A rant, then happy talk

First, the rant.  The new way to mow your lawn, or rather have somebody else mow your lawn, is to use a huge lawnmower, or more appropriately, a mowing machine, a behemoth.  The person doing the cutting stands on a platform behind the  mower.  Grass can be cut very quickly.  Therefore, the lawn service can make more money by cutting many more lawns in a day than with traditional mowers.

I do not begrudge anybody the right or ability to make money.  What I don't like, is what these machines do to the lawn.

Because the mower has a much wider wheel base than the old-fashioned kind, there is very little "give" when the lawn is not perfectly flat.  If the wheels are resting on a low point, and the earth crowns between the wheels, the lawn is shaved instead of cut.  This problem is exacerbated because the lawn services seem to like to mow the lawn really short.  Normally, I wouldn't mind what people do to their own lawns.  However, I have new neighbors who have not moved in yet, and their lawn service decided to mow part of my lawn because they did not know where the property line was.  Not only did they shave my grass, they also might a tight turn on my grass, damaging it even more.  AAArgh!

Now to happy stuff.  My garden continues to go through its seasonal show.  My daylilies Stella D'oro are blooming along with lysimachia 'Firecracker' Loosestrife.  I did not anticipate so much yellow in one spot, but I like it.  The bronze foliage of the loosestrife breaks up all the yellow.

My asclepias tuberosa has really hit its stride.  I am glad it is peaking before I leave on vacation.

To the right of the asclepias tuberosa is sedum 'Autumn Joy' and annual lobelia.  The only change I would make to this area (besides fixing the grass) is to have a more prominent blue flower in the vicinity to balance the brilliant orange.

My ancient rhododendron is starting to bloom now.  The bees are captivating to watch as they gather pollen from the flowers.

The flowers start pink and fade to white as they open up.

Finally, my "miracle" amaryllis is finished looking pretty, so off to the border it will go.

I will be on vacation for a week, so please catch up with the Honest Gardener in mid July.  Happy and safe Fourth of July everyone.