Friday, May 31, 2019

Always Say Yes

So when people find out you're a gardener, they call you up when they are cleaning up their beds or dividing plants to see if you want any. I have discovered over the years that I'm not alone in the feeling of committing sacrilege by throwing away perfectly good plants.


So years ago when my friend and fellow Realtor asked me over to take a look at her over flowing garden bed to see if I wanted anything, I didn't hesitate to say "YES!".  I had never heard of Bachelor Button before and it was going crazy in her yard so why not give it a try in mine. 

My version is called Mountain Bluet, but is also knows as Mountain Knapweed or Cornflower. The blue-purple flowers are stunning and I love the shape of the flower heads before they open, too. Mountain Bluet is a spring blooming perennial and the leaves are a little fuzzy. Since my gardens have clay a few feet down, I find that nothing in my garden goes haywire with over growth, and these do just fine, not overspreading.


Wednesday, May 8, 2019

New Colors of Tulips this Year

I really hope I saved the mixed tulip bulb bag that I bought last fall because I am LOVING the colors in this mix. The range from red, pink, tangerine, yellow, and white. I decided to group them in odd numbers this year to see how it looked (instead of planting them in a straight line).


Large holes were dug and I put three to seven tulips in a hole, and then spaced the holes out a couple of feet. I love the look of randomness so much that I'm going to repeat it again next year.
Oh, and yes, I plant about 100 bulbs in similar locations each fall. Some get eaten by voles or dug up by squirrels before spring, some get eaten by rabbits when they start shooting up, and some don't bloom at all. Tulip bulbs here in Minnesota don't bloom more than three years, so they say, but I'm lucky if I get just one season.