Back To Work!

It's been a long while since I posted on my site, and now it is TIME TO GET BACK TO WORK.
Don't mind me, I'm just yelling at myself for being away for so long.

May has brought sunshine, lot's of leaves, a few flowers and now cold nights (around 4 C) to the
 Back 40. The perennials are perking up, but slowly.
This is another cold Spring, but also a dry one.


A few of the regulars are madly going to town: the Dicentra, the ferns, and of course, the
Lamium. About 10 days ago, I went out to push it back a bit, and discovered that not only had
it moved right into my Hedgerow, it has sneaked across the dry creek.
Along the lot line, those tough little plants were almost knee high, and they're climbing the
back of my neighbour's garden shed.
I spent 2 afternoons tearing out lamium from amongst the hedgerow shrubs (two giant bags full)
and realized that I hardly made a dent in it. This is going to be a real war!
Coquitlam has banned the use of "ornamental herbicides" in our home gardens.
Perhaps I need a goat.

We're Being Invaded!

But this invader is such a pretty little thing. It creeps along, never needs any care, flowers each Spring, doesn't get eaten by the deer. In short, a perfect woodland plant for difficult spaces.
This lovely little Lamium escaped from the neighbour's yard. It crept along the side of their hedge, then sprinted around the back of their Garden Shed and headed across my lot. At first,I paid no attention to it, as there were more urgent matters to deal with (alders, deer, bears, drought, rocks, crows), but now it's covering about 75 square feet of my back yard. It's pushing through my hedgerow, threatening the rhodos and covering up the little red huckleberry bushes that I planted in one of the few sunny patches in my yard.
I really don't want to tear out this whole patch of green, as I have nothing to replace it with. But it is listed as one of the Invasive species in our area, and I'm beginning to see it everywhere, especially in our parks and along the local streams.
So I'm going to compromise (the easy way out). I'll keep it chopped back, behind my hedgerow, and let it have that back corner.
But only until I find a new tenant.

This may take a while.