A Little Spice

When I first designed my oval flower bed on the west-side of our house, I really loved purples and yellows. That's all I wanted in there, really. Deep dark purples and vibrant yellows--like a pansy, but with different textures from the various plants.

I have achieved that look in the spring.

Purple and yellow tulips, the brilliant yellow-green of 'Dart's Gold' ninebark, and perennial bachelor's buttons in--what else?--purple.

However, lately I have been feeling a bit of the old gardener's discontent.

Things are fine, but they're not quite where I want them to be yet.

I have decided the color palette needs a little shot of something warm and spicy.

Perhaps a splash of deep orange-red.

I might even go for deep pink--if I could get those doggone agastaches to come back every year.

Just--more. You know? 

Remember these? I was loving this color last year.

The other thing I have noticed this spring is that my flowerbed is already looking a bit crowded.

The alliums are doing fantastically well. 

In fact, I have tiny baby alliums all throughout the bed. They look like very fine grass, or green hair even, but when you pull them up there's a mini onion-like bulb attached.

They have managed to crowd out the Dutch irises so badly that they have never bloomed.

I am actually thrilled with the idea of transplanting a bunch of them to the back side of the greenhouse, where currently my hyacinths have finished blooming and look quite bedraggled.

Since alliums are related to onions, the deer don't bother them--a must for the orchard.

So that project is going on the Never-Ending Chore List.

The perennial bachelor's buttons that were maybe 12" tall last year and about as big around have also shot up this spring. They're a good 2' each direction now! Great for cutting, but considerably bigger than I had planned on when I put 6 of them spaced out around the bed. 

So I may dig up 2-3 of those as well, and move them on to a new place. 

Haven't decided precisely where that would be yet.

Finally, the tulips have been gorgeous. 

I am thinking about even moving some of them, though, to give more breathing space to some of the rose bushes and summer bloomers in there.

Always some changes to make, right?

That's the whole fun of gardening for some of us weirdos.

Now, if it would just stop raining long enough for me to get some of these things done!