Yesterday was the usual Monday house-cleaning that takes up a good portion of the day. Today, I'm more or less free to do whatever I like, the house spick-and-span and tidy, though not for long given the antics of Jack and Jill and their propensity to leave toys and whatever else they can grab-and-run-with littering the house, let alone what they bring in on their paws from the out-of-doors. And us, too, of course.

After breakfast we decided to do some tidying up in the garden, back and front. The first thing I tackled was the corkscrew hazel. It's about twenty  years since we planted it in the backyard. And it has a habit of sending out suckers from the ground close to its now-hefty trunk. The suckers are never screwed, always straight unlike the corkscrew-pattern of growth that erupts from the trunk and there are plenty of them. So from time to time I set about cutting them back.

Same thing with the Sargenti and Jade ornamental crab trees; they too have that tendency, sending up shoots where there shouldn't be any from the lower trunk and also underground. And then there is the hydrangea, the Annabelle which have a similar habit of unrestrained spread. I've given so many self-rooted pieces to neighbours and I'm not certain whether I've done them a favour or given them a headache. Ours proliferate everywhere. Years ago I thought it was fairly neat, being able to take pieces of the shrubs and plant them elsewhere around the garden, since they make a very attractive show.

Hydrangea left, Japanese quince right, at side door

That happens as well with the Japanese quince, which has such lovely bright orange flowers in the spring, and then bears the fruit in the fall. Little Riley used to love playing with quince, just about the right size for him to consider them toys, though he never showed any appetite to eat them, not having a taste for sour, I guess. I once planted tiny bits of each at the side door entrance to the  house, and now I've got to keep cutting them back to keep their growth in check, otherwise a jungle-aspect occurs.

Canterbury bells have a similar habit of spreading here and there, and I'm pleased about their presence, just as I am when geraniums spread; now so much with Ladies Mantle. This year I allowed sunflowers which germinated from the birdseed we put out all winter for area birds, to remain in the garden. Mind, I'd scooped out hundreds of the germinating plants that appeared long before the perennials begin to erupt from the soil, but I did leave enough so that now they dominate the gardens with their size and growing habit.

I'll wait for the seeds to fully form before freeing the garden from the sunflower plants, so I can harvest the flowers and leave them out for birds and squirrels to eat once they're sufficiently matured. They always regard them as treats and it takes them little time to divest the flowerheads of the seeds.

My husband did his share of maintenance by cutting the grass and cleaning up borders. And tending to any garden pests he came across; another story entirely.