Vakkotaur

One of the things jmaynard and I buy at faires is soap. There are various scents and while we have our preferences, it's nice to have a change every now and then, so we tend to get a variety. The vendor we like to deal with wasn't at Siouxland (family issue, we were told) nor at WiRF when we went there. As the supply was getting low, Jay ordered some more. When the shipment arrived, the vendor had included a couple scents that weren't ordered, evidently as samples to try. One is Ginger Orange, which we have yet to try. The other is "100% Vegetarian Honeysuckle." Jay took one sniff of that and decided it was too flowery and wanted nothing to do with it.

Since he's gone this week, I decided to use it. Yep, it's flowery alright. But it's familiar. I recalled the scent from childhood, from when the family lived in town or at least from that block (one set of grandparents lived on the same block, so even after moving away it was a common area to visit). I don't recall where on that block, exactly, but I do recall that scent. I never knew the name of it, nor would I have been able to identify the flower, but now I know. It's honeysuckle and there's no mistaking it.

There are a couple spots in the yard where the grassy lawn is not present. One, on the corner of the lot by the streetcorner, has some sort of short decorative plant. Mainly short, which is sensible for on a streetcorner. This bit is walled off from the regular lawn by some bricks. Another patch, and that is what it is, a patch, is in a square of 4x4s or such.

Some weeks back I went at that patch and tried to get the weeds out and the soil tilled up a bit. And I planted some seeds: marigolds and moonflowers. These were properly planted, according to the directions on the newly purchased seed packets. As an afterthought I found a couple packets of seeds bought last year (mint and parsley) that had been lying in a drawer for a year or so. These I just threw about, broadcasting them, with no particular effort to do proper planting.

So far, no marigolds. I think a couple moonflowers made an attempt but didn't make it. Some parsley came up. And the mint took quite well. I consider this whole thing an experiment. I'm no gardener, I will freely admit. But I was still irked when that patch was mowed over last week by the folks who take care of the lawn. Guess it all looked like weeds to them. So now there is a sign, albeit a crude one, saying not to mow that patch. Hopefully it will be heeded.

This morning I looked the patch over. There was some of the parsley coming back, though not as tall as before. Still no marigolds or moonflowers. And the mint is coming back with a vengeance as if saying "Mow me, will you? I'll show you!" I'm not sure yet, but I think the mint is out-competing the weeds and the (now fewer than before) dandelions in that patch might not make it. I'd read that mint could be aggressive, but I wasn't expecting it to clobber weeds. I'm not complaining, merely pleasantly surprised.