Garden Victories

I have a steep incline in my backyard. I think I mowed it once before I decided it needed to be all flowers.

First I put in hundreds of tulips that disappeared over the winter due to well-fed voles.

Then I haphazardly bought a few perennials whenever they caught my eye and planted them willy-nilly.

Then we had 3 years of drought. I felt guilty enough watering the vegetable garden, the flowers didn't get any.

Then we had the summer of rain. It felt like it rained every day and all my plants were wilted piles of moldy bits.

The next time I looked, the hill was a disaster of vine-tangled briars taller than me. Ugh. It was overwhelming. So I ignored it for another year...

Finally I got up the energy, courage and initiative to finally tackle it all. I ripped out the briars, weeds and small trees, weed-whacked down to dirt and mulch the heck out of it. While I was working on that - a couple feet at a time - I started digging up volunteers and starting seeds. By the time the bed was ready, I had a good collection of plants to put in.

And this summer, I get to enjoy the blooms!