Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Not The Black Iris

The dark black buds fooled me. The finished color is not black though. It is purple. This is not the Black Iris. I think the Black Iris is the iris to the right. I have no memory what so ever of where this deep purple iris came from. It must have followed me home as a tiny sprig and I knew to plant this deep purple with the black to get a theme going.



Luckily the Clothesline iris are a deep burgandy that works with this theme. I have no sense that their placement in this same bed entertained the same notion at the time they were planted. I do know that the two Black Gamecock Louisiana iris that came home with me recently were put in this bed to go with the dark iris collection. Now I do have a theme going.



On the other end of the cabin side bed on the other side of the entry path where the Narcissus bulbocodium grow there is no theme. Bad garden designer just sticks plants in the ground - after some consideration - when they show up in the hopes there won't have to be too much rearranging of things down the road. Blue and white salvias where moved into this bed and a pink Veronica that I thought was a salvia until closer inspection sparked a memory of a store bought plant. The salvia and veronica were moved from wilder environs where they had pouted. Two other white salvia have vanished. Hopefully more sun and less competition will improve their performance. I have a plant zoo in the making.



My zen sedge lawn in this bed is blooming. I do like these clump forming sedges and once I see that everything has safely arisen I plan to add more in the empty spaces. I can use these sedges to unify the two beds on opposite sides of the entry path. There are plenty of them to gather from the near surroundings.



The first strong wild bloom of the season is on in the garden to be. This is most likely Senecio aureus, Golden Ragwort.



I can picture the garden in my mind now. The trees and shrubs grow to give the garden structure and winter interest. An ever changing carpet of the wild and the cultivated laps at their feet and blooms in meadow like profusion from spring until the final days of autumn. All I have to do is keep adding good things and edit out the unwanted thugs.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like we got our wish. We have gotten .38 in of rain with more to come tonight and tomorrow. We need it for our pastures. I have been chasing cows for 3 days, which is not a favorite past time of mine. Our iris are the prettiest ever. The Peonies are continuing to bloom. The roses and daylilies have begun. Looks like my blaze azalea failed bloom again. I would like to move it, but I am afraid it will die. Love your gardens. They encourage me to branch out. (pun intended)

Dianne

Christopher C. NC said...

Diane we have had about 3/4 of an inch of much needed rain by now. You chase cows. I just make a phone call or two and get the farmers to chase their own cows. Is blaze azalea, flame azalea, the native orange one? It is one of the last to bloom. Look close for flower buds.

Lola said...

Well we didn't get any rain. But it does look like it. won't count my chickens till they hatch.
Sure like the iris & that sedge.

Anonymous said...

Yes, the native orange one. Blaze, flame, what can I say. :)

Dianne