When Gardening Meets Masonville Rock: My Rookie Battle with Silver Mound”

I thought planting a flower bed in the Western Catskills would be easy—dig, drop, done. Instead, I found out that gardening in Masonville NY soil is basically an upper-body workout. Technically the ground here is “loam,” but it’s really just an inch of dirt sitting on top of solid Catskills bluestone. Every hole I dig turns into a rock-removal project, and every shovel feels like a pickaxe. No wonder this town is called Masonville—rocks practically come with the zip code.

Somehow, my flowers are alive. The blanket flowers bloomed like fireworks, but right next to them the Silver Mound Artemisia decided to take over like it’s running for mayor of the garden. That fluffy gray plant looks harmless, but it’s slowly swallowing everything in sight. Chalk it up as one of my first beginner gardening mistakes: plants don’t always “share nicely.” Some grow like polite neighbors, others grow like that one guy who never leaves your porch.

Still, I kind of love it. The bed is chaotic, lopsided, and definitely a lesson in gardening in rocky soil, but it’s mine. Every stubborn stone I pried loose and every plant that’s still standing feels like a small victory.