Cait's Garden

Thanks to the exciting, new (to me) Maltese Cross flower, I now have shot of pure, fiery red in my garden and I love it! I’ve tried to incorporate more red into the plan, including the cool red miniature barberry bushes. It’s still a somewhat rare color to me and I appreciate the hardy perennials that make it possible.

A friend taught me the term “volunteer” to describe unexpected seedlings in the garden. I found it to be a charming name. I seldom get volunteers that I truly desire, so it is with great surprise to find I have several volunteer salvias this spring. I’ve had salvias for 15 years and never before had volunteers. I read they may turn out differently than their parent. But there is no such thing as a bad salvia, so I am content. Or I will be when they are big enough to move to a more purposeful location.

For years, I coveted this late spring flowering daisy that I saw in gardens around my neighborhood. The name was difficult to find because it is not sold in garden centers. But I finally found it is a weed/wildflower called an “Oxeye Daisy”…with most opinions falling on the weed side. I got my own clump two years ago by scavenging it from atop a pile of parkway plants dislodged by road construction. This is the first year it looks robust. As I researched it more recently, I confess to having a few second thoughts about its invasiveness. Then again, I’ve struggled with many an invasive perennial that I purchased from a legitimate garden center. All new plants need watching, not just this.

Long after the well manicured show of spring, there rises the gorgeous excess and disarray of late summer. The heat and the bugs have driven me away from conscientiously weeding my garden, so we just agree to let each other exist. Thankfully, the tall flowers of late summer obscure the weeds and all you see is color. And happy bees. It’s always a pleasure to know that your garden plan has made the bees happy.

Like many things in life, sometimes gardens run amuck due to adversity or change and one must start over. Both in the garden and in the garden blog.  My garden does not quite look like this anymore. We took down the big tree in the back. My main garden in the foreground was pretty much decimated due to the installation of a new patio. And if that wasn’t enough, global warming has apparently contributed to mild-enough winters for a bumper crop of invasive weeds. Things have gotten out of hand. As I look out on the bleak spring landscape, with just the slightest mounds of green (half of which are weeds), it seems daunting at best. I have to remember that when I moved to this house, there was literally nothing in this yard except for trees, weeds, and mud. I reclaimed it once, I can do it again. The trick is to tackle just one small space at a time. The only way out is through!

Every year, there will be new plants because every year, there are new places to put them, either through expansion, death, or redecorating. So it came to pass that Agastache “Apache Sunset” came into my life this past June. I did not pay too much for it, which is good because I am still uncertain whether it will live the winter. The label on the plant stated Zones 4-9, but subsequent research shows a consistent zone listing of 6-9. Hmm. Hope the grower was not fudging that label!

It is definitely a gorgeous plant. As you can see from the photo below (it’s the plant in front of the coneflowers) the silvery foliage contrasts beautifully with the neon orange-pink flowers. The blooms have not quit all summer, nor has the foliage withered in the least. If this comes back, it will be a favorite for years to come. Here’s hoping!