Summer Bulbs - Pictures and Discussion - Part Deux

Wallaby, I planted a dozen Bishops Children today. All were in pots, most were seedlings that came up by themselves this Spring.
Andy P

Wallaby - I guess I imagine other folks actually plan the combinations. I just mostly get 'em
by luck or nature (or both). (Its really hard to make a bad combination isn't it?)

Tam

But it can happen. Today I saw something ghastly. It was a soft pale lavender crepe myrtle, with some bright orange zinnias planted at the base. ugh! my eyes were hurting.

Oh my! I actually came close to such a combo - I planted some orange poppies in front of my
pink peonies. I dug them out and moved them before they bloomed. Whew!

It might be fun to start a "ghastly combo" thread?

Soft pastels with strong yellows and oranges bother me too, seems like both colors are detracted from. That's what inspired me to do an area of all pastels. But the occasional misnamed plant sure throws things off.

I kept trying till I got a decent shot of this scene that made me so happy yesterday. The 'Triumphator' lily is peeking from behind the astilbe. This is it's first year, so it should be somewhat taller next year, but I love it framed with that feathery pink.

Lovely combo neal, the blue geraniums I think are always a nice filler and compliment to other plants. Do you know the name of the astilbe?

Andy I took a lot of seed off my dahlia BC and the species , also Collarette Dandy. I really don't have anywhere to put more, but it was a good insurance. I have quite a few growing from self set seed of all of them, and it was a very long, cold winter with frost to -9C. They all already have buds on too, the established ones that is.

Tammy, orange poppies, pink peonies, you must have forgotten what was there!

I think a lot of people actually DO make bad combinations. Some seem to like just everything that is gaudy and throw them together!

I tend to go for plants not to fill a gap, but because I am inspired by them, often it's just the way the foliage looks, or the colour of a flower that suits it's form. I never plan to buy a plant for a specific purpose. When time comes to put them somewhere it seems as if they were made for each other. It's almost as if they are an extension of my own nature, so yes nature does come into it.

This peony Honey Gold I put in where I took out a shrub that was knocked back by winter, I had 3 that need a place in the ground and this proved ideal. The long stems laid over Sedum Purple Emperor to good effect.

Wow!!
Yes there's a lot of bad taste out there. But a good eye can be developed if a person is motivated. I also buy what I "must" have and it goes together well. It's because what I like is very consistent. I still love the same plants I did 25 years ago. And continue to add more to my "must have in every garden I own" list.

I think the main reason I garden is for color combinations, form combinations, and last textures. I have a friend who cuts off daylily blooms so the plant's form doesn't get ratty-now that's a texture gardener. And I thought I was a purist! But as long as gardens are tasteful, I just gobble them up and I do love his garden!

Sorry Tam, I'm getting old and cantankerous just like my FIL. I keep telling myself to curb my opinionated ways, but I'm not listening! lol Tammy, I know from what I've seen from your gardens that you would have frowned upon this.

Every time I open my mouth, without fail, somebody will come along and post the exact opposite and be crushed that my opinion is diametrically opposed to them. sigh... when will I learn.

If we started an ugly combo thread, we'd have the meanest fight in our hands....(might be fun, though hee hee)

This is why I need lots of garden space, each island dedicated to a color scheme of sorts. Nature does have it's way with me though, and won't let me get too OCD about it, lol. Some things purchased as red end up hot pink and that sort of thing, but it keeps me always looking at the garden through different eyes. I often end up liking the look of it so much, it changes the direction I was going. But when something bright yellow blooms in my pink garden, I get really ticked off! lol

Tammy, I think an "Ugly Combo" thread would be fun, if kept light hearted. LOL
Andy P

Yeah - I'm not brave enough to start it. Maybe someday.

I have to tell you guys about an early experience. I had read about color-themed gardens.
Like all white or all yellow. Well, I decided to try all red. HAH. What a horrible mix that was.
Somehow the reds just don't blend. I had to dig out some and put in lots of blues to make it
somewhat OK. Thankfully I moved to a new place and had a number of years experience
under my belt. (Except I did have that one lapse of memory - orange poppies with pink
peonies. That would have been bad!)

Tam

similiar experience. Had the great idea of planting together different plants, same color (pastel bitone pink and yellow). so beautiful and yet so darned boring. I'm not going to undo the bed, just add some hot pink here and there to liven things up.

I continue to be drawn towards monochromatic schemes but hopefully I've learned my color theory lesson. My next attempt will be different plants but using different shades of same color (peach/orange/melon). Y'all wish me luck.

I did see pics in a garden book that had some monochromatic gardens that just blew me away. And they even had an all red garden that was very striking, but I know with the problems I've had getting the "right" reds, it would be tough. They had used lots of red foliages among the blossoms. I have this idea cooking for a new garden area that will surround the fire pit and tie the gardens in the front and back of the house together. My plan is to start with an all white section, then move on to each color of the spectrum, each section planted in a monochromatic variety of plants.

Neal - with your eye for color, I bet you could pull that off beautifully. I'm not sure I
have the discipline.

Tam

A rainbow garden! Wow. I especially like different shades of yellow together. Cream, pale yellows, bright yellows and golds.

