Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Phlox Everywhere

2012 A sea of phlox is blooming in the back yard. Lavender, white and pink. Some is standing almost five feet tall. It is lovely in the morning light.

The phlox has migrated into the part of the garden bed that was newly turned over last year, bordered by stones. What a mystery. How did it travel there? By wind or water?

In the evening its fairy breath surrounds you with its spicy-sweet carnation like scent. True it is a "common weed," familiar of meadows and immigrant of country roads and highways. I cut some and elevated it to bouquet status in a tall vase. It is resilient, lasting for days.

I decided to let the bountiful phlox have its week or two in the spring sun, coloring my world. Soon most of it will be in a pile next to the compost, making room for the utilitarian tomatoes and a few poetic herbs. But a few plants will survive at the back of the garden, preparing for next spring's debut.