Re: Today in the Garden

Finally got around to a bit of tidying-up in the vegetable garden.  It's been
such a hectic spring that I've only done what was absolutely necessary.
Every spring weeding the vegetable garden is a traumatic experience,
because of what I have to weed out.  Let's see if your weeds match 
mine.  I have large clumps of Aquilegia canadensis, the pretty red
native columbine.  I leave them in place until after they have bloomed
because they grow where I plant beans, and I can't put the beans in 
the ground until the soil warms up.  It hurts to pull out a large basket
of columbine, but it has to go - I just leave one clump for next year.
Then there will be several baskets-full of Hesperis matronalis (Dame's
Rocket).  I like to keep the white, but there are always some purple
ones and a lot of pale pinky-lavender ones. I try to pull all of these
out before they go to seed, but a few always hide and escape me.
Then in the spring they look so pretty following the daffodils.  These, 
like the columbines, do have their season of bloom, so when they are
past I can let them go, but what will last all summer if I let it, are mats
of Viola tricolor (Johnny-jump-ups).  I try to work around them, but 
finally have to end up pulling them out by the basket-ful, too.  And
from the edges, mats of  Galium odoratum (Sweed Woodruff) are
trying to fill up the entire garden.  Finally all the bare spaces left are
filled with Perilla frutescens - don't know a common name for this
purple-leaf herb that my Thai friend claims is a choice vegetable, but
which I have never eaten.  There are rare spots of chick-weed, but
not enough to be a bother.  My biggest problem if that I love the
flowers of all these weeds.  But then neatness or housekeeping 
is just not my strong suit.
Auralie

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