Sunday, May 07, 2006

Bloom Blogging

Generally speaking, I like to mow my lawn at the beginning of the weekend so it looks nice on Sunday. But...my lawn has exploded into violets; violets I don't want to mow. I'm telling myself that, in our current droughty weather, I'm giving the nascent grass a chance to build up some energy and retain some moisture; but it's really the violets that are keeping the lawn mower in the garage. Here are a handful of them, with some vinca that grows over on the shady side of my garage. I keep this tiny vase in my kitchen window during the day and on my altar in the evening.

The jury is still out on my theoretical perennial bed. Today at church one of the flower arrangements contained an interesting mixture of purple and lavender flowers, shot through with burgundy here and there...then at the fruit stand on the way home I saw a similar color scheme in a hanging basket, except it also contained apricot flowers, which I found an appealing addition...I was almost committed enough to invest in a "Black Knight" butterfly bush right then and there to get things going, but then I thought about mixing blues and apricots instead, and now I'm dithering again. In the meantime, though, I'm planting pansies of all colors in my tiny pocket garden next to my back steps; I know they'll start to languish once it gets hot, but at least I won't have to look at a bare patch of dirt for the next month and a half.

Flowers -- a good gift of God; Crayolas for grownups.

"Sweet violets...sweeter than all the roses..." Posted by Picasa

2 comments:

LoieJ said...

I love small bouquets and tiny vases for them. My favorite small vases are some very small jars with interesting shapes. Panseys are great for small bouquets. You can't go wrong with lots of petunias. I have better luck with the more modest varieties than with the fancy ones.

I'd just recommend planting a variety of plants and of many colors. You'll find that some years, some are better than others, depending on the weather, and, of course, depending on your soil.

If you have a shady spot, try some bleeding heart. I think I remember that you posted a picture of your yard and there were a lot of trees. You might want to check on hostas for shade. I haven't had much luck with these, but they do have interesting colors and textures. What grows well for your neighbors?

With perenials, here is a mantra to keep in mind: The first hear they sleep, the second year they creep, and the third year they leap. So be sure to use lots of annuals between any perenials at least the first two years.

Also, be sure to have flowers you can see from your house. Since most of my perenials are in the gardens just surrounding the house, I use pots and planters in places where I can see them from windows and where I walk from the car to the door.

Anonymous said...

oh wow. these are beautiful. Thanks for sharing.