Collateral Damage ... Garden Style

My morning walk was a reality check. A garden is not likely to escape a tough winter unscathed. That rhododendrun next to the pond was not going to recover without some major surgery. Leaves on the good half of the bush had curled and turned a rusty brown. New buds had shriveled to lifeless shells, like an onion left too long in the bin. From the look of it, a hard frost had caught the stems and trunk at a vulnerable point. I got out the pruner and went after the deadwood. Somewhere between fall and spring, we also lost the largest goldfish in the pond. He was a rescue when we got him from the pet store, a 10-for-a-dollar feeder fish that survived four years before a predator got him.  And we have them---predators, that is.  Mid-yard a new circle of downy feathers told a tale of quiet violence in the night. As I passed the gorgeous foliage of the oriental poppies, I noticed for the first time how aggressive the dollar plant had become from last season to this.  Time for an intervention. Much as I like to idealize the quiet beauty of those beds and clumps of perennials, all is not peace calm.