TGIF

Purple Perennial Bachelor Button. My chives are about to blossom in the background. 

After the Costco pickup this morning, we came straight back to the house. It was quite cool and so I was anxious to get started outside. But first I had to fold and put away the two baskets of clothes that I had dried on the line this week. Then I discovered that my husband had done a load of his laundry and had dried it in the dryer. So I folded his. I put another load of laundry in the washer and went downstairs to prepare a beef stew in the crock pot. I washed the veggies (onions, carrots and potatoes)  before I peeled them, so I could put the peelings in a freezer bag to make a veggie broth in the crock pot sometime in the future. Even though I had a bowl of cold cereal this morning, I was feeling hungry. I warmed up a bowl of that chicken soup I made earlier in the week. By this time, the laundry was ready to hang. I finally got into the garden about 11:30 for about 20 minutes, when a mixture of rain and ice came down. It didn't last long, so I tried again. The rain continued off and on all afternoon. It wasn't enough to wet the ground, but it did keep sending me inside no fewer than four times. All in all, I probably spent 2 1/2 hours pulling weeds. 

Euphorbia

I bought this plant a few years ago. It grows in a soft mounding shape and looks nice as a back drop to the rest of the flowers in the border. In the Springtime, the tips turn yellow like you see here. It also spreads like crazy. My one plant has jumped the flower bed and has grown around the base of the tree (in the lawn). I have given some of it away, but it has kind of taken over. I will have to dig some of it out. I hate to rip out plants for the compost, but when these plants take over the garden like this, I lose other flowers that can't compete. For instance, these euphorbia have choked out my Lady's mantle, Pulmonaria and Coral Bells. So I have to be more ruthless in keeping the garden under control. Hopefully, tomorrow will see me outside again. Have a great week-end.