Thinking About : The Garden

Astilbe I’ve never grown Astible in the garden. Its flowers are so feathery and the foliage is reminiscent of ferns. It comes in array of colors and sizes and prefers the shade. I think it could look really stunning mixed in with the hostas on the shady side of the backyard garden.

This spring will mark the beginning of my sixth gardening season. All of the plants in the garden are mature now, and the garden and flower beds have really filled in. I can’t even tell you how much I love to watch the perennials grow and change every year – fer real, I’m kinda obsessed.

I was just starting to see peonies, sedum, and bleeding hearts push their way through the surface of the soil when as expected, March decided to totally diss the midwest. On sunday night it snowed out and got really cold, it’s supposed to snow again tonight. Sometimes it’s really hard to live in such a wintery climate.

Trying to keep it positive though, so I’ve been doing a little garden dreaming and planning. I’ve spent a lot of time pouring over old garden posts highly anticipating what has to be right around the corner. The garden is mature now, most of the plants are very large and have filled in nicely. Some of them may even have to be split up this year or rearranged based on their size. This is where I can begin to play with layouts, heights, colors and start to fine tune, edit, and arrange the plants where they are happiest and look the prettiest. I’ve got my eye on a few perennials and bulbs that I am really hoping to add to the garden this summer. So here’ what I’m thinking:

Allium Allium is a bulb and comes from the onion family most similarly related to chives or garlic. There are many many varieties of Allium varying in height, flower size, and color. I love the big purple poms sitting atop the straight narrow stems. These guys love partial sun and well drained soil, and I’m thinking these might have a chance out on the boulevard garden. The only downside is that they bloom in the spring and early summer – I need more late summer blooms on the boulevard – suggestion welcome.

Golden Japanese Forest Grass Every time I see this ornamental grass I like it more and more. I really began noticing it last summer when I would take walks through a Japanese garden near our house. It loves shade and I think it could add a lot of texture and color mixed in with the hostas bed in the backyard, or as a mound on the boulevard too.

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