I just installed the updated version of the default WordPress theme. Things will appear a bit more simplified around here while I begin tinkering with the theme to customize it. CSS is almost as fun as gardening.

Tonight from 7:00-9:30 was spent outside weeding, deadheading and ripping out plants. At one point I awoke, dazed and confused, in a pile of recently uprooted snapdragons, dirt under my nails and frothing at the mouth. No, it wasn’t that extreme, but I did loose my patience with the garden tonight.

The snapdragons I had planted last year managed to winter over. So did a lot of violas. Both are annuals in our zone. Both grew back this spring and summer because they had self seeded, but the plants did not seem as healthy and full as the first year they were planted. I pulled all of the snapdragons and most of the violas out tonight.

There were tons of weeds growing into the beds. The main offender was ground ivy. I have a love/hate relationship with this plant. It fills in shady and damp areas of the Lot that challenges more finicky plants, which can be nice. But it also snakes swiftly across the ground in vine form, sprouting roots at every joint of the plant. Every time I weed I’m ripping up some Creepy Charlie.

Tomorrow night I’ll use the recently cleared beds to rearrange some perennials. Those measurements printed on the nursery tags should really be referenced when planting. Last year I was impatient and dropped the plants into the ground closer together than recommended. This year the plants have matured and are fighting for space. Not only can this cause disease, but many of the plants grew leggy and taller than normal because they were reaching for the sun. I have a feeling the Lot will be a constantly evolving canvas.