Garden News

Our Solomon's seal came up really well this spring. Those stalks eventually leaf out into huge fronds suspended with white flowers. The problem is, the stalks are incredibly brittle, and Olga likes to stand in that spot next to the fence and sniff the aromas of the dog next door. We've lost at least three stalks of Solomon's seal as a result. I staked up the others, hoping to save them long enough to see them bloom. We'll see.

The borage, meanwhile, is going gangbusters. When we first moved here, for some reason, I tried to control it. But now we just let it grow. At this time of year it's really pretty and it's so persistent we couldn't get rid of it if we wanted to.

In fact, Dave bought three plants online identified as a variety of alkanet -- basically the same thing as borage. Although squirrels ate two of them, we planted the third -- so not only are we no longer fighting the borage, we're adding to it!

The "carroty things" are once again coming up around our steps. We discovered last year that this is nigella, or love-in-a-mist. It grows in just about the least suitable place in the garden -- right where we step up onto the lawn. We try to step over it, but Olga and the foxes are not so discriminating. Hopefully at least some of it will make it to maturity.

Finally, the wildflowers we planted last year -- poppies and cornflowers among them -- seem to have re-seeded quite effectively. The big pot that houses our passionflower vine is full of flower seedlings. Again, they are imperiled by the squirrels, who love to get in there and dig around. But hopefully at least some of them will grow up and bloom!