It’s raining.  Again.  As I look out the window, there’s so much green, thanks to all that rain.  The trees and shrubs are leafing out and spring favorites like bleeding hearts have emerged.  It’s amazing how much it’s all changed in just a couple of weeks. 

Of course, the green in my garden isn’t just from plants I’ve chosen.  Uninvited guests crowd among those that belong there.  Goldenrod shoots are everywhere, as are several prickly thistle rosettes.  Grass from the lawn I’ve tried to vanquish keeps popping up, along with any number of as yet unidentified invaders. 

Eventually the clouds will recede, and the sun will come out.  And the weeds will seize the opportunity to produce a growth spurt worthy of a cheesy sci fi movie.  Then it will be my turn.  I have a saddle hoe and long-handled garden claw ready.  I even ordered a hori hori knife for this year’s battle of the weeds.  It’s unending.  Weed seeds scatter in the wind, birds sow them as they fly overhead, while others spread by underground runners.  But I have tools and I’m a firm believer in using mulch in the garden. 

Some weeds, like the goldenrod, I let grow at the edges of the garden to feed and attract pollinators.  The goldenrod when in bloom is a beautiful sight.  Queen Anne’s Lace, an easily recognizable wildflower, is nearly always welcome, as are daisies and black eyed Susans.  Jewelweed, like goldenrod, tends to appear everywhere.  Its cotyledons (first or seed leaves) are a familiar site as dozens emerge from the mulch in my garden beds.  Happily, they’re also easy to pull even if they grow well past the seedling stage. 

If not tomorrow, then the day after or the day after that, I will be back out in the garden, listening to the sound of birds as they flit from trees to the feeders and back again.  I’ll talk to the rabbits if they appear (they help with the weeds) and scold the groundhog (who beheads my flowers).  And I’ll weed the weeds.   

It’s all in a day’s work in the garden.