobs..

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  11. Funny video! Your cats certainly know how to relax in the sun.

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