Thursday, September 06, 2007

Getting Out

"I don't do annuals" seems to be the anthem of the sophisticated gardener. Well, I don't do annuals but it's not, God knows, because of a surfeit of horticultural sophistication... I just forget to buy them. Our garden is very shady (and getting shadier as those cute little trees and shrubs I bought in gallon pots, turn into Godzilla with leaves). It's also a very crowded garden, and so in my defense, there aren't loads of bare, sunny areas crying out for petunias. However, I confess that the main problem is just that in May and June, when it's time to slip in a few flats of annuals, I have too many more pleasant distractions, and I forget about that trip I planned to the parking lot at WalMart.
This spring, though, I went to a garden roundup where everybody brings a bunch of plants to exchange. I don't really go for the plants, but rather to meet other folks, and to spend the afternoon eating the Snickerdoodles that somebody brings. I did, at the last minute pick out a bunch of coleus starts, which I popped in here and there in the garden. Well, they've now grown into clumps of bright color, rather like stained glass windows when the coleus catches rays of sun penetrating the high canopy of the trees. Shady perennial gardens like ours can get pretty dull in late summer, so the splashes of color from the coleus is a welcome addition. I guess I'm getting too set in my garden ways... I need to get out more.
Posted by Picasa

// posted by IBOY @ 11:37 AM
Comments:
I too know those gardeners...who preface a garden friendship with "do you have perennials or annuals?". I am expanding into annuals, especially for color in August, but I still pat myself on the back for starting all my annuals from seed! I guess I can't leave the perennial snobbery alone.
# posted by Blogger Gardenista : September 06, 2007
 
I have both, and enjoy both as equally.. I love coleus for the sheer fact it is so darn easy to propigate..
# posted by Blogger Dirty Fingernails : September 07, 2007
 
Gardenista... well, I for one am always impressed when people start their plants from seeds. i once did a story that was called something like "The Box Of Shame",about how I'd finally thrown out my box full of seed packets I'd bought and never planted, since some of the packets were about twenty years old.

DF... I'm going to try taking some cuttings of mine.

Don
# posted by Blogger IBOY : September 09, 2007
 
Post a Comment



<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?