Allium are fun to watch as they make the slow progress of blooming
The Bohemian Cottage garden is ever changing come midsummer. Some of the blooms from early spring have made their stunning show, while others are just now making an appearance, like these purple alliums. These Allium are growing in a corner of the garden that has been particularly troublesome. I would say that in the 5 years here at Bohemian Cottage, this is the best for that spot. I have also planted a circus tent petunia, delphinium, blue asters and salvia. There are also several gladiolas coming up from bulbs I planted last year. I thought that gladiolas were annuals unless taken out of the ground and stored, but these have proven to be tough Colorado hearty gladiolas!
These petunias remind me of little circus tents with their stripes, adding a touch of whimsey to the garden.
The Salvia was planted a last year, and it has nearly doubled in size already. This particular salvia is a pink version, verses the more common deep purple, which I also have in the garden. I will plan to divide this lovely for the Rocky Mountain Gardening forums plant exchange in the fall perennial swap.
Pink Salvia is a hearty perennial that can withstand the apparently terrible soil in this corner of the garden.
Something I have never tried growing before that was planted here in the “trouble spot” this year. I suspected that this corner of the garden was not very fertile because of the yearly “nuking” of weeds by my neighbor since this bed is right next to her gravel driveway. The driveway gets a ton of weeds and she uses round up to kill them. I asked her if she could skip it this year as I was concerned, not only for my garden, but for the environment in general and the honey bee population too. She said she would skip and felt terrible about possibly effecting my garden. Then the city gave her a ticket since it was really difficult to keep up with the weeds. So she sprayed again. She said she would be super careful, and so far it has been ok. This Delphinium is still alive!
Blue Delphiniums defying the corner of plant death!
Some of the things I have done to ensure the health of the plants in the infamous “trouble spot” is to amend the soil. As an amature gardener, there is still much to learn about soil composition. The other thing is water, it is a tough spot to get enough water to. This year I seemed to have changed that and it is helping. Do you have a that spot in your garden where anything planted there seems to die? Did you figure out what was causing the problems? I would love to hear about your gardening dilemmas and what you have done to remedy them. Please leave a comment below. Happy gardening!
