In Over My Head

Spring usually comes early to Victoria (lovely, lovely city with a very mild climate). I've been toiling like a peasant farmer all week, tidying up the yard. The tidier it gets, the more slovenly I look. The large pile pictured above is awaiting our community 'yard clean-up' day, when crews with front-end loaders, trucks and shovels come around to gather debris from the boulevards.

The second picture doesn't begin to do justice to my little shade garden. I'll take pictures a little later in the year and you'll see! The brown-looking branches in the upper left of the shot will turn into a glorious display of lilacs with a carpet of lily-of-the-valley beneath. There are violets in bloom there now. The stone wall will be covered with roses and there's a pergola to the right draped with more roses, plus wisteria and kiwi. Each corner of the garden is a separate vignette, with seating facing different directions. There's a little path to a separate 'room' with a simple wooden bench, a small St. Francis statue and a disembodied concrete head. Jon found the head years ago when he was playing on the beach. He spotted a nose in the sand and dug down to unearth it. (Kind of horrifying at the time, you can imagine my relief on learning he hadn't discovered a corpse!)

I'm putting in new soaker hoses this year. You'll see that I haven't quite managed to get them in place yet. There are potted bulbs to move and I need to upgrade the nighttime lighting. It's such a joy to be back in the garden!