Gardening Princess in training

I heard recently on public radio about some guy who is inventing a way for smells to be send via text message or something crazy like that. Apparently, this technology won't be available to another year or so, but it even enables the person receiving the message to block undesirable smells! This factoid probably seems kind of random, but I really wish that I could send a "smelly link" to my back yard. We have three large lilac bushes that are in full bloom, and every time I step out onto our patio the air is perfumed with their scent. Lilacs are one of my favorite flowers, and I think it was a sign that this house had them. Ever since we lived in Prague, where nearly every park is filled with them, I have loved lilacs even more. In Prague it was the sign of spring that we had been waiting all winter for. But I wish you could smell them too, because in just a week or two, they will be done blooming and I will have to wait another for them.

Sam and I are in gardening commando mode, similar to how we were when we first bought our house. I could spend days and weeks weeding and digging, and in a matter of hours together we can accomplish gardening miracles. We are nearly done edging (by hand) our grouchy old lawn, and the second mountain of bark mulch that sits in our driveway is getting smaller by the day. The knee-high weeds are gradually disappearing, and our yard is looking similar to when we bought it! But better, I think. After all this hard work ("sweat equity," right?) we will have to throw a few BBQs to enjoy it. And maybe we are the only ones who will notice that straight edge or the weed-free flower beds, but it does feel good to see such dramatic change. Actually, I take that back. My mom would notice, and I credit her with all the gardening instincts that seem to have suddenly sprouted since I have acquired a garden of my own. I am getting attached to this beast of a yard, and I am already sad at the thought of someone else getting to enjoy it after we sell it in a year or so. But I still have another year of lilacs and peonies and azaleas and clematis to look forward to. I have learned so much about the art of having a garden, and realize I still have lots to learn. But I did want to share a photo of a plant in my yard that I never even knew existed until I moved here: a tree peony. It is big and weird looking and pretty all at the same time. And the fact that it makes my mom, Gardening Queen of them All, a little jealous is pretty cool.