Ode to a Gnome

Ode to a gnome, a garden gnome,

a wise wizard that sits

on a throne of mulch

or grass or dirt or stone

A hat red like an over-ripe

tomato squshed into place

a mushy sombrero

The garden gnome guards

the home with quiet authority

peeking under mushrooms

sweeping moonbeams with a broom

into a pile of purple clovered charms

that keep the hexes of fireants

of red splotched spiders

crabgrass fingers and beetles

away.

_____________________________

Thank you, J. and C. for helping me finish this garden area in the front yard-at least for this year. We can add to it each year.

We joked about who's done a better job-Tim with the lawn or me with the landscaping. But in his defense, it's very difficult to get a lawn going when you've only lived in a house in the fall and winter one year, and the summer another year out of the three years we've lived here! And we live in the sandhills which means that our topsoil is actually, well...sand. To have a lawn, you have to import topsoil, have all the sand removed, and plant sod. It's an expensive ordeal, and since very few people go to that trouble around here (unlike the midwest), we don't feel bad about simply mowing our weeds every week, giving the boys their sand shovels to play in the front yard, and letting it go.

Here's a couple of pictures of the final project. I'm not a gardener by any means, and I fully expect half of this to be dead in a week. But for today, it looks alright, I think! Thanks, Janne for the info. on which plants are and are not perennials.

C.'s favorite part is the turtle he picked out.

Whenever C. loves something,

he has to go over and kiss it!

Happy Spring and Happy National Poetry Month!