Gardening in northwest Arkansas is not without its challenges. First of all, there are those pesky rocks that percolate every year from the ground. We have some lovely creek bed rocks which make excellent paving stones but then there are the little ones which we seem to be able to grow here along with grass. Bill is constantly finding new rocks when he mows. These he picks up and deposits on our retaining wall, a dry-mounted stack of stones.
Then there is the ivy. Back in 1983 on my first trip to California I was introduced to lovely ivy. My friend, Sharon Moore, who religiously reads this blog told me then that I needed a "Mr. Takimoto" to tend my ivy. I think she had a gardener by that name at the time. Well, I don't have a Mr. Takimoto and our ivy is not the luscious kind that can hide a "den of rats" either. For those of you who follow Facebook you know that I am currently very aggravated at ivy. A word to the wise, never ever plant ivy because it then grows where you don't want it and you will never ever be able to get rid of it.
My third challenge is that I am gardening during allergy season. Yes, mountain cedar is pollinating right now. (Allergy sufferers will know what I mean when I say that on the Rast test I'm a 5 with regard to mountain cedar.) I know when deciduous trees pollinate. Telltale traces of their chartreuse-colored pollen dust car windshields. But evergreen trees? Mountain cedars like the scraggly evergreen below must be prolific reproducers because they can be found all over our state. However, unlike the elms, maples, and oaks, you can never quite be sure of when they are making little baby cedars...unless you have my nose. I used to get allergy shots but quit when Bill returned to Cambridge and I was dealing with two broken wrists and my junior year at the UA. The shots indeed helped but now I'm too lazy to start that rigamarole again. So as I write this blog, I have taken my daily Zyrtec and am in the process of downing my third cup of caffeinated coffee. Oh, and I'm surrounded by a mountain of Kleenexes, too.
OK, back to my gardening. Yesterday, I decided to tackle "the flower garden" adjacent to the little pond. This garden was constructed on a hillside underneath an elm tree that is no more thanks to the storm. Years ago, Bill had attempted to construct a terrace using railroad ties but that really wasn't working. Also, now that the tree is gone my guess is that I can replace my shade garden with one that tolerates sunlight. So in my little head, I have plans to construct a serpentine pathway with the paving rocks in order that I might be able to actually plant flowers and remove weeds during the growing season. But first comes the odious task of 1) removing several railroad ties; 2) removing rocks; 3) pulling ivy roots; and 4) clearing away fallen leaves and stray wild onion shoots.
I spent hours outside digging, pulling, and hauling--outside where invisible pollen shards repeatedly attacked every sinus membrane of mine. By evening I had even taken a Benedryl (and frankly am contemplating doing the same right now) and had sucked on two lozenges to ease the allergy-induced sore throat. Yesterday was Ash Wednesday and I wasn't sure if the lozenges counted as medicine or food since they also taste good but I decided to classify them as medicine given the state of my sinuses.
I don't know if I will return to the Great Outdoors today. I have to go to the dentist for my semi-annual cleaning which should suffice as my penitential offering for the day.
No comments:
Post a Comment