Today was all over the place, in weather and in activities.
Taking advantage of the morning’s relative wonderfulness, I knocked back some of the weeds/grass encroaching on the rhubarb (red stem; has mostly died back for the winter), and in the process discovered many small hollyhocks…that didn’t flower. I can’t remember, but this may be it for these…hopefully there are more seeds in the soil. These plants have been nurtured first by my great-grandmother, then my father, then my cousin, then my neighbor. I’m the one who is doing a poor job of keeping them going….
Perhaps, given my track record, I shouldn’t be undertaking this experiment. We have feral mint all over the place, but it isn’t the mint I like (spearmint, I think). I took two small sprigs off a plant in someone’s yard in ATL, then brought them up here without smashing the life out of them in transit. Then, neighbor mentioned above kept them while we were between visits (got them to root, then potted them—she’s a sweetheart!), and got them large and healthy. Finally, they are in the ground. The tops’ll die back over the winter, and hopefully re-sprout come spring warmth. Fingers crossed. Mint is pretty darned hardy.
In the afternoon, came the rain. Rain on the new-planted mint!
We made a brief escape during the worst of the rain, and picked up the weekly paper (comes out Wednesdays), then drove the driving tour at the Refuge as the rain quit. Saw swans, geese, ducks, perhaps grebes, not sure about loons. And colorful leaves. And gorgeous skies.