Plants on the Move?

Today was one of those days when I absolutely love my job and can't picture myself doing anything else. Approximately 80*, low dew point / humidity, bright blue sky, and a pleasant breeze just strong enough to keep the mosquitoes at bay - weather so vastly different from yesterday (96* air temp + 70% humidity = 103* heat index, so humid clothes are drenched in 15 minutes, air so thick you felt like you are moving in slow motion) it feels like we've fast-forwarded to October!

It was my Deephaven clients' day for garden maintenance. As a preface, their property is surrounded by woods. As I walked around the house I startled a doe who went bounding off, but not too far. A little further down the path I startled her fawn. Actually, I think we startled each other because he didn't run away. I stood stock-still and he looked at me with his big black eyes as if to say, "Hey, I've never seen something like you before! What kind of animal are you? You look sort of friendly." He actually took two or three steps closer to me! We were about 15 feet apart, and there we stood. He was so cute and spotted! I decided to press my luck and slowly reached down for my camera, which was close by. But just as I began to move, the fawn bounded away. This meant I would be spraying Liquid Fence today. yippie.

My project today was to dig back the Astilbe that had over-grown a flagstone path leading from the driveway down the hill into the back yard. Since I leave the flower stalks up during winter, the Astilbe has self-seeded very freely and very well. When the seedlings were small, they didn't pose a problem along the path. But after two years, they started to gain size, over-taking the path and all but hiding it from view and making it difficult to navigate - even for me. Today was the day. I dug and I pried and I scraped and, finally, lo! behold a path! No more gingerly high-stepping to avoid damaging a plant, no more foliage pulling at pant legs, no more flower stalks slapping arms. The path is now visible from the driveway and once again beckons a garden wanderer to come explore.

As for the plants I pulled up, I had Astilbe coming out of my ears! I didn't realize so many had grown! Thankfully, I had many wonderful places that had been plantless for too long and they welcomed the little Astilbe gratefully. That is what I love about gardening - finding plants that sprang up on their own, usually under other plants where they would be crowded, not get enough light, and grow into a funny shape; and then relocating them to a place in the garden where they can have all the space they need, where they can be seen and appreciated; and create a new garden in the process - for free!

I love how gardens always change - I wouldn't have much of a job if they didn't!