I Like to Play in the Dirt ~~~~~~~~

I have been playing in the dirt a lot this week. Actually, I have been doing a lot of work raking, trimming and other clean up.  I took time to visit with my garden gnomes and helped them get their area all nice and neat.

Their abode is near these big toad stools. The plant with the blue flowers is a spiderwart. Wart is just another word for plant. It is an invasive in most gardens but not mine. In fact, I have been trying to get some natives to invade and they won't! I have very poor growing conditions.

Here they are after I worked and even laid down some moss carpet for them.

The moss is really just for the photo shoot. It wouldn't stay pretty long if I left it here and I have another purpose for it.

This one needs a new paint job.

The next time you see this croscosmia it will be in bloom as it is starting to bud. Now, this plant WILL spread everywhere. It is not a problem though because it completely disappears when the hot weather hits. And, shows up again in late fall.

I was happy to see several of these plants, the one next to the flower pot, a creeping ruellia. I have been hoping it would naturalize and help cover some of my bare places back here in what I call my wild area.

I also found some of these violets here and there. Nothing seems to spread very fast. I put the first clump of these in the ground several years ago.

This is a wildflower but I don't know what it is called. In the background you can see Waldo and his blue house.

There he is just beyond the wild coffee plants.

I love these bushes. They keep the berries for about half of the year or more.

Waldo never gets very far from home. I never have to wonder, where's Waldo! He just sits here and thinks with his foot up on his head.

I thought I would show a few other things while we are back here. This is a green ball tree. Actually it is a camphor sprout. I keep trimming it back - don't want it to get big!

I love the saying on this plaque. It was a gift from a family from England that had Christmas lunch with me a few years ago. They were guests with my daughter and son-in-law. I had not met them before but it was a good time had by all, I think.

A very large bromeliad and assorted ferns.

A ginger.

A pencil cactus. Little did I know how big these can get when I put this one here. I might have to call in my tree man if it gets out of hand!

I do a lot of living, laughing and loving here in the backyard. Just me, Waldo, the gnomes and all the wild creatures that play in the dirt with me.

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 I think I have chosen the spot for my Monet Outdoor Tea Party.  It won't be ideal but I think we will have fun.