Stupid Bugger!

The other day I noticed that the flower beds in my front yard needed some attention and the one in the back yard had become quite jungle-like. It was way past time for them to get some attention! But after I noticed the problem I did my best to ignore it. I tried to justify my lack of action by telling myself I've been busy, and that the weather is so hot and humid at this time of the year. However, the main reason I didn't want to be outside was the mosquitoes.

My metropolitan area is in the top ten for mosquito issues. And with all the rainfall and flooding we had in the spring and early summer this is a particularly bad year. If I'm out in the yard for more than five minutes I can count on having at least one mosquito bite. Sometimes four, five, or six.

However, those flowers weren't going to deadhead themselves and the weeds weren't going to lay down and die, so this morning after I rolled out of bed I threw on gardening clothes. After breakfast, I grabbed a bottle of repellent that promised it would make me "Invisible to bugs" and covered every inch of my exposed skin in repellent. Then for good measure I sprayed repellent on my abdomen and pulled up the legs of my shorts to cover that area, too. When I was done my skin felt sticky and I smelled like a chemical factory. But I figured the inconvenience would be worth it.

I started my project in the front yard because it was still shady there, giving the bushes a little pruning trim, deadheading all the flowers and removing their brown leaves, and did my best to remove a huge dandelion was poking out from the middle of a zinna plant. Moving around to the side of the house, I trimmed back the two large patches of day lilies and pulled up a patch of 'something' that had taken up residence behind the air conditioners. I filled up the green waste trash can and one old recycling bin.

I kept procrastinating moving to the perennial bed in the back yard, but it was the area that needed the most attention. Nestled alongside the coneflowers, chocolate Joe Pye weed, and past it's prime lobelia some weeds almost as tall as I was were muscling in. I put on my gloves and grabbed handfuls of unwanted greenery, tossing it to the ground behind me.  When I was done I had enough to fill up a second recycling bin. At that point I realized I had an itch. I looked down and discovered that not only had a mosquito found a way through the chemical barrier but there were three bites arranged in a triangle on the outside of my right knee. It had been almost an hour of outside work, so I decided to call my project finished for the day. I put everything away and came inside for a well-deserved shower.

Five years ago today: Moonlight Rambling