When I first planted peonies, I was horrified to see the ants all over the buds. A little internet research and I learned that the ants are probably beneficial to opening up the flowers…. so I leave them be. And watch. 
In my house, I wouldn’t hesitate to squish one of these. Outside, they’re doing something beautiful. There must be something poetic I can attribute to this, like the ephemeral nature of art, or the purposefulness of something or other. All this work and the flowers will bloom and fade within the month…. Do ants enjoy the flower when it blooms? I can compare it to enjoying the process of art and then selling or giving away a piece that I’ve worked on for weeks.
That’s a good question. I missed Tool Tuesday & Artful Thursday last week, have a lot of projects going on all at once. Maybe I’ll finish some and post pictures here this week.
It rained for a few days and when I checked outside, my herb garden had exploded. So many things have overrun each other, the tall ones are Japanese lanterns, of to the right in the back is sage (I think), in the front is some sort of thyme and in the middle should be my lemon balm… but I’ll have to check to make sure it hasn’t been completely smothered. I hope to plant some vegetables this week and pray that the super short New England summers allow me to harvest something!
I already feel bad about killing ants, so I hope the ants don't enjoy the flowers, because if they do they probably also feel pain.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you had a productive week though! Yay!
I like the sound of New England. Do you know how the name came about? Reba McEntire has this song about a man cheating on his wife with someone in New England. Anytime I hear "New England" I'll listen up. You're probably not as fascinated by the name!
ReplyDeleteWOW tammy i love peonies and it's wonderful that you have such gorgeous flowers growing at your garden. Your garden looks wonderful and blooming! Have a lovely merry happy week and love to you!
ReplyDeleteI have had to get used to coexisting with spiders which are prevelant here in Germany in the spring. Nice to have a different perspective on "pests"-I am sure there is some lesson about how people rub one person the wrong way while another finds him/her charming ;)
ReplyDeleteLovely shots- they look so nice even before they bloom- all this hidden gorgeous lush potential! xo m.
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