Valentine's Day Plants

Love Lies Bleeding is such an inappropriate name for this beautiful plant.  The year I grew this there were lots of  O's and Ah's from my neighbors.  I started them from seed and they were quite WOW in my front garden along a walkway.  This variety can  be grown in a container with complimentary plantings.  They grow approximately four feet tall and two feet wide.  There are different varieties of Amaranthus Caudatus ( red, green and purple).  The green is especially lovely dried.  Amaranthus dates back to Aztec civilizations used as a food product even into the current day in certain cultures (toasting and grinding of seeds).

Amaranthus 'Love Lies Bleeding'

Amaranthus Green

A similar looking plant is Kiss-Me-Over-The-Garden-Gate (Persicaria Orientle).  It can grow to twelve feet tall and two feet wide and can be planted in containers (although you would require a huge container to hold this height) or in borders.  My photo was taken at the Chicago Botanic Garden last summer where it was planted in the ground with dahlias framing their entrance.

I have included my photo of inky fingers coleus crawling through my raised bed (this is just one plant).  I had to go back into my 35mm prints to find these.  It sure makes it a lot easier when everything is digital.

A Peony That Stands Alone

One of my favorite childhood memories was helping my aunt cut the peonies that lined a narrow strip in our backyard.  I have a picture of my eighth grade graduation with a huge bouquet of peonies in my hands.  The aroma of peonies is overwhelming but to me never offensive. I had peonies at my last house that I had to put in cages or they were all over the ground.  So, I finally decided to try a single variety.

I purchased two Krinkled White Peonies and put them in the back of my yard.  Krinkled White is an early bloomer in May for about two weeks duration.  They are about twenty-five feet from my patio, but they pop out from among the green during the late May garden.  I am not a fan of peony soldiers (all lined up in a row),but I do like to see them peek out of a border here and there.  Because they are singles they do not require support. 

Do not cut down peony foliage (it looks very good throughout the summer season).  It can be trimmed down when the leaves fall.  Peonies do not like to be divided so they are carefree.  When planting peonies that red bud needs to be above the soil to promote flowering. If all of that flopping and caging bothers you, take a look at the single peonies.  I do miss that rose- like flowers on the old fashioned peonies, but I don't miss what they look like after a rain!

A Day Off

I took a day off from my personal blog to go garden blog hunting.  I will never be finished, but I knew I had to start somewhere.  It was a good day to do this since we had about thirteen inches of snow and an early morning earthquake!  I thought the dog had jumped on the bed, couldn't see anything when the bed shook, so I went back to sleep.

There are many categories of bloggers in every subject area.  It is amazing how talented a group bloggers are - poets, writers, professional photographers, scientists, designers, crafters and most of all gardeners.  Gardeners are life itself, cyclical, renewable, almost like the doctors of the universe!  They participate each year in assisting in the birth of life on earth!  I know this sounds very lofty, but when you have looked at so many blogs depicting the earth just waiting to welcome new life, seed starting, sprouting, emergence, what could be more exciting?

I am not an expert photographer or a poet, but I am comfortable with depicting plants realistically showing how they appear with their surroundings.  But, I have learned that we also need the music, the gorgeous pictures, the poetry because all of these prompt the emotions that make life in a garden worth living!

Aromatherapy

The word aromatherapy has always made me think of potpourri, scented candles and bath oils.  Yesterday, I attended a workshop by the above name from one of my garden groups (I belong to two).  This one is known as the "fun" group and the other "the very serious group."

It was a smaller group today about seventeen people instead of thirty or forty.  We had our coffee, tea, cookies, fruit and Welch's carbonated juice.  Our aromotherapist arrived in a yellow BMW convertible, which I did not realize until I was leaving (whole new slant on aromotherapy).

Really, kidding aside, I learned a great deal about specific plants, their oils, medicinal value, and how to incorporate them into daily life.  I now know that lavendar is the "angel of healing and purfication," basil helps to lift depression, bergamot opens your heart to love and life and clary sage is a powerful euphoric and relaxing aphrodisiac.  Lavendar can be used full strength but many essential oils require mixing with a medium such as olive oil.  Essential oils have been around for thousands of years being the first perfumes and medicines of bygone generations.  This was definitely some serious learning today, but also fun!

We all made soap (I made lavendar soap), some purchased essential plant oils from our workshop leader, and as I was leaving warned her that she wouldn't be driving her car tomorrow (we're expecting 14" of snow).  She said she had snow tires on that yellow summer car, but agreed  she would probably spend the day in the house rubbing in the citrus oils (my conjecture) which are great for the gloomies!!

Some Favorite Border Annuals

I am always looking for interesting annuals to fill in my borders.  Perilla Magilla (a relative of coleus) can be grown in full sun to part shade and has become a staple each year in the narrow area of my garden border.  It does not have showy flowers, but it has beautiful magenta colored leaves similar to coleus.  In my garden it grows close to three feet tall and about two feet wide.  It looks wonderful next to David Phlox and blends in with pinks and blues.

Another annual that blends in beautifully with perennials in the border is Coleus 'Inky Fingers.'  It is a weaver, trailing up to eight feet.  Inky Fingers is described as mounding, but mine always sends out shoots on each side about four feet in length.  It looks great with other brighter coleus plants, oranges, light greens, yellows.  I plant it in the raised bed where I have boxwood bordering my patio.