Baby it's cold outside!

A Red Admiral butterfly having
a snack on an Echinacea

Well that spot of hot weather ended with a cold bucket of water to the face, didn't it? Today was sunny but with a wintery chill in the air thanks to a lot of icy air blowing down from Alaska.

Matt and I popped out and looked at the damp garden, and noted how quickly every weed in the place is growing right now. A pox on weeds!

I pulled common white yarrow (Achillea) - a once-favored plant and now a weed - from the steps area where it was busy taking numbers and unmercifully kicking the asses of the other plants in that area.

Matt moved three Helictotrichon sempervirens (Blue Avena Grass) clumps in the back border around to better spots nearby. Sometimes I look at where a plant is growing and think "what blind person put that there? It clearly should have been put a foot to the left!" and then remember that it was me who did the planting. Oh well. Plants love to be moved around and appreciate a change of scenery as much as you or I!*

We need another accent plant in that border, among the Blue Avena Grasses,  Agapanthus, Aeoniums and orange Calendulas. I'm thinking of adding some Aeonium "Zwartkop," and another Phormium "Guardsman" or two to tie in the burgundy colors further down, plus a few clumps of the variegated mini Agapanthus that are getting swamped in the middle back bed for a bit of brightness.

*This is not true.