Goth garden

Well, this has turned into a moody little bed. I'm thrilled at how the hollyhocks ('Nigra') look against the chlorinated Colonial blue siding of the house, and I'm relieved that the opium poppies shown here ('Lauren's Grape' to the left; and, bulging out of its membrane in preparation for bloom, a peony-flowered blackish purple poppy to the right) didn't get snarfed by the rabbits (some of their brethren were not so lucky). I don't know the cultivar name for the asiatic lily blooming among the hollyhocks; it was the generous gift of a gardening neighbor, and its color is a much more profound orange than other asiatics. It too escaped the rabbit ravages by hiding underneath the skirts of the hollyhocks as they put out their first big, green, lily-pad leaves way back in April. Somehow holding it all together is the mauve malva, Sidalcea ("they say you're nothing but a...") 'Party Girl'. Despite its name, it's not a bit frivolous...it came back like a trouper this year, four feet tall!, after being reduced to four-inch stems by the rabbits all last season. Now, there were other colors planned for this bed, to modulate things just a bit, but I probably don't need to tell you what happened to: the blue larkspur; the yellow coreopsis; and the tall snapdragons in mixed pastels. Perhaps I'll try something more rabbit-resistant next year for this bed, like these daylilies à la Mixolydian Mode (who, by the way, has my fervid gratitude for pointing out the new Flannery O'Connor blog).

Comments

[C. S. Froning]

What a lovely bed. I put down 'Lauren's Grape' seeds but it was too late in the spring and they didn't come up. Perhaps next year.

[Chan S.]

Thank you! The best advice I've gotten on poppy seeds is to put them down while there's still snow on the ground...