We've been in our rural home since 2011. My ultimate dream is to have a small path through the woods to the stream, and native wildflower natural spaces surrounding a smaller area of "lawn". I hope to provide habitat for the monarch butterfly by planting lots of Joe Pye weed & milkweed. We've built a koi pond with a smaller adjacent turtle & frog pond and spillway return. We've planted a couple small beds with daisies, black-eyed Susan, lavender, and a mystery small summer blooming bush the hummingbirds enjoy. I hope the cosmos and mixed wildflowers re-seeded themselves from last year. I got some of the milkweed down in early March; I hope it comes up too.

For now, I'm fighting an ongoing battle against garlic mustard, multi-flora rose and several other invasive species. I think I finally got all the mile-a-minute and bindweed removed near the house, but I'm staying on guard for new shoots. At least I haven't seen that deeper in the woods (yet).