THE WORK NEVER ENDS

Yesterday I cut back the mealy blue sage, Salvia farinacea. I don't know why I let it grow in the sunken garden. In fact, I can't do anything about it as it is growing out of the rocks and I can't get to the roots. I like to have some because the goldfinches feast on the seeds during the fall and it is a pretty blue. I allowed it a few more days by bringing it into the house. 3 vases of mealy blue sage.

I can see clearly now the sage is gone. Underneath a sad alyssum with tiny harlequin bugs developing. I remember catching the adults a few weeks ago. Guess they had already laid their eggs. I pulled it out and am determined not to let the salvia grow to shade this area. I replaced the alyssum with a sedum 'coral carpet'.
It was a day spent working outside doing a lot of the grunge jobs. I removed the rocks from around the center drain the vegetable garden, relocating some worms and disposing of a number of snails. Even I decided that there comes a time when blanket flowers and poppies hanging over the drain need to be removed. Exactly how many blanket flowers do I need! How many bluebonnets do I need? How many California poppies do I need? The garden is being swallowed alive! It is time to spring clean.