Tammy, I can probably pull it off, I just don't know if I can without losing my mind (or what's left of it), lol. I've been bad in the past for moving clumps in full bloom because the color bothered me.

Gemini, I always move things in bloom-how else are ya gonna know that you've done it right??

If Monet can mix gaudy and get away with it, then anyone can!

http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/monet/last/monet.japanese-bridge.jpg

Actually, an all white garden should be quite safe. Shades of yellows I would think you couldn't go far wrong, with some dark foliage accents interspersed. Reds, well if you stick to all one plant you might be OK! Greens, no problemo! Blues 'should' tone well with any blue. Orange, not keen on an all orange, surprise us! Indigo, veronicas and sage, delphinium, keep those suggestions coming... Violet, well, violets?

There's a good thread starter Neal!

Finally some lilies here. Speaking of orange!

Here's my first blackjack (asiatic).

And Lollipop. This garden is not all pink, but I have a succession of pink lilies in it thru the summer. And now the pink old fashion peonies make it a pink area.

But I'm most excited about my canada lily I found growing in our woods and promptly put in a prominent place in the garden. It didn't come back the second year so I scoured the woods and came up with another. Then I put all the seeds in this area and this year there are seedling! If at first you don't succeed, try try again! Of course it opened today in pouring rain, but I got soaked to send this to you. That's a surprise spiderwort that I've let infiltrate my citrina just for this moment each year.

Even the buds were lovely yesterday in the sun. Sorry, I had to digress from the monocolor theme in my bulb excitement.

This message was edited Jun 28, 2006 9:37 AM

Love the L canadense, I think some of the species lilies have a charm all of their own, nature does it best!

I'm waiting to see an ALL orange bed......

Intense! You may hafta wait-twud be a bit hard to live with...although there are those small pale orange poppies and a pale orange mini daylily (name is lost in my brain). I used to have both. And you could use apricot sparkles dl and other melony ones for contrast. Gosh, selling myself here! And lots of roses like Pat Austin etc.

well Janet, mine might be the closest thing to it, maybe. If all goes well I will have something to show next spring.

Yep, sounds interesting, I can picture it now...still intense!

Well now I can't wait! I guess hot climates lend themselves best to oranges!

Boojum, the Canada lily is gorgeous! And I love it with the tradescantia.

I'm envisioning one area bleeding into the next, yellow to orange to red to violet to blue to green. I like the idea of creating a sort of meditation space with the colors that correspond to the chakras and to the directions. My plan is to start layering cardboard on soon and be ready to start planting some things this fall. We'll see, lol.

I finally have some summer bulbs besides lilies blooming! These Tigridia 'Lilac Shades' are soooo cool!

A close up:

The rain lilies (Zephranthes) have been pretty.

I will have a whole garden full of Cosmos sulfureus, Wallaby. Give it a few weeks when there are more blooms...

A garden client has a nice combo patch of violas that I just love: medium yellow and golden-orane, nearly on top of eachother so that the plants are not separaetd and th flowers mix. I don't know why they are just so perfect.

If ever I get to landscape a rental, I want to make a "redscape." Everything, including trees and groundcover (if I could get burgundy-leafed turf, I would) would be that dark-red leaf. A horrible and novel thing, yes, but that's why it would be a rental!
K

Awesome Tigrida, Neal.

Boojum, I like that Canada Lily, very nice.
Gemini. I had some Tigrida many years back. That was before I started expanding the flower beds. Wish I had them now. Lovely.
I'm in between bulbs now, unless you consider Day Lilies 'bulbs', I don't.
So no pics for a week or two.
Andy P

i love the trigida also

Boojum - glorious!

Neal - I've never seen that tridiga before! Its hardy for you? And Zephranthes are hardy for you
too (or are they brought in during the winter). I love the tridiga. I'm going to be researching that one!
Something newwwwww....

Tam

PS: Edited to say not much via google. You must tell me more - where did you find it, what colors,
what climate etc etc etc

This message was edited Jun 28, 2006 8:48 PM

The pictures, although slim, are absolutely great on this thread. So it is hard to shoot some that compare, here I try:

L. Red Hot. The Lilies tha tI planted last fall are not where I thought they were... This poor schmuck is in the middle of Bamboo, which has helped it, ironically.

'Donau' thanks to Ms. Moonglow.

Tammy, I tried some many years ago and they did'nt survive the winter. These were a wonderful surprise from Margo this spring. While I live in a more sheltered area now, I like them too much to take any chances. I believe these were a Costco find (wish I had one close), but I have seen what I think is the same one offered in Brent&Becky's spring catalog.

Kenton, are those irregular streaks of deeper color toward the center of your 'Red Hot'? I don't recall mine having that last year (it's still a couple of weeks from opening), but tabasco posted a pic of hers in the perennials forum that does'nt appear to have it either.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/fp.php?pid=2444960
May just be the pic, but always be on the look out for the dreaded lily mosaic virus. As closely as you observe, I'm sure you'd find symptoms immediately :)

Indeed, Neal. A Friend of mine has (had- unitil I rogued them today) some first-year Orienpets that had TBV.

If it came from the supplier, I will come unglued. I'll be watching the other buds. Some variation has occured due to earwigs giving a munch to young flowers. Shoot, I should remove the anther in any case...
K