Well, summer has arrived. I mostly missed spring this year, more or less couped up and healing my messed up ankle. In the last couple weeks I’ve been getting out into the garden, and yesterday I did my first bit of garden work. We have a barberry hedge on the south side of our property. There was one along the north property line as well, but last year we removed it and planted a garden between our property and our neighbour’s.The hedge has been growing tall, and it’s my job to keep it under control. I was determined to do this yesterday, although I wasn’t sure I’d be able to stay on my feet long enough to do the work. As you can see I did get it trimmed. By the time I was done, I confess I was sore and my leg had swollen up some, but I’m counting this as a major accomplishment.

Barberries are red, but trimmed as radically as I did it yesterday they appear green for a while. The barberry hedges came with the house. I think the garden we have in place of the old hedge is much more attractive than the hedge ever was. That garden is sporting some additions from our friend Ruth, who had to give up a wonderful secret garden beside the building in which she lives, due to construction. The old barberry had started behind the fire hydrant, and the bit of the garden in the front was a huge clump of your basic orange daylilies. The daylilies were nice enough during their blooming period, after which they turned to mundane floppy greenery. I removed all I could, moved some to the back yard, and gave some away last year, but you can see to the right, a few have come back, some of them actually growinug out of a crack between the garden and the driveway.

Meanwhile, a mysterious object has appeared in the garden, a clay globe.

Of course, Tuffy P is behind this. I’m not sure where in her travels she found it, but it’s a fun object and it seems to work well in the front gardens.

This morning is cool and I’m going to try doing a little more garden work out in the back.

Here are the Brothers Lazaroff performing Bob Dylan’s Summer Days…