Today I was weeding a part of the garden I let go. I hadn’t done the necessary deeds since March. I covered my laziness with trailing nasturtiums which made the mess messier, but also prettier. At least for a short while, until the nasturtiums melted under a pelt of silvery mold, so I could no longer ignore that my pretty mess was really just a mess.
I was on my hands and knees most of the day. Around mid-day I looked up, wondering whether the native orange jewel weed ( Impatiens capensis ) needed yanking, too. I “inadvertently” let take over as part of the “pretty mess” I was creating. The orange jewel weed and the orange nasturtiums looked momentarily splendid as they tangled with the weeds i was trying to hide.
All my questions of the validity of my gardening methods were answered as a hummingbird flew into the picture. Jewel met jewel as the shimmery hummer,on this seamlessly gray day probed, for nectar. I decided to save the jewel weed yanking for another day.