Gertrude's Flower Garden Weekly Diary
7/21/00 - One of the interesting things to do in the summer, when your garden is in full bloom and you have a few minutes to sit back and admire (and critique) your work of winter and spring, is to look at each flower bed individually and decide what you want it to look like next summer. I know this seems a bit perverse, but if you think about your garden as a work-in-progress or even better as a canvas on which you are painting a picture that is never finished, it makes sense. And since, for the most part, I grow my own plants for next year's garden from seeds that I will be gathering in a few months, and must decide how many seedlings of each variety I want to grow (or have room to grow), it really isn't too early to begin planning for next year. Anyway, half the fun of gardening is attempting to bring into reality the garden you dream in your mind.
I have already thought of a number of changes that I would like to try next year. The small circle bed in front of the house is planted with pink Profusion zinnias surrounded by a border of white Star zinnias. Next year, I would like to try mixing them so that the bed will be a circle of pink and white. The Sundial bed is planted with vinca in mixed colors surrounding a double row of pink Profusion zinnias--next year, I am going to try only vinca in this bed. By clearing away some of the forsythia in front of the compost pile, I made room to plant impatiens there this year. I also added a few browallia plants to see how they would do in that shaded area of the garden, and was pleasantly surprised to find them thriving. Next year, I am going to plant more browallia there, and substitute browallia for the impatiens in the small circle bed in back of the garage. For one thing, I find that browallia makes a better showing when you mass it rather than use it as a border. Of course, all of my plans must be flexible, because I never know just which of my seeds are going to do well (as browallia did last winter), or which may not come up at all (as was the case with some seeds from California my daughter sent to me).
This week's picture is of a lovely perennial, Astilbe (X ardensii), which, if you don't already have it in your garden, I heartily recommend to you. "Astilbes" (I quote Taylor) "are easy to grow in partial shade in any moist soil. They are heavy feeders, and benefit from extra fertilizer during the summer. They reproduce quickly; divide them every three years." The Astilbes in Gertrude's Garden have been divided several times, and I find that they will grow in almost any sun-shade area, but they do like lots of water. While they lose their color eventually, the flowers remain attractive through the autumn.
7/28/00 - Gertrude's Flower Garden Weekly Diary
7/14/00 - Gertrude's Flower Garden Weekly Diary
Last Year's - Gertrude's Flower Garden Weekly Diary
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