Not My Garden

I have only three measly little allium blossoms in my garden - one almost regular sized bloom and two tiny ones...Why? I do not know...but my neighbour has fields of them! She says they reproduce in her back yard at an alarming rate and she has to pull some out! Now, why is that? 

I have allium envy.

I had morning coffee with my neighbour in her gazebo - a first of the season....a haven of shade on a hot day surrounded by pots of colourful flowers...Plants seem to thrive in her back yard..her hydrangea are monstrous, her roses abundant, her clematis always a mass of blooms and her allium, as I said, profuse! (extra) It is a puzzle...perhaps it has something to do with the amount of effort she puts into gardening? hmmm..

If that is the case, I just may have to live with a less glorious garden as I am not up to performing the amount of manual labour required.. 

Oh how I miss Eldon..my former neighbour who was retired and has since moved to the country; he worked in my yard for an entire season and brought my gardens back to life; he had them looking fabulous. Another neighbour, Ian,  is a great help now with some of the heavy work, but does not have the time or the gardening experience to just take over as gardener....he has a full time job, a wife and new baby and a lawn-mowing business on the side! I am grateful that he helps me at all!  

Ian's next task, after trucking in all that mulch, is to dig up two small trees and a couple of shrubs that died over the winter...perhaps they missed all that TLC that Eldon had bestowed on them and just gave up trying to survive on their own ? 

This does not bode well.....