The Breathtaking Blues

I do not discriminate when it comes to color in the garden.  I plant pinks, reds, yellows, blues, purples, oranges, whites, and foliage of every color and texture.  But, nothing seems to take my breath away like the blues.

Snapshot does not do justice to the plants

I’ve got a variety of blues in the garden – creeping phlox, Johnson’s Blue geranium, Baptisia Australis, Cornflower, catmint, salvia, lupines, bearded Iris, and Siberian iris.  Many of them are on the west hill, and when I come down the walk from the garage to the front of the house, the sea of blue gets me every time!  So, I guess even though I plant all colors, I’d have to say that the blues are my favorite.  No other color affects me like the blues.

I like to have bouquets from the garden – for myself and to take with me when I visit people during the growing season.  I keep a variety of inexpensive vases and a collection of ribbon.  Here’s a blue bouquet I made the other night to take to a walleye and wine evening with some friends.

Do you have a favorite color in the garden?  Or, do you plant and appreciate all colors equally?

Magnificent Mushroom and other Surprises

On my way through the garden the other day I bent down to move a stone that had fallen out of place in the border of the fragrant garden. Imagine my surprise when I discovered it wasn’t a stone at all, but a mushroom! Most likely, this guy popped out late last week after all the rain we had. I took the photo on Sunday morning. It’s the biggest mushroom I’ve seen outside a forest setting. It’s still there. The squirrels and birds and bunnies are leaving it alone, even though it is very close to the feeder.

And, when I was weeding the lavender hill later that day, I went to pull this and then realized it’s a baby rose shrub! It’s not supposed to be there, but I’m going to leave it for now. The best part of this garden surprise is that the “mama” plant was mostly dead when I got it from my sister a year ago. Neither of us was sure the rose would make it. Clearly we were wrong.

I found two small coreopsis under a peony and three small geraniums (Johnson’s Blue) under some day lilies, too! I was able to get the coreopsis moved, but still need to move the geraniums. (That was a happy accident, since I needed a couple more to add to the lupine hill!)

What surprises have you discovered in your garden this week?