Stuff of Heroes

Breathe in... You can imagine me coughing and spluttering about now. Our garden is being taken over by weeds and giant plants.

If you've been with me for a year or more, you might recall that I basically boycott the garden in July and August. It's ridiculously, insultingly hot, humid, and buggy. Late June is close enough. But even during the most uncomfortable time of the year, I can't ignore this garden completely. It's small and both the front and back are on display year round. 

The hedge begins to look as though it has lost its freaking mind. The east side appears to consist almost entirely of lantana. It's not supposed to. Then there's a shrimp plant and some sort of ferocious, salvia-looking plant that I can't identify battling it out in a corner.

Weeds, well... One interesting note is that while seasonal annoyances are making their usual bids to take over the garden, they have a lot of competition from the giant plants as well as volunteers like basil. In our back garden, cinnamon basil is EVERYWHERE!

During a storm, our one Mexican sunflower plant sort of...fell. Yes, that would be the right word. It's now hovering over the mass of basil that has taken over one of the raised vegetable beds. There were a couple of tomato plants on that side of the bed as well as some peppers. I think. But from the house and even from the patio, I can't see them.

Pushing my scooter over the uneven terrain for closer inspection is not worth the risk. After two years of foot surgeries, I have two weeks left. I can wait.

You know, gardening is my passion, not my husband's. Joseph enjoys the harvest and doesn't balk at big jobs like creating beds, trimming trees, and making repairs. But he doesn't love it. This past weekend, he had a long list of things to do and only so many hours to spare. Yet he gave his precious free time to the garden. He weeded the raised vegetable beds, trimmed roses, and took photos.

​Let me rephrase. Joseph gave up his precious free time to work under the broiling sun for me. 

Sigh. My hero. I might have to copy this post to my romance blog.