Friday, June 10, 2011
Front Flower Garden
I love spring bulbs, but I really don't like how messy it looks after it blooms. Here's my flower garden in the front yard. Since this is my first time growing bulbs, I read that you leave the greens alone so that it gives more energy to the bulb for the following year. But look how gross this looks! Yuk. I can't wait until the shasta daisies and asiatic lilies start to bloom to add some color to this messiness. They are the tall green stalks in the back row.
Thank goodness the perennials are coming back to offset some of the ugliness. Here is the purple and white Salvia.
And the snapdragons came back prettier than last year. They multiplied, this was one stalk of pink snapdragon last year, this year it came back as four. Pretty cool. I also have lavender growing in the bed, but they haven't bloomed yet. I plan to add some other perennials to the bed this year, such as Blackeyed Susans, Coneflower, Delphinium, and more Lavender. Do you have suggestions for other low maintenance perennials?
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What kind of soil/sun do you have? Milkweed will bring in monarchs, monarda will bring in hummingbirds.
ReplyDeleteWith regard to your bulb greens, I have always tied mine in a knot or in a ball with a rubber band aound them until the greens die off. That way the flower garden looks nice and neat!
ReplyDeleteMy brain is full of things that are all tied up like Robin's bulb greens, and I can't think of low maintenance flowers at the minute. I like the ones on your list. Penstemons bloom in the spring, and seem to be good ones. Oh, and I like to collect different kinds of liatris. They take a couple years to get a nice size, so if you have a choice to get larger plants of liatris, that would be good. Rabbits like to eat the young plants, too. I like how they mingle with other plants. Most kinds are tall, but they don't get real wide. Well, I guess some of my mind got untangled, and now that I've rambled on a bit, I should stop. Hey, though, I have another idea. Move the edge of your bed out a foot or so, and plant some things in front of the bulbs. Butterfly milkweeds would be good, because they are late in coming up. Once up, they grow pretty fast, and get about the height of the foliage. Mine are blooming now. In fact, my last post was about the several kinds of milkweed I have. Oh, and another low care perennial is rue. Swallowtail butterfly caterpillars like to eat its foliage, but the plant still looks good while being eaten by them.
ReplyDeleteyou have nice green article the way flower looks nice and clean i appreciate you for your wonderful effort
ReplyDeleteThose leaves will dry up soon enough and then you can clean them out.
ReplyDeleteMay I just say: Glorious!!! your garden photos are so clear, crisp and dewey! You have a superb green thumb!
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