They are digging up my street again today, directing sump pump water into the streets. Our sump pump sends its water into the back yard, and the grass is lush. As are the weeds. I was digging some dandelions out yesterday, and a few thistles. I love them, but, darn it, they take over the world.
I was also digging up stray
lily of the valley, the ones escaping their wooden bed, and moving them to the circle under a tree in the front yard. I've been doing this gradually over the past couple years, and it's working: they keep coming back, and this year the ones under the tree have been the first to bloom.
Lily of the valley is also marching under the fence, via those long underground stems, or rhizomes, toward the sump pump lushness of the back yard. They are welcome to do so.
Thank you to
H. Zell and Wikimedia Commons for the photograph and to
Franz Eugen Kohler for the drawing.
My most favorite digging poem.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/177017
Oh, Lily of the Valley! I miss it. I once had a wandering patch of it myself (wandering is perhaps too kind a term; conquering may be more accurate). But, their perfume... :) Thanks for the memories.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sandy and Molly. I love that poem!
ReplyDeleteAnd here's a link to A Hole is To Dig, by Ruth Krauss with illustrations by Maurice Sendak. It has mashed potatoes in it. And a hole. Which is to dig.
Um, HERE's the link:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.harpercollins.com/browseinside/index.aspx?isbn13=9780064432054
After reading your blog about digging, I was a bit gobsmacked just now to read Martha Silano's latest post, featuring a poem with not only lily of the valley but dandelions right in the middle.
ReplyDeleteFlower Girl
It's that time of year! Lily of the valley & dandelion everywhere!
ReplyDelete