From Here to Leon

Heading towards the back yard









Every year around this time, I take a series of pictures of a stretch of our yard along the south side of the house. Not that much has changed in recent years. Just the perspective of this year's pictures; they're lower to the ground.

When JoAnna and I moved to Mayflower Drive in May 1987, this yard space had just two elements: peonies and turf. Two years later, two other elements, Creeping Charlie and the Common Blue Violet, threatened to take over. I spent many hours during the summer of 1989 removing these ugly invaders by their roots. (And, surprisingly, never once did I wish we had moved into a condo.)

We have subsequently added a hodge-podge of plants. There's been no grand plan, I must confess. In fact, if you asked me to identify everything, I'd get off to a good start -- Snow on the Mountain, Black-eyed Susan -- but then I'd start to draw blanks.

Uh......uh......uh.......

(Tell me I'm not the only person who does this!)

And now that we keep the plastic labels, I still have difficult making an on-the-spot ID.

Truth be told, I've never been good with names.

(So why is it I can still remember the starting line-up of the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates?)

In spite of our hodge-podge approach, by the late spring this area of the yard is quite pleasing to the eye, commencing with the white, pink, and purple puffs of colors provided by the peonies.









Heading back to the front yard









This year we switched mulch -- from Montaho shredded cedar bark to Nature's Helper premium black satin. Montaho's shredders have become increasingly toothless through the years, it seems. Some of the pieces of wood are big enough to trip over. Nature's Helper, on the other hand, initially struck me as a poor substitute. When I opened the first bag, I saw what looked like top soil. Once it was on the ground, though, it dried to a well-defined, chocolaty brown. It looks especially good after a rain.

I noted with some degree of concern, however, that Nature's Helper is a product of a company named Garick located in Cleveland, Ohio. We are nature's helper is their rather lame motto. OK. Outta Cleveland, huh? (They'll never be able to live this story down.)

Speaking of which, Cleveland should be avoided until Leon Russell is inducted into the Rock and Roll Fall of Fame. Del Shannon? Duane Eddy? But not Leon? But this rant deserves a separate post.

And maybe someday I'll tell you about the "Roll Away the Stone" parties at The Pub in Oshkosh.