Last evening a friend stopped by to check out my woods. She hadn't been past the front yard in quite a while. We walked through the backyard, now changed because of no dog fence, and approached the woods. The wrens were singing and birds started swooping and flying away because we were coming. The bird feeder was swinging quickly...some critter had just jumped off and was scampering to a safe place. For the first time this year...the mosquitoes were buzzing. The frogs in the pond next door were making their evening music. As we neared the little woods a pin could drop and we would hear it. It was silent. The wren hurried out of her house. It was just approaching dusk...a favorite time of the day. We started at one end of our property and started walking. The flowers were really at their peak. She was so surprised how many flowers started with a bag of wildflower seeds. We talked about how they were scattered in the fall and just left to nature to do their thing. The hostas were getting really big. They like it back there...not disturbed and room to grow. We checked out the lilac bush that was planted a couple of years ago...this year it has really come into it's own. The redbud tree was just a sprig a couple of years ago...we talked about how fast it was growing. She hadn't really noticed the crab apple tree until I mentioned it. I bought it at a garden center at the end of the season. It was out behind the sales building in a 6 inch pot. It was growing like a crooked twig. The price was right and I brought it home and planted it. My hubby likes to buy things that are big and perfect. He wondered at the time why I was wasting my time on this "twig" My neighbor and I laughed because the tree is taller than he is and has branched out beautifully...not in the least crooked. The clematis vines that were nothing, when she was here last, have filled the trellis with a million buds. I am anxious to see what it will look like. The mosquitoes started munching and we fled to the front porch to visit. A nice evening for gardeners to compare notes and take a tour. I will go over to her yard next week sometime. Not many people do flower gardening in my neighborhood..maybe a few hanging baskets and a flowering shrub...they are young and so busy. They do notice and comment while they are walking by...maybe they are gardeners in waiting.
Balisha
