Weeding the Smoke Bush bed

Yesterday I got into one of the beds I haven't touched for ages. It is the one with the big Smoke Tree and a lot of bulbs. So whenever I was ready to do serious work, the bulbs would be in the wrong phase.

However, yesterday I got about half of it cleared. Which means I ran out of mulch, and will have to make a decision about getting more. I usually get pea straw, but have been considering first-cut lucurne - to avoid the pea seeds, which have been pretty bad in this lot. Just the pea straw is easy to get my hands on - although expensive.

Although I will soon have a lot of autumn leaves - which is another reason to get that bed done before the Smoke Bush turns - those leaves get to stay there as a natural mulch. But it won't be long before there are lots of leave - the Nyssa is turning a vivid red, and although it is small, the Manchurian Pear is turning too, and it is HUGE.

The other thing I noticed yesterday was that the March flies were out with a vengence - which is reasonable, considering it is March. And I was wearing a blue tee shirt. March flies are usually even worse at the higher altitudes, and I remember being up bush one weekend, with two track suits to wear - one blue, one brown. I wore the brown one first, and we couldn't work out why the March flies were really targeting my friend on her thighs, in her blue jeans - the bite right through fabric. We thought maybe it was the washing detergent she used on them, or something.Next day I was in the blue tracksuit, and they were all over me, and left her (in grey jeans) alone. Then the penny dropped. Blue is the only colour insects can distinguish from the grey of the rest of the world for them. That is why "Bee Gardens" are blue gardens. And those March flies were homing in on whoever was wearing blue.

So the Moral - do not wear blue clothes in March when gardening.

And yes - blogging my garden does help me get the UFO beds done - I want to be able to say "Another one finished".