Caging the peonies

(And it's pronounced PEE'-uh-nee, not pee-OH'-nee, by the way.)

So, the reluctant gardener became the active gardener, of course. Just as inevitably the plants and flowers begin to awaken each spring, so does the urge to mess with them.

I did a little preventive maintenance this week (unlike me - normally I wait until things are completely out of control).

I bought and installed peony cages. Seems cruel, I know, but it's for their own good.

I'm also messing around with the irrigation now before the grass is all burnt in July and it's too late.

I've ended up with way too many garden beds and zones to deal with. The front beds, the street strip, the rhody glen, the side garden and path, the back 40, the vegetable plot and the xeroscape area. Not to mention the porch and patio pots, the water feature and the rock garden in back. And the herb boxes. Each year I start the season by saying this is the year I'm not going to do anything and let it all go wild, and each year I find myself at Schillings with a $150 bill in early May.

I'm not complaining, just observing the natural and inevitable change of seasons, both outside and within.

Labels: Central Oregon, garden, seasons