Did you ever notice how timing is one thing to always consider in the garden and in life?  When you plant out those seedlings in the spring.  When the rain comes (or doesn’t).  When the last—sometimes very late—frost hits.  The surprise of record high or low temperatures.  And through it all Murphy’s Law plays its part.

My personal bout with bad timing and Mr. Murphy was a not-too-serious injury to my foot.  I remember thinking there’s going to be a bruise when it happened.  Surprisingly, there wasn’t, but a day or so later, the foot began to protest when I walked too far or stood too long.  Of course, this happened as the weather turned warmer, the soil dried up, and the garden awakened in full force.  Of course it did.  Timing is everything.

I spent the next several weeks taking care of the injury, hobbling about, and watching the weeds grow in the garden.  Oh, and banging that foot into a furniture leg on more than one occasion.  For the time being at least, I’m wearing shoes inside the house as a precautionary measure.   

I look out my window at the weeds that seem to grow by leaps and bounds each day in what has been remarkable spring weather, alternating rain with sun and warmth—a near perfect gardening combination.  I step into the garden to find the blackberries are in full flower and have drifted far from their preferred location.  Likewise, by the path in separate locations around the house two varieties of ajuga have expanded into the path and will need to be removed and relocated.  Dividing them provides me with free plants and another item on my to-do list.

Now that we’ve reached the end of May and the traditional time for planting annual flowers and veggies like tomatoes and peppers in the garden, I have a bumper crop of weeds to deal with.  Some, like jewelweed and goldenrod, I let grow in parts of the yard.  The bees love them, as do the butterflies and other pollinators, and I enjoy their beauty, too.  Other weeds, I’ll spend a great deal of time pulling or using the saddle hoe to remove.  It’s going to take some time, and I have perennials to plant along with the annuals, so I have my work cut out for me. 

Blackberries in bloom.

* * *