We also lost Steven's mother, Maggie, in March. She was a special gal. We were blessed to have her move to Maryland and live at the Dewey Street house from 2004 - 2006. We loved her and miss her and look forward to the day when we will see her again.
* * *
As with any social group, large or small, there is always at least one troublesome member, and our group suffered through the summer with one who made life difficult and challenging and generally uncomfortable for all of the other members. You are never really sure what someone is going through in their personal life that makes them behave so poorly. There could be marital problems; financial problems; substance abuse. Unfortunately, in some instances, the troublemaker is just a hateful person. Unfortunately, I believe the latter to be the case in our circumstance. Whatever the reason for the socially unacceptable behavior from our troubled member this year, we wish only the best for her and her family and look forward to better behavior in the near future.
On to the good stuff. The weather has started to cool a bit here in the east and the humidity has lifted making the days and evenings a true delight. We suffered from the effects of hurricanes Irene and Lee here in the Middle Atlantic, so we are all enjoying these first days of fall and looking forward to the season.
Now is the best time to get outside and spend some time cleaning up from the hot and dry summer. Believe it or not, until Hurricane Irene arrived three weeks ago, and Lee a week later, we were without any measurable rain since late in the spring. I lost a few shrubs due to this drought. I put off general yard maintenance due to the extreme heat and I am now seeing the results of my inattention to the yard.
This first photo is showing an area between my driveway and the next door neighbor. These little areas frequently do not get the attention they need (as is evidenced in this photo). But spending some time cleaning up and replanting here will go a long way in giving the front yard and surrounds a fresh look. As you see, the area had become overgrown with weeds and crabgrass.
The ground was somewhat moist so that made for easy removal of these weeds. I brought a little hand rake and a spade as backup. The spade was useful in helping to dig out some of the more relentless weeds. But once that was done, I was left with a nice clean patch of ground to work with.
I found a flat of liriope at my local Lowe's which I thought would work splendidly in this area. Liriope are perennial, so they come back every year. They will tolerate sun as well as shade and are drought resistant. These are very important factors to consider when planting in this spot as it gets a good deal of morning sun and is prone to be dry even when we have rain. This area is near the street and sandwiched between concrete which makes it inhospitable to most plants. I planted pachysandra here a few years ago and it was a disaster. Pachysandra likes shade and water. I don't know what I was thinking. But, as you can see, it did not make it. I was able to rescue a few plants, but the majority simply died. So, I decided to plant liriope.
And there you have it. A lovely island of liriope. What a nice, fresh, updated planting and one that will make it through difficult weather. Liriope will stay green through the fall and winter but will not continue to grow. In early spring all you have to do is cut it back with a pair of ordinary household scissors to about an inch or two above the ground and it will reward you with new spikes of green. This particular type is variegated but you can buy it with solid, dark green leaves. Either is beautiful.
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