Die, villainous scum!

[webcowgirl]

I spent the last two hours armed to the teeth (well, with rubber-soled gloves and my Kerchief of Head Protection on), doing battle with the vegetation smothering the house. I was very disappointed to find the weeds in the side yard had grown so tall that they were not only flowering, but hiding all of the dog bombs in the yard. Oh, such a sign of neglect! Surely I have let this slide for nigh on two months, and all I can say is Thank God For Giant Garden Clogs. I pulled ivy, I doubled up my gloves and yanked on blackberries, I untwined bindweed from my Fruit-Stripe gum scented rose bush (a St. Cecelia for those who care), I snapped deadwood off of the hardy fuschia and the, um, floofy puff-ball thing. I was dismayed to discover the Oregon grape I did my best to kill last year apparently took its little decapitation as a thumbs-up for rampant growth; it's now taller than I am. Blast!

In more pleasant news, I found one of my hellebores had bloomed/is blooming and has made seed pods! I'm shocked, I didn't even know they flowered! Also ... I had NO IDEA my orphan irises were scented. I breathed in their sweet scent over and over again, trying to mark it in my mind so that the next time I caught the fragrance in the air I'd know right away what smelled so good.