After my success in the front garden yesterday, I moved into the back this morning and had a wee tidy up and mowed my lawn. It's nearly five years now since the move and I still can't believe my good fortune in living here. At my last lovely house there was an extensive garden which I planted and tended for many years. It looked a picture and was certainly a selling point when it was time to move on. People often commented on how much I must enjoy gardening. The reality is that I don't enjoy gardening particularly, but I do enjoy gardens. The reality of owning one is that it requires effort, and my last place involved a lot of effort. Mowing the lawn took an hour and a half, and even then it required a run of fine weather to ensure the clay base under the lawn was not too boggy in order to even attempt the task. Here I can have the whole job completed in ten minutes. Even after a downpour the lawns are never soggy underfoot and even the most tenacious dandelion pulls out with ease.
It's wonderful to have a garden that isn't constantly threatening to overwhelm me if I leave it to its own devices for more than a week or two. This time of year though, in any garden, can still be fraught. If you have committed to being butterfly friendly there are consequent responsibilities. No pesticides or herbicides, flowers for feeding and, if monarchs are your thing, an endless supply of swan plant. It is easy to be complacent in this regard and then be sourcing new swan plants at considerable cost later in the summer. The rewards however are well worth it. I took this photo a week or two ago.
This morning the chrysalis revealed its occupant, emerging and pumping up its wings in a very short time. Other butterflies flittered about the swan plants, too.
My mother cross stitched this for me many years ago, and I have always loved and agreed with its verse.
No less true today than when it was penned in 1858. I'm beginning to think I may indeed love the act of gardening itself here in pleasant Petone.
Yeah, I like having some land to stand on too. We are blessed.
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